Summer Movie Scorecard
From blockbusters (Inception) to bombs (The Switch) to surprise performers (The Expendables), The Daily Beast's Peter Lauria factors in budget, gross, buzz, and expectations to rank the films of the season.
Melissa Moseley / Warner Bros.,Melissa Moseley SMPSP
Release Date: July 16, 2010
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page
Production Budget: $160 million
Domestic Gross: $270.5 million
Foreign Gross: $387 million
Worldwide Gross: $657.5 million
Plot: Suspense thriller about how technology can invade dreams and become a valuable asset or dangerous weapon.
Melissa Moseley / Warner Bros.
Release Date: June 18, 2010
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen
Production Budget: $200 million
Domestic Gross: $405.7 million
Foreign Gross: $606.4 million
Worldwide Gross: $1.01 billion
Plot: Left in a day-care center, Woody and Buzz take their toy friends on another zany adventure.
Pixar
Release Date: June 25, 2010
Starring: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin St. James, David Spade
Production Budget: $80 million
Domestic Gross: $159.4 million
Foreign Gross: $59.4 million
Worldwide Gross: $218.8 million
Plot: Group of childhood friends reunite after high school basketball coach dies, hilarity ensues.
Tracy Bennett / Sony Pictures
Release Date: July 9, 2010
Starring: Steve Carell, Russell Brand
Production Budget: $69 million
Domestic Gross: $236.3 million
Foreign Gross: $69.6 million
Worldwide Gross: $305.9 million
Plot: Orphan girls turn criminal mastermind into a softie.
Universal Pictures
Release Date: July 1, 2010
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart
Production Budget: $68 million
Domestic Gross: $298 million
Foreign Gross: $356.7 million
Worldwide Gross: $654.7 million
Plot: Hormonal vampires return to figure out love and the afterlife as high school graduation approaches.
Kimberley French / Summit Entertainment
Release Date: June 11, 2010
Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan
Production Budget: $40 million
Domestic Gross: $176 million
Foreign Gross: $124.2 million
Worldwide Gross: $300.2 million
Plot: Classic '80s franchise about a kid fighting, both literally and figuratively, to fit in and win over the girl, this time in China instead of Los Angeles.
Jasin Boland / Columbia Pictures
Release Date: July 23, 2010
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber
Production Budget: $110 million
Domestic Gross: $113.3 million
Foreign Gross: $106.3 million
Worldwide Gross: $219.6 million
Plot: A CIA agent fights to clear her name after being accused of being a Russian spy.
Sony Pictures
Release Date: July 9, 2010
Starring: Julianne Moore, Annette Bening
Production Budget: $4 million
Domestic Gross: $19.1 million
Foreign Gross: N/A
Worldwide Gross: $19.1 million
Plot: A sperm donor joins the family of the children he helped father.
Suzanne Tenner / Focus Features
Release Date: May 7, 2010
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke
Production Budget: $200 million
Domestic Gross: $312.1 million
Foreign Gross: $310 million
Worldwide Gross: $622.1 million
Plot: Billionaire Tony Stark faces news dangers from the government, enemies, and even friends.
Industrial Light and Magic
Release Date: Aug. 6, 2010
Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg
Production Budget: $100 million
Domestic Gross: $99 million
Foreign Gross: N/A
Worldwide Gross: $99 million
Plot: Two hapless police officers working desk jobs get a shot at redemption in the field.
Macall Polay / Columbia Pictures
Release Date: May 28, 2010
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley
Production Budget: $200 million
Domestic Gross: $90.6 million
Foreign Gross: $239 million
Worldwide Gross: $329.6 million
Plot: A prince and princess conspire to save the world from destruction.
Walt Disney Pictures
Release Date: Aug. 13, 2010
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Production Budget: $60 million
Domestic Gross: $26.2 million
Foreign Gross: $6.2 million
Worldwide Gross: $32.4 million
Plot: A nerdy hero faces off against his girlfriends seven ex-boyfriends.
