We've got the Iron-clad list of the top ten movies of 2010

Posted Thursday, January 7, 2010 at 4:33 PM Central

by John Couture

Recently, we predicted that Avatar will break Titanic's box office record and that got us thinking that it was roughly time for us to get together our annual stab at the top movies of the year.

Last year, it was hit and miss as we correctly named only six of the top ten movies of 2010. But hey, if we batted .600 in the majors, they would induct us into the Hall of Fame, so we'll take it.

Of course, the one miss that we are both shamefully hiding our heads about is failing to include Avatar on that list. To be fair, Tim and I talked about it, but we decided to exclude it because we didn't think it would accumulate enough box office in roughly 11 days to compete. Boy, were we wrong, eh?

And yes, we are not including it on our list this year because we want the list to only feature movies released in 2010. Suffice it to say, Avatar will probably earn about $300 million in 2010 alone, easily making it in the top 10 grossing movies in terms of money earned in 2010.

That's what Tim and I like to call a caveat to cover our collective backsides around this time next year when we are reviewing this list. So, without further ado, here is our attempt to name the top 10 grossing movies released in 2010.

1. Iron Man 2 - The fan boys are drooling and it looks like it's all systems go for this super charged sequel. The original one grossed $320 million and the trend is for successful comic book sequels to out-gross their predecessors. I don't see that changing here. Predicted gross: $400 million.
2. Toy Story 3 - This one is a tricky one to forecast because it's the third movie in the series, which tend to trend down from its previous two incarnations, but this one is unique. First, it's sort of the grand daddy of this recent boom in computer animation and a whole generation practically grew up on it, so I'm basing its gross on a combination of factors and using last year's Up as a baseline. Predicted gross: $350 million.
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I - Harry Potter movies gross $300 million. You can take it to the bank. Personally, I think it will do a little better given that it's the last one, sort of. Predicted gross: $325 million.
4. Shrek Forever After - This one was tough. These movies have been sliding, but in a weak year for animation, it might hold its numbers. Predicted gross: $300 million.
5. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse - The second movie did $282 million. This one will do roughly the same. It might slip a bit as the audience tires of vampires and werewolves and bare-chested under age men. Predicted gross: $275 million.
6. Little Fockers - It's been an extended break in this series, but I still think that it will retain most of the $280 million the first sequel did. Predicted gross: $260 million.
7. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - At this point, we're really just throwing darts at a dart board. We are taking a risk here because if this movie finishes here, it will be the highest grossing movie based on a video game. We like to gamble. Predicted gross: $250 million.
8. Green Zone - The Bourne Ultimatum grossed $227 million. This is basically the fourth movie in that franchise with the same star and director teaming up for another action packed thrill ride. Predicted gross: $230 million.
9. Alice in Wonderland - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory did just over $200 million. This is basically the same movie that appeals to a larger audience. Predicted gross: $225 million.
10. Date Night - Sure, this prediction would more than double the previous highest grossing movie of either of their careers, but darn it everyone loves Steve Carell and Tina Fey. Or, this is just another one that we laugh at ourselves over next year. Either way, we'll be laughing. Predicted gross: $200 million.

So, how did we do? What movies would you add/subtract from this list?