Man of Steel, World War Z and Star Trek: Into Darkness are grossing figures into the hundreds of millions but will they earn enough to feature on the worldwide top 10?
Here are the top 10 highest grossing films of all time.
10. Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) - $1,066,200,000
This is the second installment in the series which brought Johnny Depp mainstream success. Despite not receiving the critical acclaim the first one did, it surpassed its predecessor and led to the spawning of two more sequels, with a third planned for 2015.
9. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - $1,084,400,000
The second sequel to 2005's Batman Begins started its marketing campaign very early on, including the projection of a bat signal against a skyscraper during filming in Pittsburgh and the release of tickets to midnight IMAX showings 6 months prior to its release. Despite the infamous shootings with took place in a Colorado movie theatre on the night of the film's premiere The Dark Knight Rises still holds a respectable place on the worldwide top ten.
8. Skyfall (2012) - $1,108,600,000
Bond's latest outing proved the long-running franchise has still got it. Reviewing the film for Empire Magazine Kim Newman said: "Skyfall is pretty much all you could want from a 21st Century Bond: cool but not camp, respectful of tradition but up to the moment, serious in its thrills and relatively complex in its characters but with the sense of fun that hasn't always been evident lately." Not only is this the highest grossing Bond flick, but it's Sony's highest ever grossing film.
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - $1,119,900,000
With the success of this, the third film in the franchise, The Lord of the Rings trilogy would become the first blockbuster movie trilogy where each successive film earned more at the box office than its predecessor. The success of this installment and the ones before it are no doubt the reason The Hobbit is currently being adapted into not one but four separate feature films.
6. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) - $1,123,700,000
Despite its prominent position here, the series' third film is probably more famous over the fact that Megan Fox was fired from it. In an interview with British magazine Wonderland the actress said director Michael Bay "wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he's a nightmare to work for."
5. Iron Man 3 (2013) - $1,211,500,000
Widely considered a vast improvement over 2010's Iron Man 2, Robert Downy, Junior's third outing as billionaire playboy Tony Stark was to be his most successful, helped in part by his apperance in the wildly successful The Avengers in 2012. While its unclear if there will be more installments in the series, Downy is contracted to appear in The Avengers 2 and 3.
4. Harry Potter and the Dealthly Hallows Part 2 (2011) - $1,341,500,000
Fans gave the Harry Potter series its perfect send off by giving this, the 8th installment, the highest worldwide opening weekend ever with more than $483 million, a figure that is yet to be surpassed. It went on to make $1 billion dollars in 19 days, a record it holds with our first place finisher.
3. The Avengers (2012) - $1,511,800,000
What better way to blow all other superhero films out of the water than to make one with 5 of them in it? Marvel had been building towards this film for years with the release of standalone films for many of the superheroes starring here. The Avengers' eventual success left rival studio DC scrambling to produce a Justice League film comprising its own group of superheroes.
2. Titanic (1997) - $2,185,400,000
While every film in our list made well over $1 billion at the box office, reaching that figure was a rarity back in the nineties. Despite its relative age - it's the only film here made before the noughties - it retained the number one spot for 12 years, and was only surpassed by another James Cameron-directed film in 2009.
1. Avatar (2009) - $2,782,300,000
"Watching Avatar, I felt sort of the same as when I saw Star Wars," described the late Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, but others criticised the film's flat dialogue and weak characterisation. Despite some mixed reviews Avatar reached the $1 billion mark in just 19 days, the fastest ever. Soon afterwards Cameron announced he was making "Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4". Avatar 2 is set for release in 2015.
