Milestones and Records

September 20, 2010

This weekend saw a new industry record set, with The Twilight Saga: Eclipse becoming the fifth film to earn $300 million in 2010 (full 2010 details here), beating the four movies that topped $300 million in 2007 (2007 details). The Expendables also became the 18th film of the year to reach $100 million at the box office, although that is off last year's record-setting pace.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas to go, we could extend the record for $300 million movies by quite a distance. There are five films that have a legitimate chance to reach $300 million between now and the end of the year. I doubt all five will get there; in fact, I would be surprised if three of them did. But I would be more surprised if none of them did.

Those five films are, in descending order of likelihood...

  1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I: 'Nuff said.
  2. Little Fockers: The previous installment made $279 million, and this film has 6 years of inflation to get it over the top.
  3. Megamind: CG + Thanksgiving = Money. However, while $200 million should be nearly a sure thing, $300 million is a bit of a long shot
  4. Tron: Legacy: This is the wildcard. Could be the big hit of the holidays, or it could flame out. I like the trailers, so I'm cautiously optimistic.
  5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: It depends on whether it does as well as the first movie or as poorly as the second.

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Expendables