2007: The Year of the 'threequel'

It has without doubt been the year of the 'threequel'. Three of the top four grossing movies in 2007 were the third instalments of hugely lucrative franchises, with their major competition coming from 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix', the fifth film in what is now officially the biggest movie series of all time.'Shrek the Third', 'Spider-Man 3' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End' came with unparalleled levels of hype and anticipation and took part in probably the hardest fought box office battle of all time. With another 'threequel', 'The Bourne Ultimatum', a new 'Die Hard' film and the first ever movie offering from 'The Simpsons' to contend with, the competition to put moviegoers' bums on seats was hotter than it has ever been.Here we count down the top 10 best grossing films at the worldwide box office, and see whether the year's mouth-watering slate of releases lived-up to their mightily impressive billing.10. 'Live Free and Die Hard'/Die Hard 4.0' - starring Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long - $382.1 million (£189.3 million)

This year saw Bruce Willis return with a fourth 'Die Hard' movie, reprising his role as maverick cop John McClane for the first time in 12 years.

Although the studio's decision to go with a family-friendly PG-13 rating meant McClane's famous cry of "yippe-ki-yay, motherf**ker" was cut from the script, the daredevil law enforcer still came roaring back to our screens in impressive style.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of the film featured Willis doing battle with female star Maggie Q, and, in his words, "getting his a** kicked by a woman for the first time".

Q starred as the beautiful but deadly sidekick of the film's suitably dashing criminal mastermind Thomas Gabriel, played by Timothy Olyphant, who attempts to bring down the entire US infrastructure.

Oozing with one-liners, addictive action-sequences, seductive slow-motion sequences, ear-trembling explosions and teeming with testosterone, the film left critics satisfied and studio bosses even more so, raking in $382.1 million (£189.3 million).

9. 'The Bourne Ultimatum' - Matt Damon, Julia Stiles - $441.1 million (£218.5 million)

With its intelligent plots and gritty hand-to-hand combat the Bourne franchise scared Bond into undergoing its greatest ever overhaul with the casting of Daniel Craig in a grittier 'Casino Royale', and catapulted Matt Damon into direct competition with his 'Ocean's Eleven' co-stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt for every sexiest man list going.

The second offering from 'United 93' director Paul Greengrass after 'The Bourne Supremacy', 'The Bourne Ultimatum' revealed the mystery behind secret agent Jason Bourne's identity, and impressed critics enough to be widely acclaimed as "the best action film for a decade".

Damon was inclined to agree with the critics, insisting Bourne is a superior modern day action hero to film rival James Bond.

He said: "Bond is fundamentally different from Bourne. Bond is an establishment guy. He is a misogynist, an imperialist, he's all the things that Bourne isn't. He kills people then drinks a Martini.

"We've created a 21st Century hero who younger generations can appreciate."

The film hit the ground running, it's opening weekend at the US box office of $72 million (£36.2 million) easily dwarfing the opening of 'The Bourne Supremacy', which took in $52.5 million (£26.4 million).

Great word of mouth saw it sustain its success to the tune of $441.1 million (£218.5 million).

8. '300' - Gerard Butler, Lena Hedey - $456.1 (£226 million)

Epic in every way, '300' was without doubt the most homoerotic action film of all time, taking the box office by storm and making its Scottish star Gerard Butler a sex symbol in the process.

Adapted from the graphic novel by Frank Miller, the film was one of the most talked about of 2007.

As Leonidas, Butler leads 300 Spartan warriors against an army of millions led by the Persian King Xerxes in a spectacular gorefest.

The actor underwent arduous training to sculpt himself into the form of a warrior and was more than pleased with the reaction to his buff body.

He explained: "I worked incredibly hard for this movie, and I think it paid off. If people like my body in the film then I'm hardly going to complain.

"It's better than them saying, 'He's an ugly son of a b***h, that Gerry Butler.' "

The ambitious battle scenes proved a huge hit with audiences, seeing director Zak Snyder's film rocket to a massive $456.1 million (£226 million) at the box office.

7. 'The Simpsons Movie' - $525.5 million (£260.5 million)

Few movies can have ever been as eagerly anticipated as 'The Simpsons Movie'.

After almost 20 years at the top of the TV comedy hierarchy and more than 400 episodes, fans had long been waiting for Homer and his brood to strut their stuff over a feature length film.

And Matt Groening didn't disappoint, offering up a typically amusing tale in which Homer falls in love with his pet pig before putting Springfield in danger by accidentally polluting its water supply with toxic waste.

Delighting fans and critics alike, 'The Simpsons Movie' saw the famous yellow family effortlessly realise their potential on the big screen, with a $525.5 million (£260.5 million) haul to prove it.

6. 'Ratatouille' - Patton Oswalt, Sir Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy - $614.3 (£304.6 million)

We have come to expect nothing but brilliance from Pixar, but with 'Cars' getting comparatively lukewarm reviews, the famous animation studio were determined to score a huge hit with 'Ratatouille'.

