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Looking ahead at the 2014 schedule, which movies—if any—have a chance at reaching the coveted $1 billion mark?Withrecently passing $1 billion and the Summer movie season right around the corner, now is as good a time as any to dive in to this question.To date, only 16 movies have reached this level in their initial runs (andneeded 3D re-releases). With the rapid expansion of the foreign marketplace and the addition of 3D premiums, the chance of getting to $1 billion is higher than ever: in the past three years alone, nine different movies have made it there.Of those nine, only one () was an original movie. The rest are sequels, which were all able to grow an existing fanbase (rather than create one from scratch). It should be no surprise, then, that the 2014 releases with the best chance of reaching $1 billion are mostly franchise titles.Of course, there's always a chance that something will surprise, asrecently showed (it wasn't even included in this same feature last year).Also worth noting: next year has three movies that are essentially guaranteed to earn over $1 billion:and. Other strong contenders includeandHere the odds on some of 2014's biggest movies, broken down in to two categories: "sequels" and "originals."(April)By the end of its first weekend in the U.S., thesequel had already earned over $300 million worldwide. With strong reviews and good word-of-mouth, it seems like a safe bet thatcan wind up above($645 million). Still, it would require incredible holds to get to $1 billion, and it's going to run in to tough competition frombeginning in mid-April.10%(May)Thecharacter has always had a strong worldwide presence: all four of the movies so far have earned over $750 million. However, even with 3D premiums, 2012'swas the lowest-grossing one so far, which suggests this series has lost some of its luster.does have a number of advantages, though. First, it has a better release date—the first weekend of May has historically been the best place to launch a comic book movie, and bothandrecently over-performed in this spot. It also ups the ante with a handful of villains, including fan favorite Green Goblin.Still,only received a so-so response, which makes two underwhelmingmovies in a row. That's not a good trend, and usually foreshadows declining grosses. As of now, the best-case scenario foris probably around $850 million worldwide.20%(May)Bringing together the original cast and thecast,is being positioned as theofmovies. The original team delivers a strong jolt of nostalgia, while thegroup has a significantly higher profile now than they did three years ago (in particular, Jennifer Lawrence is now a global superstar). Add in an exciting, high-stakes story involving time travel, andis guaranteed to be the highest-grossingmovie yet.Unfortunately, thefranchise doesn't have the greatest track record at the box office. Its domestic high is $234.4 million (2006's), while its overseas high is $282.3 million (last year's). If it can grow the audience likeor, it will clear $1 billion, but the odds of that happening are low.20%.(June)The firstearned just shy of $500 million worldwide in early 2010. With goodwill from that well-received installment, and with a Summer that's oddly lacking animated competition,is going to see significantly higher numbers. Last Summer'sleveraged its strong brand in to a 79 percent increase: ifdoes the same, it will fall just short of $900 million.25%(June)From day one, thefranchise was a huge moneymaker. It reached new heights with the third installment,, which earned over $1.12 billion worldwide (currently sixth all-time). Whileloses Shia LaBeouf , it adds Mark Wahlberg and dinosaur robots (so, probably a net gain).With the questionable quality of the past two installments—and the general franchise fatigue that usually sets in by a fourth entry—will almost certainly take a dip at the domestic box office. It's foolish to think this is made for U.S. audiences, though, and it should hold relatively steady overseas. In particular, look for it to put up record numbers in China: the last one earned over $165 million there, andis partially set in the country.70%(July)The firstreboot—2011's—earned $482 million worldwide, and remains well-liked three years later. The sequel takes the story in an exciting new direction, pitting apes against humans in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. With a strong mid-July release date and the addition of 3D, it's undoubtedly going to get a big bump over its predecessor.As with most of these other movies, though, the odds are extremely low that a sequel can double its predecessor's grosses. As a result,is a very unlikely $1 billion contender.15%(November)earned $865 million worldwide, which was a 25 percent improvement over its predecessor. Ifexperienced a similar boost, it would wind up close to $1.1 billion.The odds of that happening again are slim. The first half of thebook is largely set-up, and diverts significantly from thestructure (there aren't any "games" this time around). Penultimate chapters in theandfranchises—both of which were also the first half of a final book—only gained two percent on their predecessors.will almost certainly do better than this, but $1 billion still isn't a lock.40%(December)The firstmovie made it just past $1 billion, whilepetered out around $950 million. The final installment will likely get back over $1 billion: audiences seemed to enjoymore than its predecessor, and series conclusions tend to see increased attendance.55%Box Office Mojo