Top Grossing Films of 2007

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topgross2007.jpg

From IMDB comes this listing of the top grossing films of 2007 (U.S. Theatrical box office, in millions):

1. Spider-Man 3 • $336,530,303
2. Shrek the Third • 320,706,665
3. Transformers • 319,014,499
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End • 309,404,152
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix • 292,000,866
6. The Bourne Ultimatum • 227,137,090
7. Ratatouille • 206,435,493
8. The Simpsons Movie • 183,121,527
9. Wild Hogs • 168,213,584
10. Knocked Up • 148,734,225

Three of the films were pure animated features (Shrek, Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie) and another four relied heavily on CG special effects (Spider-Man 3, Transformers, Pirates and Harry Potter). In addition to these figures, it should be noted that Bee Movie grossed $122,651,629. and Meet The Robinsons, Surf’s Up and, (cough) Beowulf were modest successes in their own right. Enchanted is doing great and although I don’t consider it an animated film, Alvin and the Chipmunks has become a huge Christmas holiday hit.

All in all, it’s been a great year for animated films – and results like these reassure Hollywood that animation is still viable, popular – and big business.

Here’s to a great 2008! Happy New Year!

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  • Bryan

    “Three of the films were pure animated features (Shrek, Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie)”

    Shrek?!?

  • http://makinita.deviantart.com/ Makinita

    Happy New Year animation Nerds woooooooo!!!

  • Pedro Nakama

    So you know what that means…
    Right now there are studio executives at a table in the Polo Lounge planning their next move…
    “People like sequels. Let’s make more sequels!”

  • http://www.bishopanimation.com Floyd Bishop

    This is great, and 2008 looks to be an even bigger year for animation.

    Happy New Year everyone!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag88kPRFqEo

  • Kevin Wollenweber

    Well, while I, too, don’t really care much for older animated cartoon favorites readjusted and reinvented for modern audiences, somehow keeping ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS alive might someday unearth “THE ALVIN SHOW”. The authors of the “ALVIN SHOW” page on wikipedia.com suggests that there will be a 2008 “ALVIN SHOW” collection, perhaps the complete original series, on DVD from 20th Century Fox sometime in 2008 (something indeed to look forward to), but 20th Century Fox does not own the series! Perhaps this was the studio that released the new “ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS” movie and, perhaps, Viacom, who does apparently own the series, will respond by issuing a collection–hey, I don’t know what the truth is, but I’d even go so far as to support the new movie when it comes to DVD if indeed a comprehensive “ALVIN SHOW” set were to come out from just about any professional source. Good luck to good rumors like this and, to you, Jerry, Happy 2008 and good luck to the animation projects that you remain closest to.

  • Mike

    its sad how well shrek movies do.

  • Oliver

    So how do you figure it’s been a great year?

    With the exception of Ratatouille… every single one those movies are horrendous. If that list attests to anything, it’s the washed up cadaverous state of cinema.

  • Ceaser

    Whatever. You’re just jealous of the Beowulf.

  • Mike Russo

    It’s sad how the top dogs are something as obnoxiously vile as Shrek and Spider-Man 3.

  • http://www.paul-burrows.com paburrows

    What about Persepolis?

  • http://doubleben.blogspot.com/ Emmett Goodman

    Here’s to another year of new animation. Hopefully, maybe there will be at least one purely original piece in 2008. I know WALL-E, the new Pixar will be out this year, so there’s one glowing light.

  • http://www.autodaddy.blogspot.com tom

    Persepolis hasn’t really opened wide yet, or possibly has only just opened wide, I don ‘t know. It’s not going to make a ton of money anyway, but I hope it influences studios’ decisions regarding the kind of risky subject matter they’re willing to undertake. I’ll bet it doesn’t, though. For the most part we can probably just look forward to more of the same.

    In the future, DW will, I think, always make lousy CG movies, since they cater to an undiscriminating demographic. Pixar and Sony will continue to make interesting, must-see animation, Disney will unearth itself yet again (for the fourth time in my lifetime). Animation like the Ghibli movies, Persepolis, Sylvain Chomet’s films and Aardvark’s projects will always rule our hearts, but most investors only look to the bottom line, and these are rarely the top earners.

