New Movies Summer 2012

Animated comic book heroes dominate this summer's list of blockbuster movies, and almost all have more sequels in the works.

After the dust cleared following the release of the summer season of 2012's new blockbuster movie lineup, there were some clear winners at the box offices around the nation.  Although the summer of 2012 was billed by many as about the most competitive blockbuster season in many years, there were also a few disappointing performances as well, but that is true of any season. Here's a look at the top movies from this summer:

The Avengers
One of this year's biggest hits was Joss Whedon's Avengers. As a sequel to three different comic-based films, Marvel had been building up to the Avengers for nearly half a decade. The film was surprisingly fun and featured an ensemble of convincing heroes that has set a high mark for future Marvel projects, including next year's Iron Man and Thor sequels before we see the inevitable Avengers 2. The Avengers has already earned$1.46 billion before it hits Blu-ray and DVD, a figure that makes it the third biggest film of all time at the non-inflation-adjusted box office, and the biggest box office success of 2012.

The Dark Knight Rises
Lacking the box office returns of the original Dark Knight, Rises has not been a disappointment and has been one of the sure-fire hits of summer 2012. Although it arrived in cinemas a few weeks before the Olympic Games, and towards the end of a summer where two major comic book movies had already done solid business. The theater shootings in Denver on the film's opening weekend made an impact, but did not hurt overall ticket sales much.

Ice Age: Continental Drift
A fourth installment of the Ice Age series, the Continental Drift has done well in the US with $144 million and more to come, but it's the worldwide sales turned it into one of the top three hits of the year to date., with the possibility of breaking $800 million globally. Ice Age series has become one of the most reliable blockbuster franchises on the planet and Continental Drift easily out-grossed this year's other big animated releases including Madagascar 3 and The Lorax.

Magic Mike
Although Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike was made for under $10 million, the film has already crossed the $250m mark worldwide this summer.

Ted
Seth MacFarlane's Ted cost around $50m to make, but the film's has already earned a worldwide gross of $32 million, with 65%- of the take coming from the US alone.

Men in Black 3
Sony had to spend a lot of money bringing the Men In Black franchise back to life after a decade, but its $620 million worldwide gross has made it the most commercially successful of the series at the box office, and Sony is already planning a Men In Black 4.

The Amazing Spider-Man
Andrew Garfield taking over the web slinger's suit from Tobey Maguire resulted in the Spider-Man movie that's made the least money on the series at the box office even accounting for the 3D premium on the ticket price. Sony's goal was to reposition the franchise to give it a fresh run at trilogy of blockbusters based around Spider-Man with the next chapter due in the summer of 2014.