The worldwide market has become increasingly more important for studios over the years and 2009 has been the best year yet with markets that were considered average a few year ago, truly exploding last year. This can be seen in the fact that for the first time ever we have had 7 movies gross more then $700 million worldwide.

10. The Hangover (WarnerBros) $467.3M

The rare R-rated comedy that managed to break out and pull in a big audience all over the world but also one of the best comedies of the year if not the best (at least the Foreign Press thinks so). A sequel is already in the works.

9. Sherlock Holmes (WarnerBros) $468.8M

British director Guy Ritchie waited for 10 years to finally get his chance with a big studio movie and unlike others before him, he did not disappoint. But then again, this is the guy that brought us Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and RockNRolla, but then again, he also did Swept Away. Sherlock Holmes might not be his best movie but it was a hell of a lot of fun and showed great promise for a future franchise that is already being pushed forward by Warner Bros.

8. Angels & Demons (Sony) $485.9M

The adventures of Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) continue in this Dan Brown adaptation of the book with the same title that was written as a sequel to the author’s best seller and worldwide phenomenon The Da Vinci Code, also adapted into a movie by the same team. That one made a bit more money with $758.2 million worldwide so it seems people are starting to get tired of Robert Langdon.

7. The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit) $706.6M

Sequel to 2008’s Twilight and based on the series of extremely popular books by author Stephenie  Meyer. New Moon managed to almost double the $384 million that the first one made showing that there’s a very big audience still out there for this series. This summer Breaking Dawn, the 3rd chapter in the Twilight Saga comes out and regardless of what me or anybody else thinks of this series, it will continue to make a lot of money for Summit Entertainment and we will see it again in the top 10 of 2010.

6. Up (BuenaVista) $723M

Pixar scored their second biggest hit ever with this strange tale about the journey of an old man, a young boy and a dog named Dug that can speak. A year ago if someone asked me what I think of the potential box office of this movie, I would have replied that this was going to be one of the lowest grossing flicks in Pixar’s catalog. Fortunately I was wrong and Up turned into a success and it deserves every last penny it made. A nomination for Best Picture at the Oscars this weekend is a testament to that.

5. 2012 (Sony) $769.7M

What can I say, people love to see this world blown to pieces on the big screen and that’s exactly what 2012 promised, nothing more, nothing less. Did it deliver on that promise, first 90 minutes, hell yes, after that, not so much. Regardless, this has become Sony’s biggest hit worldwide outside of the now defunct Spider-Man franchise. Roland Emmerich said this was going to be his last disaster movie so he went all out on 2012 and it shows. Just watch any trailer and you’ll see what this movie is all about and why it has made so much money.

4. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount/DreamWorks) $835.3M

Director Michael Bay comes back with this sequel to the 2007 hit Transformers (also directed by him) and he does everything he can to make this the biggest most epic thing he’s ever done, so that means a lot of stuff is going on and even more stuff is blowing up. Giant robots are everywhere helping with the blowing stuff up and basically everything is one huge mambo-jambo. Still, for me it was an enjoyable romp, just pure fun and between you and me, I liked it better then the first one. Anyway, the third one is coming out next year so what can I say, hate them or not, giant robots are here to stay.

3. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox) $884.5M

Now here’s a bit of a surprise, Ice Age is huge! This has been a monster outside of the US and now worldwide it is only second to Sherk 2 with $919.8M. But if we look closely at the way this animated series has evolved, everything starts to make sense, Ice Age made $383.2 million while Ice Age 2 did $655.3 million. It is very uncommon that a series continues to increase its gross with each new sequel but it seems the animation studio Blue Sky have nailed the perfect recipe for continued success with Ice Age.

2. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (WarnerBros) $934M

Yet another series that continues to keep the flag up with each new chapter. What more can I say about Harry Potter that hasn’t been said already, we all know the books, some even read them, some just like to watch the movies. Two more (made from a single book) and the most successful series ever (unadjusted for inflation) will finally come to an end. So, has Warner Bros found a replacement yet?