    But I’m not depressed looking at crap like Shrek 3; instead I happily look at all of the great stuff we’re fortunate to see made and I look forward to more work created by artists and writers whose vision and imagination are more important to their studios than their McDonald’s tie-ins and I focus on the positive. This year the positive was found in Ratatouille, The Simpsons, Surf’s Up, and probably one or two other major releases I’ve forgotten to mention.

    Happy New Year, cartoon geeks!

  • Steve G

    Instead of taking this as an opportunity to celebrate how well animation does in theaters compared to live-action, as I’m assuming Jerry meant the post, so many of you would rather take another feeble stab at films that don’t happen to meet your own personal criteria of what makes a good animated film. Even though the public obviously disagrees with you.

    Do you realize what the ratio is of how few animated films are made compared to live-action? And yet animation dominates the top ten!

    CELEBRATE!!!

  • Greg Ehrbar

    One of the highlights of ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS was the end title sequence, in which actual albums and singles followed the credit crawl. One of them was the soundtrack album of THE ALVIN SHOW. I’d love to see that series on DVD too, and get more attention and recognition for its artistic style, excellent scripting and great voice work. Here’s hoping!

  • Matt Sullivan

    So how about giving us animators ( the people who MAKE these films ) a cut of the take? Hmm? Hmmm?

  • http://www.windupmagic.com/ Jay Taylor

    Hey,

    Does anyone else agree with me that not one of those movies listed, animated or otherwise, are any good? I know it’s all personal taste, but people with my taste are miserable!

    I’m not saying all of those movies are the worst ever made! I’m saying the best movies on that list are only “good enough”!

    I know everyone just gushed over Ratatouille, but to me, it was such a “paint by numbers”, typical disney-pixar movie! I saw nothing special about it.

    Maybe 2008 will be better for me…

  • Altred Ego

    I wonder if the public really would “disagree” with those of us who are dissatisfied with most of last year’s offerings.

    Since every studio in America basically makes variations of the same film and then endless sequels, the average person simply doesn’t know that they COULD be watching a better film.

    The average movie going public generally has very low expectations for cinema. This comes mostly from being constantly groomed to enjoy “brainless fun” aka “popcorn flicks”. Do you really think Chipmunks would have made the same money if it were released nationwide alongside Tekkon Kinkreet? I highly doubt it.

    It does never cease to amaze me how quickly people say, “this is obviously what the public wants because everyone went to see it”. But no one ever asks, if people had a REAL choice between films would they still choose to watch Shrek 7: the Shrekening or would they watch something fresh and new? People watch what is available. How many of those millions of people were really SATISFIED with the films? Or did they just go and keep the kids quiet for two hours? Did they walk out excited, or did they just walk out two hours poorer and the feeling that they’ve just gotten it out of the way so that if anyone asks, they can say ‘yes, I saw it’.

    I remember a quote from Henry Ford who said, that if he asked the consumer what they wanted, they would have asked him for a FASTER HORSE. Why? Because they didn’t know that they could have a CAR. Once they knew they could have a car…well when was the last time you rode a horse to work?

  • Nic Kramer

    Piant my numbers my eye! I though “Ratatouille” was the best this year and not because Pixar did it. Director Brad Bird is one of the best people in animation and without him, I doubt even the Simpsons would’ve been as big as a hit as it once was.

  • http://www.starfieldcreations.com awd!

    Its sad to know that Ratatouille grossed UNDER that abomination Shrek 3… but then again it was more than the Simpsons Movie. I have several friends and folks who’ve pretty much said “I haven’t seen it yet.” That to me is pretty shocking, it makes me feel like it wasn’t pushed enough on how great of a movie it was…

  • Your friendly neighborhood Lurker

    Shrek is the Family Guy of cinema.

  • animation veteran

    The Simpson’s Movie profit margin must have been phenomenal. I’m sure there will me many, many more to come.

