Highest Grossing Films in 2011

It was sad to see the end of the Harry Potter movie juggernaut... but happily it topped the 2011 list for the highest grossing movie pulling in a magical $1,328,100,185 at the box office.

There was no dark side with the cash this sequel pulled in. Probably one of the only real success stories of an 80s attempt at a remake, Transformers has been doing well at the box office with every new sequel. In this third instalment of the grown ups "toy story" this sequel managed to pull in $1,123,196,189.

It may not have the same heart of the 80s and the movies are more special effects than plot line but anyone who grew up with Transformers is probably just happy to see them being exposed to another generation of kids.

It has also driven up the price of vintage Transformer toys, clothing and anything with a Decepticon or Autobot badge - and that makes lots of collectors very very happy!

This latest instalment of the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow nabbed $1,043,871,802 worth of cash office gold.

But we wonder how many more Pirates of the Caribbean sequels Johnny Depp can carry off before the novelty of seeing him running around with an eye patch and a pirate shirt wears off!

In the second instalment of this kung fu fighting movie franchise the action upgrades to 3D and the cinematography, lighting and special effects are all amped up as well.

The storyline is just as fun, the humour is nicely balanced with some pretty dramatic moments and the highlight is the final fighting scene.

This movie is a must see - and a lot of other people thought so as well with this "packed full of personality" movie karate kicking its way to the fourth biggest grossing films of 2011 by pulling in $663,024,542.

It's not a surprise that this sequel made it onto the list given the previous instalments being such a massive success. We wonder what will happen when Twilight is finished - where will we all move our attention to next?

Part of the Fast & Furious franchise this latest instalment of fast cars, sexy girls and Vin Diesel's abs pulled in $626,137,675.

It's the most costly F&F movie so far and we can't see that the acting has improved so it seems most of that cash was spent on special effects. It's ok though because movies like this are not about intelligent plot lines and dramatic acting... they are about cars - fast cars!

There's a sixth movie in the works and chances are it will do just as well. After all its not rocket science... hotted up cars, crazy guys driving them, hot girls watching along, guns, awesome car chases, smashes and oh yeah did we mention Vin Diesel's abs!

Any movie with a monkey in it will do well - its the Hollywood recipe for success. And this monkey was probably responsible for the $581,464,305 The Hangover Part II raked in.

Also, some credit needs to go to the super star cast which the movie relied on to pull it through another couple hours of bachelor party craziness! This movie really just followed the recipe that was used for the original movie but lacks the same caliber of laughs.

A remake of a classic 80s cartoon was always going to be a risk. And it didn't pay off.

The movie is full of type cast characters and obvious product placements and the way they have animated the Smurfs makes them look plain creepy. It's another 80s remake that doesn't do the original any justice at all.

It would have been a major disappointment to anyone expecting to go and see an intelligent written piece of animated magic (i.e WALL-E).

Even though the movie wasn't that great it still managed to rake in $559,884,913. We only think it made that much cash because kids were forced to go see it by their parents who fondly remember the Smurfs from their childhood days!

The whole Cars movie franchise seems to be less about the actual movies and more about using them to sell merchandise. Luckily the movies are entertaining, the plot lines are heart warming, the animation is fantastic and the kids love it! It's a success in marketing and merchandising with everything known to man coming with a Cars logo stamped on it!

In a rare occurence the Cars 2 sequel actually improves on the original and it seems as though there could be more movies to come with this success story motoring in at number eight by grossing $551,782,060.

Yet another animated movie making it into the top ten! And this one does not disappoint with a flurry of colour and activity and a plot line that is clever enough to satisfy adults as well.

The casting of the celebrity voices is done well and the movie in the end was a big hit with the kids which is who it was made for. Grossing $484,635,760 probably ensures that some sort of sequel can be expected!

In another re-do this movie doesn't have the same charm of the original 1960s version but its still a job well done.

It brings the plot of apes v humans to a new generation through an amazing feat of CGI. The movie is highly entertaining and portrays a subject matter that intrigues most people - alluring enough to just go along out of curiosity and see what its about.

The drama, the emotion, the suspense and the epic battles carries you quickly through 2 hours. This sci-fi success story clawed in $479,768,594 - and the chances of a sequel are high!