1. Avatar (Fox) $2,546.8M

Words can’t describe the gigantic surprise that this movie was in terms of actual box office. Just like with Titanic there were people on either side, the ones that said it will bomb and the ones that knew it will become a hit. But here’s the thing, no one, not even the most crazy fan could have predicted just how much money this was going to make. 7 consecutive weekends in first place in NA, 11 consecutive weekends in first place Internationally, this has turned into a global phenomenon unlike anything we’ve seen since, well, Titanic. And to top this, both movies were directed by James Cameron. Love it or hate it, Avatar changed the way people look at 3D movies and now more then ever this format looks like it’s here to stay.

And there you go, 365 days and billions of dollars later, 2009 is over.

But I won’t stop here, I will go on with a top 10 that this time leaves out every single dollar made in the US, a non-US top 10 if you will:

1. Avatar (Fox) $1,839M
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox) $687.9M
3. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (WarnerBros) $632M
4. 2012 (Sony) $603.5M
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount/DreamWorks) $433.2M
6. Up (BuenaVista) $430M
7. The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit) $410.6M
8. Angels & Demons (Sony) $352.6M
9. Sherlock Holmes (WarnerBros) $262.4M
10. Terminator Salvation (WarnerBros/Sony) $246.7M

For even more information and stats on international box office go to here.

2009 is long gone by now since we’re already in March but we still had a few old releases lurking around (I’m looking at you Sherlock, Alvin, Avatar and The Blind Side), making a lot of money and changing the order of things. So I said to myself, I won’t do this top 10 in January like everyone else, I’ll do it in March when everything will be said and done and all movies in there will stop swapping spots between each other.

The top 10 of 2009 in NA basically looks like this:

1. Avatar (Fox) $706.5M (Still in Theaters)
2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount/Dreamworks) $402.1M
3. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (WarnerBros) $301.9M
4. The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit) $296M (SiT)
5. Up (BuenaVista) $293M
6. The Hangover (WarnerBros) $277.3M
7. Star Trek (Paramount) $257.7M
8. The Blind Side (WarnerBros) $248.7M (SiT)
9. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (Fox) $216.5M (SiT)
10. Sherlock Holmes (WarnerBros) $206.4M (SiT)

Half of the movies on that list are still running in theaters but at this point their spots are set in stone.

By now you probably figured out that 2009 was a very good year at the box office, but here’s the thing, I’m not going to bother ranting about how this movie did that or this other movie become a huge surprise, nope, I’ll just let the facts and numbers speak for themself.

General:

• the average ticket price was $7.5 from $7.18 the year before;
• over 1.412 billion tickets were sold (5.3% up from 2008);
• over 10.595 billion were grossed (+10% from 2008), the biggest year ever for Hollywood unadjusted for inflation;
• 518 movies came out in 2009 compared to 605 in 2008;
• The Twilight Saga: New Moon had the biggest opening of the year with $142.8 million;
• The Twilight Saga: New Moon had the biggest single day of the year with $72.7 million on November 20th;
• no movie managed to stay in first place for more then 2 weekends during 2009, Avatar managed 7 weekends but 5 of those were in 2010;
• 4 of the top 10 movies are direct sequels, 2 others come from established franchises and the remaining 4 are original properties;
• the weakest weekend of the year was September 11-13 with $76.2 million;
• the strongest weekend of the year was December 25-27 with $259.9 million (record);
• 44 were first at least a weekend, two of those came from 2008;
• 8 movies were first for 2 weekends;
• 32 movies made more then $100 million (record), 18 more then $150 million (record), 10 more then $200 million (2007 had 11), 7 more then $250 million (record), 3 more then $300 million, 2 more then $400 million (record) and 1 over $700 million (record);
• 16 3D movies were released or re-released in 2009, another record;
• 7 3D movies made more then $100 million and the top 5 biggest 3D hits ever all came out last year;
• Paranormal Activity opened in 12 theaters with $77,873 and went on to make $107.9 million in 2712 theaters (widest weekend) on a budget of $15,000;
• the widest release was Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in 4455 theaters on July 24-26, the biggest ever(The Dark Knight had 4366);

Studios:

