Comic film adaptations are big dollars and we track how they do each week to see trends and what’s working and what’s not.
2018 is a record setting year for comic film adaptations. It has topped 2017’s record year and then some. Currently, comic adaptations have earned $2.607 billion domestically, $4.410 billion internationally, $7.018 billion worldwide, with a “profit” of $5.806 billion. That’s off of 10 films. 2017, with 16 films, saw domestic earnings of $2.365 billion, international earnings of $3.755 billion, worldwide earnings of $6.120 billion, and “profits” of $4.442 billion.
In second place at this past weekend’s box office was Aquaman which dropped from first place after three weeks on top. The film added an estimated $17.26 million domestically and $27.9 million internationally. That pushed the film to $1.020 billion worldwide which has it as the second highest grossing DC Comics film worldwide. It’s the first film in the DC Cinematic universe to cross the billion dollar mark and the ninth comic film to do so. It currently is the eighth highest grossing comic film worldwide ever.
Interestingly, the film is the second lowest DC Cinematic film so far beating just Justice League. It needs about another $4 million to pass Man of Steel. The film is first when it comes to international earnings by almost $200 million. That’s the difference. It’s also rather average when it comes to the budget for those films.
The film’s box office success has China to thank where it has earned almost the same amount as it has domestically. Domestically, the film has brought in $287.9 million while in China it has earned $284.9 million.
The film needs to earn $64.6 million to be the top grossing DC film ever and it is likely to do just that before its run is over. It opens in Japan on February 8 so will likely succeed in doing that and more.
In fourth place this past weekend was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse fresh off of its Golden Globe win. The film earned an estimated $9 million in its fifth week. Domestically the film has earned $147.7 million. Internationally it added. $9.4 million to bring that total to $154.6 million and worldwide earnings to $302.4 million. With a budget of just $90 million, the film has done well and will likely have longer legs with award season showering it with accolades.
This past weekend Venomdidn’t chart but earned about $70,000 domestically and $100,000 internationally over the week. The film now stands at $213.4 million domestically and $642.2 internationally for a worldwide total of $855.7 million. There’s a chance the film will become the highest grossing “Spider-Man” film before its run is done and make it into the top ten comic based films of all time.
The film also shows that budget isn’t everything. It has the best return in multiplier when it comes to budget for a comic film of 2018, so far. With 8.56x it beats Avengers: Infinity War‘s 6.83x and 6.73x for Black Panther.
With a budget of just $100 million, the film is quite profitable and another success for Sony’s Spider-Man franchise which previously earned on average $318.8 million domestically, $488.4 million internationally, and $807.2 million worldwide. The film is likely to be the second or third worst performing Spider-Man related film domestically for Sony but first currently internationally. The difference is the budget is almost half the other films allowing for a healthy profit. The film is leaning heavily on the international market where it has earned 75.07% of its earnings compared to 62.65% for other Spider-Man films.
Once Upon a Deadpool didn’t chart for the weekend but did bring in dollars over the week. It added $40,000 to its domestic total and $880,000 to its international total. Those amounts are being added to the original film, Deadpool 2‘s, earnings. Deadpool 2 has earned $324.6 million domestically, $419.1 internationally, and $743.6 million worldwide.
Avengers: Infinity War has gained some more dollars. The film added about $1,200 to its international earnings.
Here’s where this year’s comic films stand as far as the actual numbers.
Total Domestic Gross: $2.607 billion Total International Gross: $4.410 billion Worldwide Gross: $7.018 billion Total Reported Budgets: $1.187 billion Total “Profit”: $5.806 billion
Average Domestic Gross: $260.7 million Average International Gross: $441 million Average: Worldwide Gross: $701.8 million Average Budget: $131.9 million Average Profit: $569.9 million
Below is where the films released stand when it comes to being compared to this year’s averages. Those in green are above average while those below are red.
Comic film adaptations are big dollars and we track how they do each week to see trends and what’s working and what’s not.
