This has been a big year for blockbuster films - a year that we've been waiting for a long time. Joss Whedon delivered his version of The Avengers; Christopher Nolan completed his Dark Knight Trilogy with The Dark Knight Rises; Gary Ross kicked off the start of The Hunger Games franchise; Bill Condon ended Twilight; Peter Jackson went back to Middle-earth for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; Ridley Scott returned to the universe of Alien with Prometheus; and Sam Mendes made one of the best James Bond movies ever with Skyfall. Movie-goers were excited to go to the movies in 2012 and they showed their approval with their wallets. And now that the results are in it appears it paid off.
USA Today is reporting with five days left in the year that 2012 is the highest grossing year on record in Hollywood history and is the first time since 2009 that ticket sales have actually gone up. Projetions from analysts say that all told the industry made about $10.8 billion in ticket sales - $200 million more than 2009's record - and while inflation certainly plays a factor it's a postive sign for the movie world. In 2011 Hollywood only made $10.2 billion, meaning that we saw a 6% increase this year, with attendance up a solid 5% (though with 1.3 billion tickets sold the year comes nowhere close to 2002's 1.7 billion record).
Now is the time of year where we also begin to wonder if the next will be able to live up to the last. In 2013 we have the Enterprise crew coming back in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness; Superman's flight back to the big screen in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel; Jackson's part-two The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug; the return of John McClane in John Moore's A Good Day To Die Hard; Shane Black's post-Avengers adventure Iron Man 3; the God of Thunder swinging his hammer again in Alan Taylor's Thor: The Dark World, more car chasing and money stealing in Justin Lin's Fast and Furious 6, Todd Phillips' trilogy ender The Hangover Part III, Francis Lawrence's Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire and much, much more.
Do you think you'll spend as much time at the movies in 2013 as you did in 2012? Let us know in the comments below!
