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.

Read similar posts to 2009 at the Box Office: Worldwide edition at Filmonic

It was a dismal weekend for nation-wide releases this week in the US. Walt Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer ended up winning the weekend with their talking-guinea pig action film G-Force, which I sadly took time out of my weekend to see.

The future of 3D for blockbuster entertainment hangs in the balance, with theater owners being pressured into Digital 3D theater conversion in these economically trying times. Right now, Real D and the Regal Cinemas chain have the biggest commitment to furthering 3D projection with Regal pledging an additional 1,500 screens in May bringing the total Real D screens to 3,500 by the beginning of the fall.

Monsters and Aliens this year was the first film to add a 3D surcharge across the board, something that has acted as the carrot to Avatar’s ever-present whip. James Cameron and Robert Zemeckis have been the two filmmakers leading the charge on the 3D motion capture front, both pushing harder for 3D ready screens as their fourth-quarter blockbuster releases A Christmas Carol and Avatar loom on the horizon. If Avatar ends up being the must-see film of December, theaters don’t want to be left out in the cold when they could use that movie to recoup the costs of digital 3D theater conversion.

As for A Christmas Carol, it’s 3D family fare, and G-Force took this weekend to prove that if you have enough kid-friendly jokes and lots of stuff popping out of the screen at kids, the film can make money.

While watching G-Force and actually finding myself bored by the movie mid-way through, I started having very vivid Bolt flashbacks. Bolt, also released by Disney in Digital 3D, starred John Travolta and Miley Cyrus in a film about a television-star dog who was unaware he didn’t posses the super powers his on-screen character did. The movie was cute, I guess, but I can’t imagine I would have seen it if it hadn’t been one of the few 3D releases at the tail end of last year. 3D as a gimmick for kiddie films seems to get my butt in the seats despite negative buzz and an uninteresting plot.

As G-Force became less about action sequences and more about being “special” and part of a family, I started to turn my attention to the use of 3D in this particular film, since I could see little other reason why it was made. What I noticed was a 3D convention that I hadn’t seen before and I think it made me mad.

When the theater I was in started it’s pre-recorded “put on your glasses now for the amazing 3D experience” announcement, the screen widened to something damn close to a 4:3 aspect ratio. I thought I was just going to see a Disney movie that was all-ready to get pan-and-scanned for home video release, but when the film started, it was presented in a more-cinematic 16:9 aspect ratio. But here’s the tricky thing: The black letterbox bars that altered the aspect ratio were part of the film’s print. When something was supposed to be a especially spectacular 3D effect, the object would bleed over into the letterboxing bars as well as go more 3D for the glasses-wearing audience.

As soon as I noticed that the black bars actually had the slightest degree of negative depth (making the entire 16:9 part of the film look slightly more dimensional), I couldn’t stop noticing that a cog, spark or atmospheric effect would bleed over into the letterbox (I’ve attempted to demonstrate using the banner image on this post).

It was really annoying, but a convention I hadn’t seen in the 3D films of the past few years. I’m not even sure what to call it, as it was meant to simulate the characters and elements actually entering the audience.

One of my gripes with trailers for 3D movies is that shot where they show a CGI’d character from the film (or flames, or an axe) actually flying over the heads of an audience. I know it’s supposed to FEEL like things are actually flying out over the first few rows, but showing us this effect as if holograms were going to spring up in the crappy seats is a little disingenuous. However, when the 3D effects look to bleed off the screen into the actual theater, as is the desired effect with black, recessed letterbox cropping on the actual print, the illusion is maintained until you notice what’s going on.

And once I focused on that, G-Force’s plot was even more obviously bland to me.

But the surprising lasting-power shown by Ice Age 3D ($673.5 million worldwide after 26 days) and the surprise drop in Harry Potter numbers letting G-Force take the #1 spot for the weekend (with $32,185,000 in 3 days) goes to show that opening family-friendly 3D fare in the middle of an adult-male oriented summer release schedule is a winning strategy.

So, no matter how mediocre G-Force was (and I was forgetting it as the credits rolled), we’re going to see more of its gimmicky 3D ilk.

Read similar posts to Bland G-Force Proves Family-Friendly 3D Makes $$$ at Filmonic

During the credits of the 81 Academy Awards we got a ton of footage from upcoming movies, including our first looking at many. The clips included Sherlock Holmes, Public Enemies, Up, Terminator Salvation, Inglourious Basterds, Monsters vs. Aliens, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Angels & Demons, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and G-Force (to name a few).

Watch the footage below!

Read similar posts to The Oscars had a preview of 2009 movies in the credits! at Filmonic

A new Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs trailer has hit the internet. As with the previous teaser, we don’t see any of the main characters…or any dinosaurs for that matter. We just see Scrat on another of his nut hunting adventures. This time he meets a female Scrat. One thing leads to another and he ends up knocking her off a cliff. I’ll let you watch the rest of it below!

Read similar posts to Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Trailer at Filmonic

Marketsaw got their hands on a new poster for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which will be released in July 2009.

The film stars Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Seann William Scott and Josh Peck. Not a lot is known about the plot, although we do know that a population of dinosaurs have survived extinction, living beneath thick layers of ice in a tropical habitat, and are released when the ice thaws. This is not historically accurate, however it’s a kids movie so we’ll let it pass.

Read similar posts to Ice Age 3 Poster at Filmonic

Over the next few years we will be having a surge in 3D moves. We have Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Avatar, Alice in Wonderland, Toy Story 3, Monsters vs. Aliens and movies such as Iron Man 2 and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince are expected to have 3D in parts. So with all of this 3D goodness going around, you’d expect to see something a bit special with the marketing. A 3D poster perhaps?

Below is a video that presents real footage of twelve limited edition RabbitHole 3D Motion Holograms. The pieces are printed in the amazing form of RabbitHoles state-of-the-art digital motion holograms, which display 1280 frames of full-color, 3D imagery with up to ten seconds of fluid and seamless animation on a completely flat surface. At the moment these are being used for art, however I wouldn’t be too surprised if we start getting movie posters like this in the future.

According to Marketsaw Avatar director James Cameron has expressed interest in this company’s technology in the past, so we could very well be looking at what he will be using for the promotion of Avatar when the time comes.

Read similar posts to Coolness: The Future Of Movie Posters? at Filmonic

Warner Bros have released a new poster for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs which is due for release July 2009. I have enjoyed watching the previous instalments. I never get too worked up over animated films, after all, they are aimed at children and are meant to be enjoyed. You can check the poster below!

Read similar posts to Ice Age 3 Poster! at Filmonic