10 top movies of 2013

It also boasted a higher than usual number of sequels, prequels and reboots.  

 

While some returning players fared far better than others, it's interesting to note that of 2013's 10 top-grossing films, five were sequels, two were prequels and one, Man of Steel, was a reboot:

 

Here are the highest-grossing films of 2013 in the U.S., with box office totals to date, according to Box Office Mojo:

 

1. Iron Man 3  -- $409,013,994    

 

Following The Avengers' superheroic take of more than $623 million in the U.S. and $1.5 billion worldwide in 2012, it might not be a surprise that a movie starring arguably the most popular member of Marvel's cinematic universe would be a safe bet at the box office. However, Marvel took some chances with Iron Man 3. Iron Man & IM 2 helmer Jon Favreau was swapped for director and co-writer Shane Black, who employed a major plot twist regarding the movie's villain. However, for the series' third installment, Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark was mostly stripped of his high-tech suits and left to his own devices to untangle a terrorist plot from the mysterious Mandarin.  Downey proved why he's Hollywood's highest paid actor: Iron Man 3 earned more than $409 in the U.S. and nearly double that abroad, for a $1.2 billion-dollar finish, good enough for the title of fifth-highest grossing film of all time, just two spots below The Avengers.

 

 

2. Despicable Me 2 -- $367,365,815   

 

While Universal rightly had faith this animated sequel could deliver the goods, even studio heads were surprised when the receipts were totaled and the movie ended up as its most profitable of all time. Working from a budget just south of $80 million, the movie -- which again featured Steve Carell as the voice of super-villain-turned devoted dad, Gru, and his impossibly impish little yellow Minions -- earned more than $367 million in the U.S. here and more than 550 million overseas -- good enough for a total take of 918 million-plus. 

 

 

3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire -- $358,823,252       

 

Another returning property, the second in a planned four-movie series based on Susan Collins' bestselling books, opened November 22, but Oscar-winning American sweetheart Jennifer Lawrence as arrow-slinging heroine Katniss Everdeen helped the film earn a domestic take of $358 million and growing, and just shy of the same overseas, for an impressive to-date performance of more than 731 million dollars.

 

 

4. Man of Steel -- $291,045,518       

 

Henry Cavill was largely well received as the Kryptonian hero in this reboot, though some criticized the ending in which the guy with the S on his chest lays waste to Metropolis in a battle with Michael Shannon's General Zod.  The film scored a little more than $291 million here, and ended its flight with more than $662 million worldwide. Cavill -- along with his Man of Steel co-stars Amy Adams and Laurence Fishburne -- will return in 2015 opposite Ben Affleck as Batman in the tentatively-titled Batman Vs. Superman. Trying to duplicate Disney's success with Marvel's The Avengers, Warner Bros. seems to be readying its bench of DC heroes -- including just-cast Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in Batman Vs. Superman -- to prepare for a Justice League movie.

 

 

5. Monsters University -- $268,488,329        

 

A prequel to 2001's Monsters, Inc., Monsters University centered on the early days of professional scarers-to-be James P. "Sulley" Sullivan and Mike Wazowski, again voiced by John Goodman and Billy Crystal, respectively. The movie earned over $268 million domestically and scared up more than $743 million worldwide.

 

     

6. Gravity -- $252,871,195  

 

7. Fast & Furious 6 -- $238,679,850           

 

Few film series make it to trilogies -- let alone profitable ones -- and fewer still have spawned two times that. But the sixth film in the Fast and the Furious franchise was smoking off the line with a $117 million four-day weekend debut and just kept going, for a take of nearly $239 million in the U.S. and more than double that overseas, for total earnings of nearly 790 million bucks globally. Tragically, six months and six days after Fast 6 debuted, one of its biggest stars, Paul Walker, was killed with a friend in a fiery car wreck. Production on the series' seventh installment -- which was slated for an August, 2014 release -- has yet to resume.

 

 

8. Oz The Great and Powerful -- $234,911,825    

 

The prequel to The Wizard of Oz featured James Franco as a magician swept into Oz, and also starred Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz as three witches vying for their place there. The Sam Raimi-directed filmwasn't every critic's cup of tea, but the movie made more than $234 million stateside and $490 million worldwide. 

 

       

9. Star Trek Into Darkness -- $228,778,661     

 

While many moviegoers and critics weren't happy about how director J.J. Abrams' follow-up to his Star Trek reboot was essentially a re-telling of a classic Trek story already told one on TV and once on film, Star Trek Into Darkness earned its spot on the year's top-ten list thanks to a nearly $230 million U.S. haul, proving Abrams' reboot series has gone where no other Trek has gone before: a mainstream audience. The movie made about the same amount overseas for a haul of more than $467 million globally. There will be a third Star Trek film, but Abrams won't be calling the shots -- he'll be too busy directing Star Wars: Episode VII.

 

 

10. World War Z -- $202,359,711 

 

- ABC Air Power