With 2011 now in the past, we can review the Top 10 Highest-Grossing films of the year.

Unsurprisingly, films like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 ranked high!

These numbers are United States box office returns.

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($381 million)
2) Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($352 million)
3) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 ($276 million)
4) The Hangover Part II ($254 million)
5) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($241 million)
6) Fast Five ($209 million)
7) Cars 2 ($191 million)
8) Thor ($181 million)
9) Rise of the Planet of the Apes ($176 million)
10) Captain America: The First Avenger ($176 million)

Overall it was a nice year for franchises. Potter, Transformers, Twilight, Pirates, and Fast and the Furious all had successful new films – whether or not they deserved big box office returns.

Thanks to Box Office Mojo for the info.

UPDATE: By request, below is the Top 10 Highest-Grossing films worldwide in 2011:

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($1.328 billion)
2) Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($1.123 billion)
3) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($1.043 billion)
4) Kung Fu Panda 2 ($665.7 million)
5) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 ($657.1 million)
6) Fast Five ($626.1 million)
7) The Hangover Part II ($581.5 million)
8) The Smurfs ($562.5 million)
9) Cars 2 ($559.9 million)
10) Rio ($484.6 million)