HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Is 2009′s Top Worldwide Blockbuster

Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Jaap Buitendijk / Warner Bros.) (top); Sam Worthington in Avatar (WETA / 20th Century Fox) (middle); Kirsten Stewart, Robert Pattinson in The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Kimberley French / Summit Entertainment) (bottom)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, was the biggest worldwide box-office hit in 2009, grossing $929.4 million, according to Box Office Mojo. More than 2/3 of that amount ($627.4m) came from overseas. In second place was Fox's Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, with $887.6m ($691m, or 77.9%, overseas), and in third, Michael Bay's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, starring Megan Fox, Shia LaBeouf, and Josh Duhamel, with $835m ($432.9m, or 51.8%, overseas).

James Cameron's Avatar comes in fourth, with $760m ($476.2m, or 62.7%, internationally); Roland Emmerich's 2012 is #5 with $734.m ($572.8m, or 78%, overseas, where it became China's biggest box-office hit ever); and Pete Docter's animated Up is #6, with $683m ($390m, or 57.1%, internationally).

In seventh place is the Robert Pattinson-Kristen Stewart-Taylor Lautner vampire-teen-werewolf drama The Twilight Saga: New Moon, with $665.4m ($381.5m, or 57.3%, overseas); at a distant #8 is the Ron Howard-Tom Hanks collaboration Angels & Demons, with $485.9m ($352.6m, or 72.6%, overseas); and at #9 the Bradley Cooper comedy The Hangover, with $459.4m ($182.1m, or 39.6%, internationally).

At #10 is the Ben Stiller flick Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, with $412.7m ($235.4m, or 57.1%, overseas).

Looking at those numbers, it's obvious that US studios currently make most of their money overseas — at least at the box office. Among the top-ten 2009 releases, the only one that made more money domestically than abroad was the comedy The Hangover. Even then, nearly 40% of that film's grosses originated overseas.

That's why one shouldn't underestimate the importance of the international market when it comes to what movies get produced and/or distributed by US studios. With the exception of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, in which Kristen Stewart plays a crucial role, and perhaps Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (no humans), last year's biggest worldwide blockbusters were all focused on male characters (whether live or animated). Also, action and special effects were most everywhere on screen.