  • http://jedaniels-adventures.blogspot.com/ Jpox

    I think Dreamworks is going to overkill the Shrek francise with Shrek 4! I really hope Pixar eventually creates a 2D feature! Can’t wait to see a series of Simpsons Movies, they would likely be more entertaining than the current episodes! More classic theatrical shorts! Loved the new Goofy cartoon! Why am I yelling?!
    Long live theatrical animated entertainment!

  • Gobo

    No, Jay Taylor, I don’t agree whatsoever. “Ratatouille” was a very original film with a lot of heart and amazing craft; I can’t see how it’s “paint by numbers” at all. You say that people with your taste are miserable — I guess thinking that a movie like “Ratatouille” is ‘no good’ is evidence of that. What movies did you see that you’d recommend?

  • Dave

    According to Box Office Mojo:
    Paprika – $882,267
    Persepolis – $211,508 (as of Jan 1)
    Aqua Teen Hunger blah blah -$5,520,368

    For comparison, Top 10 anime movies of 2007 in Japan.
    http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-12-31/japanese-box-office-top-10-anime-movies-of-2007

  • http://www.windupmagic.com Jay Taylor

    Hi Gobo,

    I only finally saw Ratatouille about 3-4 weeks ago. Perhaps my expectations skyrocketed when I heard all the glowing reviews. One person even went as far as saying it was the best animated film they had seen since Pinocchio! C’mon!

    I found a thread on cgtalk that explains it a lot better then I can!

    http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=59&t=578181

    Even so, I’m disgusted to think Shrek anything is higher than Ratatouille. Shrek shouldn’t be on the list! Shrek shouldn’t even be on the radar, as far as I’m concerned!

    The only film I enjoyed in 2007 was Darjeeling Limited, but you have to be a fan of Wes Andreson to enjoy it! Even so, it wasn’t really a “fun” movie for me.

    I’m trying to put my money where my mouth is by making some of my own films. So whenever I finish, you guys can tear me a new one!

  • Altred Ego

    My Review of Ratatouille:

    - Flawless animation and characterization
    - Technically brilliant
    - Excellent score and cinematography
    - No detail was overlooked or unconsidered

    All of that adds up to a fantastic film, which it is. It does deserve all the praise that it gets and much more.

    However, all of those thing don’t take away from the simple but undeniable truth that most people do not want to hear:

    RATATOUILLE IS A MOVIE FOR CHILDREN.

    Period.

    You can enjoy it at any age, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is a film written with children in mind.

    As an adult, I do want more from my entertainment. I don’t see the world in simple broad strokes. I know that people don’t just fall in love whenever you put a boy and a WOMAN in the same room. I don’t worship anime, but at the moment they are still the only country on the planet committed to delivering animation for audiences that can legally drive a car.

    I hope Pixar makes movies for decades to come, my kids (should I ever have any) will probably love them and rightly so. However, I hope that another studio emerges to create animated films that “I” would really be engaged with, not just entertained by. There is a difference.

    Until then I’ll be watching most of my animation with subtitles…

  • http://pediatristsplayground.blogspot.com Kevin W. Martinez a.k.a. Leviathan

    Shrek 3, i’ll humbly bow to the voices of the majority as to it’s quality (“Very well, then! Off to Siberia!”). But Ratatouille…….

    “RATATOUILLE IS A MOVIE FOR CHILDREN.”

    How so? there are talking animals, and that’s about it. It’s one of the least juvenile scripts to come out of Pixar (what child would think twice about French restaurants?) and adults are the ones who would get the most out of the movie’s message and story, or at least be able to sit through it without squirming.

  • Benjamin De Schrijver

    I don’t believe Ratatouille was “for children”. Yes, it worked with quite a bit of broad strokes, as you put it, and that’s probably because it IS very aware of being a “family film”. However, I don’t believe for even a second that Peter O’Toole’s absolutely incredible monologue near the end was written “for children”. To me, and to many others I have talked to, that felt like Bird going deep down and personal. Actually, Ratatouille is the first film since I got into animation where my extended family started asking ME whether I’d seen it, rather than the other way around.