These three films won't get much attention at the Academy Awards on Sunday and only "The Avengers" garnered a nomination, for Best Visual Effects. But in a another sign of Hollywood's winning year, six of the nine competitors for Best Picture hauled in at least $100 million apiece at U.S. and Canadian theaters.
James Bond also returned from a four-year absence with a vengeance and snagged five Oscar nods. "Skyfall," made jointly by MGM and Sony Pictures, grossed $304 million in domestic ticket sales and $1.1 billion internationally — the most of any of the 24 Bond films tracked by Box Office Mojo, and nearly twice as much as the second-ranked film, "Quantum of Solace," in 2008.
"It was a terrific year," said Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson, whose studio made "Ted" and Dr. Seuss' "The Lorax," both with box office sales over $200 million. "Give consumers something that's interesting and you can still get them to come out of their house."
U.S. and Canadian movie theaters sold more than 1.3 billion tickets in 2012, a 5.3 percent hike and the second time in five years that ticket sales increased. That propelled the box office to a record $10.8 billion, up nearly 5.8 percent.