• Warner Bros has 4 of the top 10 movies of the year, 5 of the top 25 and 9 in the top 50;
• 12 out of 52 weekends a Warner Bros movie was first;
• 6 WB movies made more then $100 million, 4 more then $200 million and 1 more then $300 million;
• Fox has 2 movies in the top 10 and 6 in the top 25;
• 6 out of 52 weekends a Fox movie was first;
• 6 Fox films have made more then $100 million, 2 more then $200 million and 1 more then $700 million;
• Paramount/DreamWorks has 2 movies in the top 10, 4 in the top 25 and 8 in the top 50;
• 6 out of 52 weekends a Paramount/DreamWorks movie was first;
• 5 Par/DW movies made more then $100 million, 2 more then $200 million and 1 more then $400 million
• Buena Vista (Walt Disney Pictures) has 1 movie in the top 10, 3 in the top 25 and 7 in the top 50;
• 7 weekends a Buena Vista movie was first;
• 5 BV movies made more then $100 million and 1 more then 200 million;
• Sony has no movies in the top 10 for the first time since 2005;
• what it does have is 4 movies in the top 25 and 10 in the top 50;
• 10 weekends a Sony movie was first;
• 5 Sony movies made more then $100 million;
• Summit Entertainment has 1 movie in the top 10 and 2 movies in the top 50;
• one Summit movie made more then $100 million in 2009 (guess that movie);
• Summit had 3 weekends in first place last year;
• Weinstein Company has 1 movie in the top 25, 1 weekend in first place and 1 movie that made more then $100 million;
• Lionsgate, Focus Feature and Overture each have one movie in the top 50;
• Lionsgate also has 3 weekends in first place thanks exclusively to Tyler Perry;

The United States may be getting their very own Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but it looks like the UK will be keeping the sets! According to the Financial Times Warner Bros. will this week register plans to establish a permanent base at Leavesden Studios in the UK as part of an estimated £100m ($161m)-plus investment that would make it the only major Hollywood studio to own a studio outside the US. Leavesden Studios has been home to the Harry Potter films since it all began over a decade ago, and the current plan is to allow members of the public to visit (by appointment) sets of films, including the great hall.

The new plans involve building two new permanent stages, refurbishing the existing buildings and redesigning its 100-acre “backlot”, the area used for shooting outdoor scenes.

A person familiar with the plans said Warner Brothers wants to make Leavesden a European hub for post-production, including visual effects, animatronics and film editing in the UK, and believes that it will attract film business to the country.

The Dark Knight and Batman Begins were also filmed at Leavesden Studios, so Batman 3 will most likely be heading back there when they get round to filming.

Universal Studios Orlando will be opening The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in a few weeks time, and today they gave Potter fans their first look at Hogwarts. This is an actual building, not some CGI wizardry like we see in the films.

The area will showcase many locations and buildings featured in the films, such as Ollivander’s wand shop, HoneyDukes candy shop, The Three Broomsticks and The Owlery. There will also be rides such as Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge. As for Hogwarts, it will contain Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey which “is a thrilling new state-of-the-art attraction that uses entirely new technology to bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life in ways never before experienced”.

A layout of the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter can be seen below:

With every Harry Potter movie Warner Bros. make there is an ever-growing pile of footage piling up on the cutting room floor, so after 9 years of accumulation they’ve decided to add it all onto the end of the previously released movies, and sell it.

The first two of these Ultimate Editions are obviously Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which will be released next month alongside the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. They are now available to pre-order from Amazon:

Sorcerer’s Stone: DVD | Blu-ray

Chamber of Secrets: DVD | Blu-ray

Along with new scenes the Ultimate Editions will also show never before seen footage from behind the scenes, and the videos below show how Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint got their lead roles in the biggest movie franchise of all time.

I’m actually the same age as these guys, so it’s been cool to see them grow up with me (or me with them). Anyway, here’s a trailer for the whole Ultimate Edition series:

While I’m please Warner Bros. have done this, I’m a bit confused as to what to do with the Half-Blood Prince DVD. Do I buy it next month, or so I wait months, possible another year, for the Ultimate Edition? Warner Bros. aren’t getting twice the money from me!

In related Harry Potter news, Deathly Hallows Part I will be released in exactly 1 year.

With the Harry Potter franchise earning crazy amounts of money in the region of $800 – $950 million per film you’d expect it to give other franchises a run for their money (pun intended) in terms of ‘highest grossing franchise ever’. It’s taken a few years but it looks like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be the film that tips the franchise over the $5 billion worldwide mark, overtaking the Bond franchise in the process and taking the highest grossing movie franchise in the history of ever crown.

