This Summer's Box Office Best

27 August 2008

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It seems that blockbuster summer is becoming a bit of a tradition as the big budget pictures rolled into cinemas and, unlike last year, enjoyed major critical and commercial success.

We watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte reunite after four years, the Chronicles of Narnia, Harrison Ford squeeze into his original Indy costume and we all stood and applauded the brilliance of Heath Ledger as the box office grossed $6.7 billion.

So here at FemaleFirst we took a look back over this great summer of film, which started way back in May, to find which movies did the business at the box office.

Dominating cinema screens all over the world as you can imagine The Dark Knight is not only the biggest film of the summer but the biggest film of 2008.

Already one of the most anticipated movies of the year, which saw Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan return to the franchise, interest was further heightened by the sudden death of actor Heath Ledger.

With Ledger producing an outstanding performance creating an iconic character and Bale's Batman fighting a few demons of his own The Dark Knight has quite rightly been labelled the best superhero movie of all time.

With an actor who had never had a major box office hit, despite being one of the best actors of his generation, and based on the lesser Marvel Comic characters Iron Man had a lot stacked against it.

But unlike many of the marvel films that have graced the screen in recent years and died a death, including Fantastic Four and Ghost Rider, director Jon Favreau brought to the screen a highly developed script and a fully formed and interesting character in Tony Stark.

The film, which was release in May kicking off the summer, was glossy and slick but had a very human core dominated the box office and was the summer's leading superhero movie until Batman swooped in and stole the crown.

Naturally a sequel is already in the pipeline!

It had been almost two decades since Indy last donned his fedora but this summer Harrison Ford returned to the character of Indiana Jones in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Grossing $780.1 Indy proved to be just as popular now as it was way back when going on to be the biggest film of the franchise.

Apart from the questionable plot, in particular the end where they take it a tad too far, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a rip-roaring ride and nostalgia fest.

Despite the concerns over Harrison Ford's age he throws himself back into the character, as well as a very credible punch, and is the heart and soul of this movie. And with Shia LaBeouf a very good addition to the Indy family this franchise still looks to have some serious legs.

While The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is one of the biggest films this summer with an impressive haul of $410.4 million at the global box office, as well as ending Iron Man dominance of the U.S. box office, the film didn't gross anywhere near the final total of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe which took $744.7 million in 2005.

However The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe did have one advantage it was released at Christmas and not the competitive summer period where all the films are fighting it out for attention.

This family friendly fantasy movie did not leave fans of the novels or the first film disappointed and without any trouble held it's own at the box office despite not grossing as much as it's predecessor.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is scheduled for release in 2010.

And no summer is complete without a Dreamworks/Pixar battle as the two fight it out for dominance of the animation market that has become so popular in recent years.

This time around it was to be Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda that was to end up victorious as it beat Pixar's Wall-E by just over $200 million, despite Wall-E being more popular in America.

And if the summer blockbusters are just up your street then it's more of the same in 2009 as G.I Joe, Wolverine, Star Trek, Terminator Salvation and Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen all hit cinemas from May of next year.

Top Ten Films of Summer 2008

1. The Dark Knight - $870.3

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - $780.1

3. Iron Man - $570.6

4. Kung Fu Panda - $576.4

5. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - $410.4

6. Wall-E - $361.2

7. Sex and the City: The Movie - $393.2

8. Wanted - $259.8

9. The Incredible Hulk - $253.3

10. Hancock - $225.2

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw