6 Unexpected Box Office Hits of 2009

2009 is wrapping up and now is a time to take a look back at the movies that no one expected to do as well as they did. The unexpected box-office hits of 2009... some may even call them surprise hit movies.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Budget: $26 million
Domestic Gross: $146.3 million
It was mid-January when this mediocre comedy took charge of the box-office as there was no competition in its way.

Taken
Budget: $25 million
Domestic Gross: $145 million
A couple of weeks after Paul Blart, who knew Liam Neeson could star in an ass-kicking hit movie.

The Hangover
Budget: $35 million
Domestic Gross: $277.3 million
A low-budget movie with no big stars trumped a $100 million Will Ferrell movie that came out the same weekend. The Hangover has gone on to become the highest grossing comedy of all time and so far has garnered almost $460 million worldwide.

District 9
Budget: $30 million
Domestic Gross: $115.6 million
It's mid-August and the summer movie line up is dying down. In comes in this low-budget sci-fi movie that garners a lot of web buzz and becomes one of the most interesting sci-fi movies in recent times.

Paranormal Activity
Budget: $15,000
Domestic Gross: $107.7 million
A movie made for less than the price of a car gets picked up by a studio, who decides to reshoot it and make it into a studio movie. But before they could reshoot it, the buzz on the original, DV version, garners so much buzz, that they decide to release it while also getting Spielberg to write a new ending for it. Paranormal Activity becomes the most profitable movie according to percentage returns.

The Blind Side
Budget: $29 million
Domestic Gross: $184.4 million (as of 12/28/09)
A formulaic but heartfelt and feel-good movie that came out at a time when the public wanted to see it. I don't think anyone expected this movie to do this well.