Warner Bros. falls shy of 2010 record despite “Deathly Hallows – Part 2” success

In a new annual studio report card by Reuters, Warner Bros. Studios received a ‘B’ for the year despite having the largest box office hit of the year with the finale Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, and the most commercially successful R-rated comedy of all-time in The Hangover Part II. Warner Bros. (WB) fell to the number 2 studio, behind Paramount Pictures for the year.

WB will fall short of the $1.88 billion it brought in domestically last year, even if the soon-to-be-released Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows manages to match the domestic income of the original film. The reason behind the lowered grade by Reuters comes in part to the failure to turn The Green Lantern into a much-needed new multi-hit franchise, among other disappointing overall sales like Happy Feet, which is in theaters now, but has only brought in $106 million, and cost the company $100 million to produce.

This downturn, in part, is due to the overall attendence being down by 5 percent, and revenue has shrunk by approximately 4 percent. However, 2011 overall is being slated as one of the weakest years that Hollywood has offered to moviegoers worldwide.

In 2010, Warner Brothers released 27 films including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Clash of the Titans, and Valentine’s Day, and brought in an industry leading $4.81 billion globally compared to the 26 films released in 2011 and slightly lower overall sales.

With all of these numbers, it still holds that the number one movie of the year, Deathly Hallows – Part 2, grossed $1.33 billion worldwide and is ranked #3 in revenue sales All-Time Worldwide behind only Avatar and Titanic.

Besides Deathly Hallows – Part 2, what was your favorite movie of the year? Let us know in the comments below.