2018 is a record setting year for comic film adaptations. It has topped 2017’s record year and then some. Currently, comic adaptations have earned $2.565 billion domestically, $4.345 billion internationally, $6.910 billion worldwide, with a “profit” of $5.698 billion. That’s off of 10 films. 2017, with 16 films, saw domestic earnings of $2.365 billion, international earnings of $3.755 billion, worldwide earnings of $6.120 billion, and “profits” of $4.442 billion.
Aquaman is the little film that could. After a domestic debut that some called a failure the film is now the top grossing DC Cinematic Universe film as it has now earned $940.7 million worldwide and will be the first of that film universe to cross $1 billion (though not the first DC related film).
This past weekend the film earned an estimated $30.7 million to come in first place for the third weekend. It has now earned $259.7 million domestically which is about what Wonder Woman did after the same time period. Wonder Woman went on to gross $407.2 million domestically to be the highest grossing domestic film of the DC Cinematic Universe.
Internationally is where the film has really taken off adding another $56.2 million this past weekend from 79 markets to bring its international total to $681 million. The film has passed Black Panther in international earnings to be the second highest grossing internationally comic film of the year and third for all films.
The film is the top of the new batch of DC films beating the previous king Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice by nearly $70 million and that will only expand. As far as all films based on DC Comics, it currently ranks third behind The Dark Knightand The Dark Knight Rises. It will need about $150 million to become the highest grossing DC film of all time worldwide and it will likely cross $1 billion. The film still hasn’t opened in Japan and will do so in February 8. That’s the last key market to see release.
The movie is now the ninth highest grossing comic film of all time worldwide and will need to pass those two Batman films to move higher on the list. While there’s a chance it’ll do that, it’d need over $230 million to get to #6 on the list.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse held on to fourth place this past weekend with an estimated $13 million to bring its domestic total to $133.9 million. It added $11.7 million overseas to bring that total to $141.5 million and $275.4 million worldwide. The recent Golden Globe win should boost the film’s box office over the next week or two and a likely Oscar win will do the film well. It shouldn’t be expected for this film to do numbers like other Spider-Man films and with a much smaller budget, the film has done quite fine.
This past weekend Venomdidn’t chart but earned about $165,000 domestically and $180,000 internationally over the week. The film now stands at $213.4 million domestically and $642.1 internationally for a worldwide total of $855.5 million. There’s a chance the film will become the highest grossing “Spider-Man” film before its run is done and make it into the top ten comic based films of all time.
The film also shows that budget isn’t everything. It has the best return in multiplier when it comes to budget for a comic film of 2018, so far. With 8.56x it beats Avengers: Infinity War‘s 6.83x and 6.73x for Black Panther.
With a budget of just $100 million, the film is quite profitable and another success for Sony’s Spider-Man franchise which previously earned on average $318.8 million domestically, $488.4 million internationally, and $807.2 million worldwide. The film is likely to be the second or third worst performing Spider-Man related film domestically for Sony but first currently internationally. The difference is the budget is almost half the other films allowing for a healthy profit. The film is leaning heavily on the international market where it has earned 75.07% of its earnings compared to 62.65% for other Spider-Man films.
Once Upon a Deadpool didn’t chart for the weekend but did bring in dollars over the week. It added $70,000 to its domestic total and $50,000 to its international total. Those amounts are being added to the original film, Deadpool 2‘s, earnings. Deadpool 2 has earned $324.5 million domestically, $418.1 internationally, and $742.7 million worldwide.
Avengers: Infinity War has gained some more dollars. The film added about $3,000 to its international earnings.
Here’s where this year’s comic films stand as far as the actual numbers.
Total Domestic Gross: $2.565 billion Total International Gross: $4.345 billion Worldwide Gross: $6.910 billion Total Reported Budgets: $1.187 billion Total “Profit”: $5.698 billion
Average Domestic Gross: $256.5 million Average International Gross: $434.5 million Average: Worldwide Gross: $691 million Average Budget: $131.9 million Average Profit: $559.1 million
Below is where the films released stand when it comes to being compared to this year’s averages. Those in green are above average while those below are red.
