It’s a movie-news kind of day, and Variety has calculated the top grossing films for the year of 2008. Looking solely at US and Canadian box office takes, sf/f/h genre films own the entire top ten spots. Those big-earning films are:
#1: The Dark Knight: $530.9 million
#2: Iron Man: $318.3 million
#3: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: $317.0 million
#4: Hancock: $227.9 million
#5: WALL-E: $223.8 million
#6: Kung Fu Panda: $215.4 million
#7: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: $176.1 million
#8: Twilight: $172.3 million
#9: Quantum of Solace: $166.7 million
#10: Horton Hears a Who: $154.5 million
In fact, the first non-genre film on the list is #11: Sex and the City. Rounding out the top 25, we find genre films at:
#13: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: $144.6 million
#14: The Incredible Hulk: $134.8 million
#15: Wanted: $134.5 million
#16: Get Smart: $130.3 million
#20: Bolt: $106.6 million
#21: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: $102.5 million
#22: Journey to the Center of the Earth: $101.7 million
Variety‘s complete list of the top 250 earning films last year (all of which took in at least $1 million) is on this page.
In addition, the film industry’s trade journal also lists the top worldwide box office grossers for 2008. This list is a little different (and there’s one non-sf/f/h film in the top 10). This list starts with:
#1: The Dark Knight: $531 million domestic (US and Canada) + $466 million (foreign) = $997 million
#2: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: $317 million + $470 million = $787 million
#3: Kung Fu Panda: $215 million + $416 million = $631 million
#4: Hancock: $228 million + $396 million = $624 million
#5: Iron Man: $318 million + $264 million = $582 million
#6: Mamma Mia!: $144 million + $429 million = $573 million
#7: Quantum of Solace: $166 million + $380 million = $546 million
#8: WALL-E: $224 million + $289 million = $513 million
#9: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: $176 million + $305 million = $481 million
#10: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: $142 million + $278 million = $420 million
The other genre films in the top 25 include:
#12: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: $102 million + $290 million = $392 million
#13: Wanted: $135 million + $210 million = $345 million
#14: Horton Hears a Who: $155 million + $143 million = $298 million
#15: 10,000 B.C.: $95 million + $175 million = $270 million
#16: The Incredible Hulk: $135 million + $128 million = $263 million
#17: Twilight: $172 million + $88 million = $260 million
#20: Get Smart: $130 million + $100 million = $230 million
#22: Journey to the Center of the Earth: $102 million + $115 million = $217 million
#23: Jumper: $80 million + $134 million = $214 million
The complete list of top 100 films in terms of worldwide box office take for 2008 is on this page.