Universal Pictures
Release Date: June 25, 2010
Starring: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz
Production Budget: $117 million
Domestic Gross: $76 million
Foreign Gross: $146.5 million
Worldwide Gross: $222.5 million
Plot: The lives of a secret agent and a regular girl get dangerously and hilariously crossed.
20th Century FOX
Release Date: July 30, 2010
Starring: Zac Efron, Kim Basinger
Production Budget: $44 million
Domestic Gross: $30.7 million
Foreign Gross: $326,100
Worldwide Gross: $31 million
Plot: Eponymous title character finds a reason to live after the death of his younger brother.
Universal Pictures
Release Date: July 14, 2010
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Alfred Molina
Production Budget: $150 million
Domestic Gross: $61.1 million
Foreign Gross: $103.4 million
Worldwide Gross: $164.5 million
Plot: A sorcerer recruits a protégé to help fight his nemesis.
Walt Disney Pictures
Release Date: Aug. 20, 2010
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman
Production Budget: N/A
Domestic Gross: $16.8 million
Foreign Gross: $1.1 million
Worldwide Gross: $17.9 million
Plot: Unbeknownst to her, a woman is artificially inseminated by her best friend.
Miramax
Release Date: July 30, 2010
Starring: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd
Production Budget: $69 million
Domestic Gross: $69.2 million
Foreign Gross: $298,321
Worldwide Gross: $69.5 million
Plot: Guests attend a dinner party competition to see who can bring the biggest moron to the table.
Photography by: Merie Weismiller Wallace SMPSP
Release Date: July 30, 2010
Starring: Christina Applegate, Neil Patrick Harris
Production Budget: $85 million
Domestic Gross: $41.3 million
Foreign Gross: $44 million
Worldwide Gross: $85.3 million
Plot: Felines and canines unite to save the world.
Warner Bros.
Release Date: June 18, 2010
Starring: Josh Brolin, Megan Fox
Production Budget: $47 million
Domestic Gross: $10.5 million
Foreign Gross: N/A
Worldwide Gross: $10.5 million
Plot: A bounty hunter must stop a terrorist in order to free himself.
Jamie Trueblood / Warner Bros.
Release Date: June 4, 2010
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl
Production Budget: $75 million
Domestic Gross: $47 million
Foreign Gross: $40.5 million
Worldwide Gross: $87.5 million
Plot: A couple discover that their neighbors have been hired to kill them.
Lionsgate
Release Date: July 1, 2010
Starring: Dev Patel
Production Budget: $150 million
Domestic Gross: $130.6 million
Foreign Gross: $122.2 million
Worldwide Gross: $252.8 million
Plot: A young avatar must save the kingdoms of water, earth, and air from an attack by the fire kingdom.
Paramount Pictures
Release Date: Aug. 13, 2010
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis
Production Budget: $80 million
Domestic Gross: $82 million
Foreign Gross: N/A
Worldwide Gross: $82 million
Plot: An elite squad of mercenaries goes on assignment in South America.
Lionsgate
Release Date: June 4, 2010
Starring: Russell Brand, Jonah Hill
Production Budget: $40 million
Domestic Gross: $61 million
Foreign Gross: $22.3 million
Worldwide Gross: $83.3 million
Plot: A record label intern has to get an unpredictable rock star to a show on time.
Glen Wilson / Universal Pictures
Release Date: May 14, 2010
Starring: Vanessa Redgrave, Amanda Seyfried
Production Budget: $30 million
Domestic Gross: $53 million
Foreign Gross: $14.3 million
Worldwide Gross: $67.3 million
Plot: On vacation in Italy, an American girl finds a letter that sends her on a quest to find true love.
John P. Johnson / Summit Entertainment
Release Date: June 4, 2010
Starring: Steve Coogan, Sam Elliott, George Lopez
Production Budget: $50 million
Domestic Gross: $33.6 million
Foreign Gross: $36 million
Worldwide Gross: $69.6 million
Plot: The lovable cartoon dog comes to life in chaotic and zany fashion.
Twentieth Century Fox
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