The Walt Disney Company (DIS), Comcast Corporation (CMCSA): The Highest-Grossing Movies of 2013

For now, though, Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) investors can also enjoy the surprising strength and comparatively low production budget of Despicable Me 2, which was only released on July 3 and effectively played the role of the silver bullet to The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)’s The Lone Ranger a few weeks ago.

Don’t roll the credits just yet
In the meantime, however, let’s not forget there’s still plenty of time for this list to change as 2013 rolls on.

Remember, News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA).’s 20th Century Fox unleashes The Wolverine this weekend, which I’m guessing should have little trouble recouping its estimated $125 million budget given the relative success of the company’s previous X-Men films.

The Wolverine. Image source: thewolverinemovie.com.

Then again, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) also has a few more cards to play this year, including DisneyToon’s Planes, a promising spinoff from Pixar’s Cars franchise, which also launches two weeks from today.

For the comic-book fans out there, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) is also offering Thor: The Dark World in November. And if you can’t wait until then and don’t mind comic book movies of the R-Rated variety, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)’s Universal is bringing both 2 Guns and Kick-Ass 2 to theaters in August.

Some of the biggest competition to mix up the current top 10, however, should arrive as 2013 comes to a close.

In November, for example, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (USA) (NYSE:LGF) will release The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which has some big shoes to fill after the first film in the franchise achieved more than $691 million in global ticket sales last year.

Finally, Warner Brothers has plenty at stake with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which arrives in December and follows a more than $1 billion showing from 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The article The Highest-Grossing Movies of 2013 originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Steve Symington.

Fool contributor Steve Symington owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, DreamWorks Animation, Google, Netflix, and Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) and owns shares of Apple, Google, Netflix, and Walt Disney.

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