Well, 2018 was quite a year. While I didn’t have a hard time picking my top five favorite films of the year, what I was surprised by was the “big middle” of everything I saw this year. Of the hundreds of movies I saw between theaters, film festivals, and originals thanks to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, my average for everything I rated was a 3.461765 stars (out of 5). And while I only had a single 5 star movie (spoiler, it’s my #1), my most common rating for the year was a 4.5 (15 films) and a 3.5 (14 films). In terms of raw scores, my #36 isn’t that far off of my #6. That’s all to say we had a lot of really good movies– mixed with a few truly greats.
Because of that (call it indulgent, IDC) I’m giving you my Top 40, just like Casey Kasem back in the day.
The Top 40- 11: (if you skip these to get to the top ten I won’t be offended)
40. Operation Finale – Oscar Isaac leads a Mossad team to take down Adolf Eichman (Ben Kingsley) are you kidding me?!? Had to see this. File under: Jews kicking ass. 39. Overlord – the corollary to #40, but a black paratrooper taking out crazy Nazi scientists doing superhuman experiments. Reminds us Nazis are the bad guys. 38. The Rachel Divide-A Netflix documentary about Rachel Dolezal, mostly in her own words, the activist who claims she is trans-racial. It’ll make you think. 37. Ready Player One– This was my 13 yr old daughter’s favorite movie of the year. It reminds us that fun Spielberg is fun. 36. Ralph Breaks the Internet – It makes the list just for the Disney princess scene and “A Place Called Slaughter Race.” 35. A Simple Favor – Heavy on style, Anna Kendrick plays up the fun angle with director Paul Feig as a mommy blogger whose new best friend disappears. There’s a fun sort of “true crime” type mystery with the comedy here. 34. Mandy– this movie feels like a relic of another time — specifically, the 80’s with definite hints of Heavy Metal — and feels like it was made under the influence of a lot of drugs as Nicholas Cage takes revenge on a crazy cult who murdered his wife.
33. BlackkKlansman – I should’ve loved this movie more, but its weird tacked-on ending sort of blew it, and only in one shot in the entire movie did it feel like this was the same Spike Lee who gave us Do the Right Thing. 32. Quincy – Rashida Jones gives us the most intimate look at her father, master composer Quincy Jones. A great watch on Netflix. 31. Deadpool 2 – It’s a Deadpool movie. It’s great. 30. Widows – It’s a high stakes, high concept heist movie with an amazing female cast and political intrigue. It’s great. 29. Mary Poppins Returns – I love Mary Poppins. And Lin Manuel Miranda. It’s not as immediately classic as the original, but who expected it to? Emily Blunt is still amazing. And it’s great. 28. Hereditary – This is the movie that stuck with me the longest. Still, thinking about this movie makes me want to turn on all the lights in my house. Also, an amazing acting job by Toni Collette. 27. Number 37 – A movie you probably never heard of! I caught this gem at SXSW and fell in love. A South African slum gangland take on Rear Window by a first time black female director. Yes please. 26. RBG – This was a great year for documentaries. This one on the Notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg checks all my boxes. 25. Incredibles II – This sequel to one of the greatest animated movies of all time (and one of the greatest superhero movies of all time) did some really amazing things thanks to director Brad Bird,, but the ending took it down a few notches. But the fact that this ended up at 25 tells you just how competitive this year was. 24. Blindspotting – Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal‘s tale of police violence, Oakland, and hip hop was a little too pat in its ending, but was otherwise masterful. A main reason Oakland ended up on my list of “Who won 2018?”
