1. IRON MAN 2 Thank your lucky stars it ain't "Twilight: Eclipse". A frontrunner for 2010, this superhero sequel was MARVEL-lous enough to generate over RM14 million at the Malaysian box office and grossing in excess of US$600 million worldwide. Apart from "Iron Man 3" due 2013, we'll just have to wait for the characters in the movie to have their own spin-offs to see if this success can be replicated. Those reportedly confirmed are Black Widow and Iron Man's pal, War Machine. Among these two, War Machine could be the better bet as an armoured man with guns was what catapulted "Iron Man" to fame in the first place. Expect to see more Marvel superhero movies coming your way such as "Thor" and "Captain America" in 2011, and "The Avengers" in 2012.
2. THE KARATE KID Most industry people and also fans disapproved of this remake but Jackie Chan marketability ensures amazing returns as it raked in some RM13 million. Although it had many sceptics, it turns out that Malaysia is one of the top regions in the world on box office returns for this movie, according to Sony Pictures. Not only appealing to the Chinese, Jackie Chan also has a strong Malay and Indian following. If Pat Morita were still alive, he sure would be proud.
3. CLASH OF THE TITANS (also in 3D) Grossing in excess of RM12 million, this mythological action picture made it as the highest-grossing 3D movie of 2010 in Malaysia! This proves that Malaysians still love action more than any other genre, despite the poor 3D conversion, or perhaps they just want to taste what the Kraken is cookin'.
4. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER (also in 3D) With a gross of over RM10.6 million, the fantasy flick is still showing and has only been in cinemas for three weeks. The third Narnia instalment could very well end up with a rather larger haul, potentially overtaking "Ip Man 2" soon!
5. PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME Narrowly lost out to "Clash Of The Titans", this film gained around RM12 million in the region. Nonetheless, it might have just found itself setting a somewhat dubious record as the highest-grossing movie based on a video game to date!
6. ALICE IN WONDERLAND (also in 3D) Grossing more than RM11 million, Tim Burton's reimagining of the Brothers Grimm classic was at one point the highest grossing 3D film in Malaysia according to Walt Disney, but that was before "Clash Of The Titans" came into the picture. At least it had its glory while it lasted. Although most critics felt that the movie was not up to par with Burton's quirkier and darker films due to the Walt Disney factor, it was the uniquely designed characters and the strong line-up of actors namely Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen which made the film watchable.
7. IP MAN 2 A sequel that was rushed to completion due to the overwhelming success of the first movie still makes the cut, grossing in excess of RM10.7 million. The film had positive reviews as critics praised various aspects of the film such as its storytelling and Sammo Hung's martial arts choreography. Donnie Yen never cease to amaze us with his outstanding performance as the legendary Wing Chun master. Luckily Donnie was wise enough to decline a third instalment to the franchise, leaving us with wonderful memories of the first two films.
8. RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (also in 3D) The fourth instalment inspired by the famous zombie-shooting video game franchise of CAPCOM has managed to garner more than RM10.6 million, making it the highest-grossing film of the movie series. Despite having numerous negative reviews ranging from character accuracies, portrayals and plotlines, one of the few possible pulling factors at the box office for "Afterlife" would be the array of names, cast as iconic characters from the game such as Ali Larter and Wentworth Miller as the famous Redfield siblings and also the long-awaited feature of special undeads from the famous franchise such as the notorious superhuman antagonist, the tyrant Albert Wesker as well as super monster, the Executioner Majinni which both were taken from Resident Evil 5 game.
9. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS Currently playing in cinemas, the penultimate Potter grossed in excess of RM10.6 million. However, the film would've grossed much higher if the 3D release wasn't cancelled last minute due to time restraint of the 3D conversion. The boy wizard enjoyed a record breaking opening day during the Hari Raya Haji holiday, surpassing the previous six Harry Potter films, according to Warner Bros. Not surprising as people had already seen all six films and are obligated to finish out the series.
10. ENDHIRAN Starring Rajnikanth and Aishwarya Rai in the lead, the Tamil sci-fi blockbuster raked in over RM9.4 million at the end of its 11-week run. Unfortunately, the collection was less than what distributor Lotus Five Star AV had hoped for – RM20 million, after seeing a strong opening of over RM3 million within three days across 80 Malaysian screens. Nonetheless, "Endhiran", shot in exquisite locations including Machu Pichu, did exceptionally well for a Tamil film and not to mention the 61 year old Rajnikanth doesn't look a day old in the movie playing dual roles, as a professor and an android robot.
NGANGKUNG - Highest-Grossing Local Film Of All-Time!
After numerous horror comedies released this year, Shaheizy Sam's "Ngangkung" takes the cake and made history as it topped RM8 million and broke the "Adnan Sempit" all-time highest grossing Malaysian movie record, which previously stood at RM7.8 million. Produced by Metrowealth International Group (MIG), this is the first time a Malaysian made movie has crossed the RM 8 million mark! Malaysians truly love horror-comedies, don't they?
What an impressive feat to conclude the year.
**Ranking as of 31/12/2010