With Avatar the reigning champ and Sherlock Holmes still to come, Hollywood crossed the $10 billion line for the first time in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales for 2009. Through Sunday, the total stood just $36 million short of crossing the $10 billion line, according to tracking firm Hollywood Box Office, and was set to plow across it Tuesday night.
The year's top box office attractions were Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and with hits like Harry Potter and The Hangover, Warner Bros. was the North American box office champ among studios. And with both Robert Downey Jr.'s take on Sherlock Holmes and the return of those rascally rodents in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel coming in time for Christmas, the final take is expected to top $10.4 billion.
Hit the jump for a list of the top 20 domestic box office hits of 2009.
It may have seemed like vampires were everywhere in 2009, but at the domestic box office, humongous robots and everyone's favorite boy wizard reigned supreme. Here are the top 20 domestic box office hits of the year:
1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: $402,111,8704
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: $301,959,197
3, Up: $293,004,164/5
4. The Hangover $277,322,503
5. The Twilight Saga: New Moon: $275,515,901-
6. Star Trek: $257,730,019
7. Monsters Vs. Aliens: $198,351,526
8. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: $196,573,705
9. X-Men Origins: Wolverine: $179,883,157
10. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian: $177,243,721
11. The Blind Side: $166,726,943
12. The Proposal: $163,958,031
13. 2012: $159,476,032
14. Fast and Furious: $155,064,265
15. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: $150,201,498
16, Paul Blart: Mall Cop: $146,336,178
17. Taken: $145,000,989
18. Angels & Demons: $133,375,846
19. Christmas Carol: $131,694,716
20. Terminator Salvation: $125,322,469
Thanks to Reuters and Box Office Mojo for the info.