Variety has released the top 15 grossing movies of 2008. Let's discuss!

1. THE DARK KNIGHT - 6.8 million worldwide

Well, I think we all expected THE DARK KNIGHT to come in at first place. The real surprise though has been how this masterpiece has been shut out of awards season. I guess it's easy to give a R.I.P. nomination to Heath Ledger, but a little more difficult to admit a comic book movie is worthy of a Best Picture Oscar. Just like Batman himself, Christopher Nolan will have to accept being Hollywood's dirty - but necessary - little secret.

2. INDIANA JONES & THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL - 6.6 million worldwide

Ah, nostalgia! Marvel at its mighty power as it's able to convince millions of people to pay good money for an average movie. It was great to see Harrison Ford back in the fedora, but many of us fans worried he wouldn't be wearing it for long as youth-centric Hollywood seemed keen to hand the chapeau over to Shia LaBeouf. But with EAGLE EYE performing well at the box office and TRANSFORMERS 2 on the horizon, The Beef don't need no steenkin' used franchise.

3. KUNG-FU PANDA - 1.9 million worldwide

While audiences don't seem thrilled by Jack Black in the flesh, his voice suits them just fine! This comedic chop-suey CGI-toon couldn't be contained by the regular screen and hit theaters in IMAX, appealing to young and old alike. Looks like Dreamworks Animation has mastered the art of sarcastic family entertainment (see #11).

4. HANCOCK - 4.4 million worldwide

Apparently Will Smith is something of a superhero himself, able to defeat mediocre scripts and baffling plot twists with his charisma. The Fresh Prince with super powers is definitely a great idea and making him a bad-ass who needs a pubicist for a sidekick is inspired - too bad that stuff was backburnered in the actual movie in favor of some kind of "Gods on Earth" storyline. Hopefully in the prequel or sequel or whatever they're making, HANCOCK will finally live up to its potential.

5. IRON MAN - 1.9 million worldwide

#5?! #5?!?! Remember back in May when Robert Downey Jr. wowed audiences and fanboys praised Marvel - now producing their own movies - for finally getting a comic book movie right? And then THE DARK KNIGHT hit theaters and blew ol' Tony Stark right out of the water. No wonder he becomes an alcoholic in IRON MAN 2, which you can bet will be seeing the light of day a hell of a lot sooner than the next Batman movie.

6. MAMMA MIA -2.1 million worldwide

ABBA's still got it. The Swedish pop group takes to worldwide domination like riding a bike - you never forget! And although the original members are long retired, Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan were welcome replacements. While Streep is getting industry kudos for her performance in DOUBT, audiences loved seeing her let her hair down and be...well...just plain silly. Happily singing along, and opening their wallets, were female audiences who proved to be a demographic to be reckoned with this year (see #10).

7. QUANTUM OF SOLACE - 4.5 million worldwide

Geez, imagine how much money this movie could have made had it been any good. CASINO ROYALE 2 was D.O.A. but fans cut Daniel Craig a little slack, telling themselves "the next one will be better". And that will probably be true if Bond can get over this identity crisis he's having. He's not Bourne and he's not Batman, and that's okay because he's the one that started it all.

8. WALL-E - 7.3 million worldwide

Pixar reminded us all that they're still the animation trailblazers of Hollywood. While Dreamworks Animation is busy making us laugh, Pixar decided to take a risk and try to make us think. Luckily for them - and the planet Earth - they succeeded! Now WALL-E is topping all the "Best of 2008" lists and could walk away with not just a Best Animated Picture Oscar but perhaps even the main prize itself, plain ol' Best Picture Oscar.

9. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN - 9.6 million worldwide

While Narnia might have cracked the Top 10 of 2008, it's still not good enough for Disney who just opted out of distributing the third film in the trilogy. That means production company Walden Media will need to find a new home for their enchanted epic. Word of advice, bring back Tilda Swinton! The charm of the original pic didn't quite carry over into the sequel which was more "Disney Channel" than "Lord of the Rings", not a good change unless Zac Efron is going to wear the crown.

10. SEX & THE CITY - 5.1 million worldwide

HBO made a big splash on the silver screen, finally bringing their original hit to theaters. It might have played like just a couple episodes strung together but Sarah Jessica Parker and company gave their fans what they wanted - marriage to Mr. Big! Apparently getting married is still the top prize for women and they came out in droves to prove it, even dressing up as their favorite characters. Studios will be trying to recapture this lightning in a bottle for years to come!

11. MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA - 7.2 million worldwide

Dreamworks Animation cemented their second franchise after SHREK with this zany jungle toon, repeating their successful formula of getting as many well-known comedians to lend their voices as possible. Just like KUNG-FU PANDA, MADAGASCAR 2 hit IMAX theaters in an effort to make CGI cartoons event movies, and audiences were happy to play along. But with two Dreamworks Animation movies in just one year, will they eventually start cannibalizing each other?

12. THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR - 3.2 million worldwide

Laugh if you must, but The Mummy franchise is back from the dead. Universal knew what it was doing when it brought aboard international superstar Jet-Li to play the film's villain. While American audiences only luke-warmed to this third film, globally it was hot-to-trot. But while things are good for Jet-Li, Brendan Frasier didn't quite flex his own box office muscles - although he'll get the chance to prove himself again in The Mummy 4.

13. WANTED - 2.1 million worldwide

WANTED might be just the third comic book movie to crack the Top 15, and Angelina Jolie might be just the third woman to topline a film in this select group, but - bottom line - results are results! Jolie crashed and burned at the box office with CHANGELING, further proving audiences see her as an action hero. But that's not stopping Jolie from prepping more art-house pics as this half of "Brangelina" won't let anyone define her - even her fans.

14. HORTON HEARS A WHO - 7 million worldwide

Like Jack Black, Jim Carrey has found box office salvation in computer animation. Audiences said "no" to YES MAN but heard Horton loud and clear - a nice recovery not just for Carrey but Dr. Seuss as well after THE CAT IN THE HAT fell flat on its face. Now 20th Century Fox has its second big animation hit after the ICE AGE franchise and seems to be getting closer to competing with heavyweights Pixar and Dreamworks.

15. 10,000 BC - 9.1 million worldwide

It's movies like this that force you to rethink the international market, and to understand that Hollywood knows what they're doing more often than not. A multi-racial cast, timeless locations and a tale about - well, all of our ancestors - is mighty appealing. So when you're wondering why studios bother with bland actioners like, say, TRANSPORTER 3, remember 10,000 BC.