From Variety:

The five previous “Harry Potter” pics have grossed $4.48 billion at the worldwide box office. That still trails the roughly $5 billion grossed by the James Bond film franchise (not accounting for inflation), but the boy wizard is expected to overtake agent 007 within the month.

The sixth installment, grossed a record-breaking $22.2 million in midnight releases unspooling in 3,003 theaters at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. That more than beat the $18 million midnight record set last summer by Warners’ “The Dark Knight.”

Everyone expects Half-Blood Prince to make big numbers, however it seems the lack of anything Potter related over the past 2 years (no book, no film) has caused anticipation to sky rocket, which could cause it to start breaking a few records. Warner Bros. still have two movies and another $2 billion to go, but they will have to start planning ahead. After 2011 their cash cow will be gone (in terms of movie releases anyway, I expect them to milk the franchise with DVDs, box sets, extended editions and all that jazz for years to come).

As the title suggests, an international teaser trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has appeared online, which you can watch below.

As Harry begins his sixth year at Hogwarts, Lord Voldemort wreaks havoc throughout Britain, and the pressure to defeat him grows stronger. Using an old Potions book which previously belonged to the “Half-Blood Prince,” Harry is able to increase his magical knowledge and prepare for battle. First, however, he must help Dumbledore discover the secret to Voldemort’s quest for immortality — the location of his Horcruxes. But the quest for the Horcruxes and the resulting battle at Hogwarts produce a tragic outcome — leading Harry to believe he must head out on his own to conquer the Dark Lord.

Edit: If the player above does not work you can watch it below:

Warner Bros. have filed a lawsuit against Mirchi Movies in Mumbai as they feel the title of its upcoming movie, Hari Puttar – A Comedy of Terrors, is a tad too similar to its Harry Potter franchise.

“We have recently commenced proceedings against parties involved in the production and distribution of a movie entitled ‘Hari Puttar,’ ” London-based Warners spokeswoman Deborah Lincoln told The Hollywood Reporter. “Warner Bros. values and protects intellectual property rights. However, it is our policy not to discuss publicly the details of any ongoing litigation.”

“Since the case is sub-judice we can’t comment as of now,” Mirchi Movies CEO Munish Purii said Friday. “However, we registered the ‘Hari Puttar’ title in 2005 and it’s unfortunate that Warner has chosen to file a case so close to our film’s release. In my opinion, I don’t think our title has any similarity or links with ‘Harry Potter.’ “

I don’t see how a relatively small comedy film all the way in India will have an impact on Warner Bros’ billion dollar franchise. However, having having read ‘Hari Puttar’ out loud three times it does sound a lot like ‘Harry Potter’.

[The Hollywood Reporter]

According to the BBC, scientists say they are a step closer to developing materials that could render people invisible, just like the invisible cloak in the Harry Potter movies.

Researchers at the University of California in Berkeley have developed a material that can bend light around 3D objects making them “disappear”. The materials do not occur naturally but have been created on a nano scale, measured in billionths of a metre. The team says the principles could one day be scaled up to make invisibility cloaks large enough to hide people.

“In order to have the ‘Harry Potter’ effect, you just need to find the right materials for the visible wavelengths,” says Prof Hess, “and it’s absolutely thrilling to see we’re on the right track.”

This all sounds cool but what about the murderers, rapists and child snatchers who will probably use this to carry out their evil plans. Will the scientists create a cool new technology or a threat to society?

According to the BBC, Robbie Coltrane, best known for playing Hagrid is the Harry Potter movies and will be seen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is being used on a wanted poster by police trying to catch a 16 year old burglar in New Zealand.

“Robbie Coltrane is not the burglar, but imagine him aged 16 with lank greasy hair and you have the picture,” the poster says.

“Because of the Children and Young Persons Act 1989 Police cannot show you a picture of the 16-year-old burglar operating in your neighbourhood.

“He is 16-years-old, lives locally, travels by bicycle and burgles houses in your street.

“He will break windows to gain entry and ransack the property targeting electronic items, cash and jewellery,” it adds.

Coltrane’s agent in London was unable to comment on the poster and said the actor was currently out of the country. However, I bet his first reaction is….WTF!?