Iron Man 3 is the highest grossing film of 2013, taking over $1.2 billion in box office revenue.
Released in April, Marvel’s blockbuster is the sixteenth film to ever earn more than $1 billion, and currently stands as the fifth highest-grossing film of all time. Combining The Avengers and the previous films in the Iron Man series, the character has earned over $3.8 billion in box office revenue, meaning he is the highest earning cinematic superhero ever.
The movie was far ahead of the nearest rival, Despicable Me 2, which revisited Gru and his minions following the success of the 2010 debut.
Fast & Furious 6 was at number three, while The Hunger Games: Catching Fire took over $770 million, $80 million more than the first film in the series which was released last year.
Only four of the top 20 highest-grossing films were not sequels or based on books or existing intellectual properties, with Gravity being the most successful of these, grossing $652 million at the box office. Gravity received critical and commercial acclaim on release in November with impressive performances from Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.
Monsters University comes in at number five, following up the 2001 film Monsters, Inc. The film is the first prequel ever to be made by Pixar, telling the story of how Sulley and Mike first met.
The top 20 highest-grossing films internationally in 2013:
1. Iron Man 3 – $1,215,439,994
2. Despicable Me 2 – $918,573,535
3. Fast & Furious 6 – $788,679,850
4. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – $771,484,011
5. Monsters University – $743,559,607
6. Man of Steel – $662,845,518
7. Gravity – $652,394,288
8. Thor: The Dark World – $627,858,622
9. The Croods – $587,204,668
10. World War Z – $540,007,876
11. Oz the Great and Powerful – $493,311,825
12. Star Trek Into Darkness – $467,365,246
13. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – $426,244,000
14. The Wolverine – $414,828,246
15. Pacific Rim – $407,602,906
16. GI Joe: Retaliation – $375,740,705
17. Frozen – $363,012,773
18. Now You See Me – $351,723,989
19. The Hangover Part III – $351,000,072
20. The Great Gatsby – $348,840,419