23. Searching – We’ve now seen several of these movies where they’re told only through what we can see on the screen of a computers. Like found footage, there are good and bad, and this is a good one. John Cho and Debra Messing deliver powerful performances in a story about trying to piece together the mystery of a missing daughter through her social media footprint, intertwined with a father losing touch with his daughter in the age of screens. 22. Bad Times at the El Royale – This might’ve ended up higher on the list if it had delivered more on substance over style, but this was still pretty amazing. And that soundtrack! 21. Minding the Gap – An amazing documentary about young adults growing up as friends in a rust belt town as skate punks and how life and domestic abuse has kept them back. Fascinating and maybe a bit too real. 20. A Quiet Place – Wow. Nothing quite shocked audiences as much as this, as well as exposed the worst theater-goers in America. Shut up or the monsters win! One of several reasons why I said Emily Blunt and John Krasinski won the year of 2018. 19. Leave No Trace – Props to writer/director Debra Granik and to amazing performances by Ben Foster and breakout star Thomasin McKenzie in this heartwrenching look at a dad dealing with PTSD who lives a solitary existence off the grid in the woods with his young teen daughter. Of course, when Child Protective Services finds out. . . well, you’re not exactly allowed to do that. And drama ensues. (18.- tie) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – There’s a debate as to whether this is a movie, as it is currently being presented by Netflix, or a tv miniseries, which was how the Coen Brothers originally pitched it. This is peak Coen in all their forms, but if this is a movie, this is where it would fall. 18. Mission Impossible: Fallout– Finally it feels like writer/director Christopher McQuarrie leveled up his directing to the level of his writing ability. The perfect summer movie, even if I liked a few other movies from the summer of ’18 a little more. 17. Annihilation – Along with Hereditary, this was the movie that stuck with me (in my nightmares). Astounding visuals and an amazing ending, and an amazing cast. 16. Avengers: Infinity War – We knew we’d get to this eventually, right? There isn’t much more to add. Bring on 2019’s conclusion and Captain Marvel.
15. Upgrade – Done on a tiny budget, this movie packs a punch of a $150 million blockbuster. Brutal, fun, and thoughtful. 14. Vice– Dear Writer/Director Adam McKay, Don’t lie– you made this movie just for me to enjoy, right? Built to my tastes? The fact this isn’t in my top 10 (it would be in any other year) says a lot about the other films on this list. 13. The Favourite– Dear Writer/Director Yourgos Lanthimos, Same Question. Also, thanks for bringing back the fish-eye lens. 12. Crazy Rich Asians – I haven’t wholeheartedly loved a romantic comedy like this in ages. Just pure fun, and its stellar cast is amazing. 11. Won’t You Be My Neighbor – The movie most likely to make me cry in 2018. This is just sheer goodness. Again, how is this not in my top 10?
The answer is because those movies in my top 10 are just so great themselves. Here you go, without any further ado:
10. Roma
“We are alone. No matter what they tell you, we women are always alone.” A beautiful film by one of the best directors working today, Alfonso Cuaron. An ode to his maid, growing up in an upper-middle class house in Mexico City, this has some of the most beautiful and thoughtful cinematography of any film. The fact that it’s in black and white should also be telling. Even more importantly, the fact that Netflix is going to be in the mix for a Best Picture this year should have every movie studio quaking in their boots. If you watch this at home in your pajamas instead of in a theater, no one will think less of you, or at least I won’t. Just watch it.
9. Hearts Beat Loud
Without a John Carney movie musical around for me to adopt this year as one of my favorites, I went with this one. Nick Offerman owns a record shop and tries to connect with his daughter who is about to leave for college through playing music together, when she falls in love with her first serious girlfriend. She writes a great song, they put it on Spotify, it gets some notice… and more. Just beautiful performances, great music, and a movie about love and family. Also, Ted Danson as a bartender.
Wait, what? Who? This documentary about the women behind the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua is one of my favorite documentaries of the year in a year with amazing documentaries. (This isn’t the last one in my list) I first saw this at SXSW and fell in love. You will too if you can find a way to see this.
7. Paddington 2
There isn’t a better word for this film than just “charming,” or perhaps “nice” or “good.” This is comfort food you didn’t think you needed. It will heal your soul and fill you with good cheer. Also? Hugh Grant for Best Supporting Actor.
6. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Dear Sony, THIS is what you should be doing with your extended Spider-Man universe instead of. . . well, Venom. Every single one of your spider-personas in the film was perfect, but especially Spider-Gwen and Miles Morales. Peter Parker means a lot to so many of us. But it’s great that there are others who can take up that mantle: Spider-Man isn’t an everyman unless literally anyone could be him, regardless of age, gender, race, or species. This new, fresh take is so important, but so so is this animation. I’ve never seen anything like this, and I can’t wait to see more. More Miles and Spider-Gwen please! And Spider-Ham and Spider-Man Noir. Ok, just all of them.
This was another movie I adopted as a favorite ever since seeing it at SXSW. I can’t state this enough: as a father of a 13 year old girl, this is the most true depiction of what her life is like that I have ever seen. The rest of my favorites don’t seem to be getting much notice for major awards, so I’ll be pulling heavily for writer/director Bo Burnham and especially breakout star Elsie Fisher.
4. First Reformed
I sadly missed this at SXSW, and only recently caught up with it. I wish someone had grabbed me by the lapels sooner and made me watch it. What I dreaded as homework and maybe another stolid but off-putting performance by Ethan Hawke I instead found a complex narrative about faith, pain, moral imperatives, and a Christian view of our responsibility to take care of the earth. That REALLY checks a lot of boxes for me. “Will God forgive us?” Not if you don’t see this movie, she won’t.
Here it is. The big kahuna. The mothership. The single largest, most important piece of pop culture phenomenon in America for 2018. I literally de-friended a few fellow critics on Facebook because they didn’t like this movie, and when I pressed them for why, their reasons were bull$#!t and a cover for racism. If you can’t appreciate the filmmaking prowess on display here by Ryan Coogler, you have no business calling yourself a film critic.No other Marvel film has ever felt so little like it came off the assembly line. No other feels crafted quite so carefully, so deftly, with precision in every shot, in the delivery of every line. And to that, we have to give credit to this amazing cast. Michael B. Jordan is the greatest Marvel villain, and when he demands to see the Wakandan sunset, and die rather than live in chains, my heart breaks every time. “Show them who you are!” You did, Black Panther, you did.
2. Three Identical Strangers
This documentary came out of nowhere and astounded me. Sold to me as a story of three identical triplets adopted by different families who reunite by happenstance seemed like it would just be a fun little romp. Oh, cool! Nature vs. nurture– look at all the similarities between these boys even though they were separated at birth. And then. . . you find out what’s really going on. There’s a crazy twist that I still won’t reveal because not enough people have seen this. But once you find out, it will challenge everything you think you know about nature vs. nurture, no matter which side of the debate you are on.
1. Sorry to Bother You
This is the best movie of the year and the only film I gave 5 stars out of 5 to. Is it, in fact, a perfect movie? No. But, it’s so audacious in what it is trying to do that I will forgive any small problems it may have. And what this tries to do is skewer the intersection of class and race, delivering a stunning repudiation of Bay Area neoliberalism and technocracy. This is about the closest we get to Terry Gilliam, Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry doing a woke black power narrative, and it is fantastic. I heard from a lot of folks that liked this movie ok, until the ending, which they hated. To me, the ending was perfect and what made this so audacious– I, usually silent in most movie screenings, literally gasped, “What the f@$%?!!?!” As crazy as it was, it fit with the film’s themes and made me love it even more. For being that willing to reach for it — no compromises — this was my favorite of the year.
Fin.
So, that’s it. What do you think? You may have noticed some pretty big snubs in there. Some of those were intentional, some of those I never got around to see. Tell us what you loved and what you think I missed, overrated, underrated down in the comments.
Sorry To Bother You – In one of the most original movies this year, we get a debut movie form Boots Riley, which examines race, codeswitching, pharmaceuticals in a funky science fiction gumbo sure to entertain and provoke thought
Black Panther – In one of the best superhero origin movies to come out ever, we get a movie that has changed how seriously superhero movies are to be taken.
Ant-Man and The Wasp – In one of the better summer movies to come out this year, this movie does something only a handful of superhero movies have done, be better than the first movie.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse – In one of the best movies to come out this year, and let’s face it, the best Spider-Man movie yet, Sony has finally cracked the formula on this superhero movie business .