In a move many thought to be box office suicide, they took a dirty little rat and made him the hero of their movie. Better still, they threw the famously disease-ridden rodent into the middle of a restaurant kitchen and made him a gourmet chef.

The film proved such a hit with reviewers that some have even suggested it should be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and cinemagoers couldn't agree more, with the movie totally a lofty $614.3 (£304.6 million) in box office receipts.

5. 'Transformers' - Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel - $704.2 million (£349.7 million)

Highly anticipated by a legion of fans who loved the Marvel comics and grew up with the 80s cartoon series, 'Transformers' was always going to be a huge hit.

Directed by Michael Bay, who likes his action big and brash, 'Transformers' took on epic proportions. Producing some of the best CGI sequences ever seen on screen, and inter-cutting them with a scantily-clad Megan Fox, the film couldn't fail. With the evil Decepticons crashing around New York doing battle with Optimus Prime's Autobots, it was without any doubt one of the most spectacular movie of 2007, with Shia LaBeouf displaying enough charisma to offer a plausible human element.

The clashing robots weren't the only things making sparks fly, with Fox admitting she couldn't get enough of her love scenes with LaBeouf, who she described as "the best kisser".

At $150 million, 'Transformers' may have had a gigantic budget, but with figures of $704.2 million ($349.3), it made it back in spades.

4. 'Shrek the Third' - Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake - $795 million (£394 million)

Another of the year's 'threequels', 'Shrek the Third' saw movie audiences flocking to the theatre.

Its opening weekend figures in the US of $122 million represented the third largest haul for any film, and a record for an animated movie.

The movie also offered the entertainment of seeing ex-lovers Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake awkwardly negotiate each other's presence on numerous red carpets, with Diaz reprising her role as Princess Fiona and Timberlake taking on the mantle of potential king Artie.

Despite not quite matching up to the previous two films at the box office, our favourite green ogre voiced by Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy's lovably irritating Donkey still managed to make it within the top five grossing films of the year, taking an impressive $795 million (£394 million).

3. 'Spider-Man 3' - Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco - $890.9 million (£442.2 million)

It's not often a film will take in close to $900 million at the box office and find itself come in as only the third biggest grossing film of the year, but this is where we find the most successful instalment to date of the 'Spider-Man' franchise.

This high-octane movie touched on our favourite webslinger's dark side, and offered him the opportunity to perform his acrobatics in a new black outfit, not to mention star Tobey Maguire's smooth dancing sequence as Spidey's alter-ego Peter Parker.

With the Green Goblin and Sandman jostling for screen time, the film was also heavy on villains and saw Spidey battle one of his most difficult opponents - his own ego!

The film set a new worldwide record for opening weekend takings, with $382 million sending it on its way to a massive $890.9 million total worldwide gross.

Star Maguire is yet to confirm his availability for the next instalment, but with those sort of figures it is surely only a question of when, not if, he is tempted into reprising the role which has made him a superstar.

2. 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' - Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson - $938.5 million (£465.2 million)

Narrowly missing out on the top spot, 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix', pushed the franchise past the James Bond films to become the most successful in history. Not bad, given that this is the fifth Potter film to 21 feature-length Bonds. With the magical series now having grossed a total of $4.1 billion worldwide, the boy wizard is a force of nature.

Of the year's monster hits, it was easily the best reviewed, and saw star Daniel Radcliffe enjoy his first on screen kiss.

The film sees Harry and Dumbledore face a bureaucratic nightmare as evil forces take over the Ministry for Magic, and it is both the darkest and the best Potter yet.

And with 2007 also seeing the release of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' - author J.K. Rowling's seventh and final book in the Potter series on which the films are based - fans can still look forward to another two outings for Harry and his fearless troupe of friends on the big screen.

1. 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End' - Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush) - $961 million (476.3 million)

Emerging victorious from the titanic struggle is 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End', the most epic of the 'Pirate...' movies to date.

Moviegoers flocked to see what would become of Johnny Depp's much-loved Captain Jack Sparrow after the second movie 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' left him in peril.

With Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa this time on the same side as Bloom's Will Turner and Knightley's Elizabeth Swann, and Chow Yun-Fat's pirate Sao Feng successfully managing to insult the notoriously touchy Chinese censors to such an extent the film was banned in the country, there is certainly a lot going on.

Despite all the action one of the most talked about scenes comes with the appearance of Rolling Stone Keith Richards as Sparrow's father.

Depp openly credited the legendary rocker with inspiring his Oscar-nominated performance in the first movie 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl', and lobbied hard to get him to appear.

Depp was so impressed with Richards' acting ability he renamed him 'Two-take Richards' and hailed him as a "great" thespian.

Ultimately, this proved to be the biggest blockbuster of the year, with takings of $961.1 million making it the fifth most successful film of all time. No mean feat given the unprecedented levels of competition and mixed reviews it received.

By Robbie McIntyre