This is it

You've all been waiting for #1. Here is the list again:

#10) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian: $170 million

#9) Star Trek: $177 million

#8) The Twilight Saga: New Moon: $182 million

#7) Where the Wild Things Are: $203 million

#6) X-Men Origins: Wolverine: $208 million

#5) Up: $224 million

#4) Terminator: Salvation: $234 million

#3) Avatar: $286 million

#2) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: $317 million

And your 2009 box office champion will be...

#1) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: $415 million

Here are how action sequel box office grosses have increased in this decade- National Treasure: +27%, Pirates of the Caribbean: +37%, Bourne: +45%, Matrix: +64%: all coming on the heels of their predecessors. That is the key. The buzz is still there. Indiana Jones and Terminator 3 suffered because people had forgotten the originals already. And you wonder why Hollywood never comes up with any new ideas for movies. 

Transformers, despite its mediocre reviews, finished third in 2007. Only third editions from Spider-Man and Shrek could beat it, and not by much. If I give the film a seemingly pedestrian increase of 30%, that still adds almost $96 million to its 2007 gross. I thought the first movie mostly sucked. But the special effects were so bad-ass that I will guarantee myself a spot in the theater on opening night. You will too.

Big shout out (and retaliatory deep chop) to Michael Pearce for guessing correctly (sort of).