The Death Of Stalin – This movie based on the acclaimed graphic novel and directed by the creator of Veep captures all the absurdities of politics and power.
Annihilation – In this movie, an all-female team must find out what monstrous secrets lie in a jungle where evolution has taken a dangerous turn, one which will still scare the crap out of most.
The Predator – Although this movie had a ton of continuity problems, Shane Black’s dialogue is the saving grace including this stellar cast, which manages to keep the movie entertaining to the end.
Deadpool 2/Once Upon A Deadpool – As this movie only was better than the original by a slim margin, it’s a good thing Ryan Reynolds decided to re-release for Christmas and pull Fred Savage into it, doing a family friendly version which only made the movie funnier and better than the first.
Avengers: Infinity War – A movie that got all our favorite MCU superheroes into one movie, only to temporarily destroy them.
Overlord – World War II plus Zombies…. Enough said.
While I also have a top and bottom list of the movies of 2018, I love things outside of movies, too. Indeed, so much of what has happened in 2018 has been outside of movies, or blurring the lines between what movies and television even are with Netflix bringing us things like The Ballad of Buster Scruggs or Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, the first of whach was originally planned as a tv miniseries, and the latter is just. . . well, what even is Bandersnatch?
So, regardless of medium, here are my Top 5 favorites of everything.
5. Educated: A Memoir
This book hit a lot of lists of the top books of 2018 (including culture critic Barack Obama’s), but it hit especially close to home for me because, like author Tara Westover, I attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Her story of growing up kept out of public education was too familiar to me, as survivalism and mistrust of public schools were something I encountered too frequently. This is the same anti-intellectual stew that spawned Glenn Beck and the Bundys’ ranch standoff/takeover of the Malheur Bird Refuge. But Westover’s memoir is a testament to what happens when this is taken to the extreme, to the point that as an adult she had never heard of the Holocaust. It’s a great read and my favorite book of the year.
4. Detroit: Become Human
Ok, there may have been “better” games than this in 2018. (God of War, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Spider-Man, Red Dead Redemption II) But this story of a near-future where androids begin to gain sentience and their struggle for equality was my personal favorite. It almost wasn’t a video game– it was an interactive movie.
This is one of those games where the choices you make affect the outcome of the game, and you get to choose the fate of a revolution. Will your quest for equality for androids be violent, or non-violent? What are the consequences for the other characters you’re playing as?
This hit me right in my social-justice and robot-loving heart, and also had beautiful gameplay featuring a spectacular cast of actors.
3. Sorry to Bother You
Spoiler Alert: this was my favorite movie of 2018. First time director Boots Riley delivers a searing indictment of capitalism and racial expectations, exposing a sort of gonzo form of racial exploitation that is a perfect intersectional skewering of the nexus of race and class.
It’s very rare for a movie to surprise me, and this made me literally say to the screen, “What the f@#$?!?!“
This was the only film I gave five stars to all year, and it’s something you have to see to believe.
2. Hannah Gadsby – Nanette
I had never heard of Australian comic Hannah Gadsby before this year, so imagine my shock in watching a Netflix special in which she announces her retirement from comedy and then proceeds to deconstruct what comedy is, blow it up, and put it back together again– all told against the backdrop of a heartbreaking childhood story of coming to terms with her queer identity. I never thought anything could make me feel such a rainbow of emotions over such a short period of time. This wasn’t just a comedy special — in the same way Childish Gambino’s “This is America” wasn’t just a music videos. Those were pop culture grenades tossed into the heart of the beast that blew everything up.
1. The Good Place
More than anything else this year, The Good Place ruled my heart and mind. I have not anticipated a broadcast television show like this in a long time, and in between seasons and episodes so many binges of previous seasons.
The best thing about this show that is sorta about the afterlife but kinda mostly about ethics but really just about us dirtbags here on earth and how we treat each other is how it keeps reinventing itself almost every six episodes or so. The show’s writers seem to be laboring under the idea that at some point the network is going to figure out the scam they’ve been running and pull the plug, so we’d better get through as much of this plot as possible. Where most shows would drag out their premise, this races through multiple setups in a single season. It’s refreshing, it’s smart, but it’s also stupid.
