2012 Summer Box Office Hits & Misses

HIT
Domestic: $617,800,446
Worldwide: $1,491,800,446

Summer started with the superhero team smashing the record for biggest opening ever with a $207 million debut. "The Avengers" is now only $40M away from surpassing "Titanic" to be the #2 highest-grossing film of all time domestically. And with the movie coming back to theaters for Labor Day weekend, there is a chance it could take it.

MISS
Domestic: $65,233,400
Worldwide: $302,836,260

"Battleship" was an enormously expensive misfire (reportedly costing over $200 million). The board-game adaptation was more successful internationally than in the U.S. -- it actually made less here than its star Taylor Kitsch's other high-profile bomb "John Carter" -- but not enough to justify a sequel.

HIT
Domestic: $424,645,743
Worldwide: $959,845,743

Despite the tragic events in Colorado, "The Dark Knight Rises" had an even bigger opening weekend than its predecessor. However, to date the third movie is running about $100M behind the domestic total for "The Dark Knight." Still, odds are good for the film to cross the $1 billion mark worldwide.

MISS
Domestic: $55,732,192
Worldwide: $135,232,192

The $25.5 million opening of this remake starring Colin Farrell was almost exactly the same amount that the Arnold Schwarzenegger original earned in its debut. Of course, that was in 1990 dollars; adjusted for inflation the original opened to over $48M. The remake has just barely cleared its reported $125M budget.

HIT
Domestic: $258,548,927
Worldwide: $705,048,927

The new take on the Webslinger is the third highest-grossing film of the summer domestically, but it's actually the lowest-performing "Spider-Man" film to date. Even with higher 3D ticket prices, "Amazing" is currently $190 million behind the worldwide total for "Spider-Man 3."

MISS
Domestic: $38,518,613
Worldwide: $50,118,613

After the success of last year's "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," it looked like Tom Cruise's career was headed for an upswing. But apparently audiences are more interested in watching him hang from skyscrapers than belt out hair-metal tunes. This musical has no chance of making back its reported $75 million budget.

HIT
Domestic: $154,188,683
Worldwide: $816,188,683

The fourth "Ice Age" film did respectable business in the U.S., though it made less than fellow animated films "Brave" and "Madagascar 3." But it pulled in an astonishing $662 million internationally, making it the third highest-grossing film of the year worldwide. Apparently, the rest of the world loves cold furry animals more than Americans do.

MISS
Domestic: $33,518,179
Worldwide: $36,718,179

Comedy heavyweights Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill in a movie co-written by Seth Rogen? It must have seemed like a can't-lose situation. But after changing the film's original title, "Neighborhood Watch," to avoid comparisons to the Trayvon Martin tragedy, the R-rated sci-fi comedy failed to connect with audiences, taking in only half of its estimated $70 million budget.

HIT
Domestic: $113,196,556

In a savvy bit of counter-programming, Warner Bros. released this male stripper drama in the middle of a packed summer season. And it worked. It's earned over 16 times its relatively tiny $7 million budget (to be fair, that would buy a lot of lap dances). Other movies grossed more in total this year, but few saw such a huge return on investment.

MISS
Domestic: $7,078,738
Worldwide: $7,934,025

This semi-comic road movie that found Steve Carell and Keira Knightley connecting as a killer asteroid headed towards Earth was the lowest-grossing wide release of the summer. It opened in 1,600 theaters but only managed to hit #10 place in the weekend rankings. The film was out of theaters in only two weeks without even being able to make back its modest $10 million budget.