12 Summer Movies That Smashed Expectations

Earlier this month we brought you the biggest box-office bombs of the summer.

Considering the summer generated a record $4.7 billion it's only fair also to look at the films that performed well.

There were plenty of them.

Note: These are not the highest-grossing films of the summer. This list is made up of the movies that surprised and exceeded expectations.

Other notable films include Disney Toons film "Planes" - an obvious spinoff of Pixar's "Cars" - earned $139 million worldwide when it only cost an estimated $50 million.

Seth Rogen's "This is the End" grossed $118 million on an estimated $32 million budget.

"Monsters University" doesn't appear on this list, because the film was expected to follow the Pixar streak of success. The "Monsters Inc." prequel had the second-largest opening of any Pixar movie ever behind 2010's "Toy Story 3."

There was no surprise that "Iron Man 3" fared well at theaters, but it wasn't expected to have the second-highest opening weekend of all time.