1. The Hobbit: There And Back Again (Estimated Gross: $1.1bn)
While Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy isn't as universally adored as The Lord of the Rings, there is enough evidence to suggest that There and Back Again will end 2014 as the biggest movie of the year. This will be the last chance audiences will have to see Middle Earth on the big screen and will surely result in a significant boost in box office takings. Stretching a 300 page book to nine hours of cinema was always going to be a tough task, and the lukewarm response to An Unexpected Journey confirmed it. Despite being considered the weakest entry of the entire Middle Earth franchise, the first movie still grossed over a billion dollars on its way to becoming the fourth-biggest hit of 2012. However, the mixed reaction has seen The Desolation of Smaug fall well short of the ten-figure mark despite it being a much better movie, although its $834.7m (and counting) gross is still a healthy number. So far, the two Hobbit movies have also posted the lowest domestic totals amongst Tolkien adaptations, but the increasingly-important overseas market now accounts for over 70% of the total gross. Typically, movies marketed as the final installment of a popular series have received a huge bump at the box office. The final chapters in the Toy Story, Twilight, Harry Potter and of course Lord of the Rings franchises resulted in record grosses and The Hobbit will no doubt follow suit. Although it will not match The Return of the Kings $1.12bn total, the continued popularity of Tolkien's Middle Earth, the promise of the epic Battle of Five Armies and There and Back Again's position as the final movie set in this world will see it comfortably become the year's biggest hit.
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