You put the Peeps in the chili pot and mix it all up, You put the Peeps in the chili pot and add some M&Ms, You put the Peeps in the chili pot. . .
This season’s episodes “Jeremy Bearimy” and “Janets” deserve ALL THE EMMYS, especially for acting from Janet herself, D’Arcy Cardon. If you saw them, you know why. If you didn’t see them, what are you waiting for?! To Netflix! To Hulu! Begin the binge now!
It’s the best show on tv– fight me. It’s the best thing from 2018– let’s be friends and watch it together, will you please? It will make you laugh and feed your soul. Also, it has its own official podcast, hosted by Marc Evan Jackson, who plays Shawn, who ends every episode asking, “What’s good?”
The Good Place. It is good. And the best for 2018.
So, Who Won the Year?
I also like to look back at the year look for threads, throughlines, trends that indicate something. Invariably there are big winners and losers in the year. I want to quickly celebrate the top winners.
Honorable Mention: Nicholas Cage
Despite being somewhere between an internet meme and a pariah, Nick Cage still gets some pretty amazing work this year. His starring role in Mandy is like a cocaine-fueled horror fantasy made in the 80’s and then set to age for three decades soaking in LSD. But then he also showed up in the cartoons in some of the most unexpected places: as Spider-Man Noir in Into the Spider-Verse and as Superman in Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. We’re glad to see him working.
Other honorable mentions: Donald Glover, Streaming Services, Steve Carrell, Mahershala Ali, Dolph Lundgren, Michael B. Jordan
5. Cults
This was a good year for cults in movies and tv. Mandy, Bad Times at the El Royale, Wild Wild Country, and Hereditary. Also, the bizarre stories about real life sex cult NXIVM that involved Smallville‘s Allison Mack. So, way to go, cults? At least you have some diversity here– Jesus, Satan, new age, but all of them were big on sex, So, sex cults. Way to win 2018.
4. Emily Blunt and John Krasinski
These two not only had an amazing year, but they did it together. Blunt killed it as Mary Poppins, Krasinski brought Jack Ryan back, and then you have their on-screen duo in A Quiet Place. That movie was such a revelation– mostly about how terrible mainstream movie audiences are at making noise. But in a year when almost every top-grossing film was a sequel, franchise, or remake, A Quiet Place was a true original. Thanks to both of you. You won the year.
3. Comicsgate and the Alt-Right
Now hear me out. I know this will be an unpopular opinion, but the alt-right actually accomplished a decent amount this year, and it’s completely unacceptable. James Gunn is still fired from Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Chuck Wendig was fired from Star Wars/Marvel comics. And, they raised a lot of money through crowdfunding for various ventures.
These guys aren’t playing around. And as long as they keep weaponizing things like offensive tweets, we will lose great creators from our favorite genres.
2. Asian Movie-going Audiences
Look, America, we need to understand that most movies aren’t being made for us anymore. We can decry as braindead anything like The Meg, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Skyscraper, Aquaman, Rampage, or Venom, but those movies kill overseas. There are very specific motifs and types of shots that work there that we as American audiences just aren’t picking up. This is going to have reverberations for years to come.
What’s the major difference? You can make a strong argument for diverse casts and female leads — giving us hits like Black Panther or The Last Jedi — but those movies generally just sort of do ok overseas while overperforming in the US.
That says something comforting about our country and culture at this time. But it says some things that should maybe be concerning that we won’t get complex stories like these in the future while we spit out more Venoms.
Perhaps the biggest irony in all of this is the alt right crusaders who don’t want diversity in our movies, shows, and comics will find common cause with the globalists who will continue to churn out lots of braindead action movies starring heroic dudes. Sigh.
[tie] 1. Disney
The Walt Disney Corporation had an amazing year, which caps off some pretty incredible past few years and is likely to continue into 2019. Why? Disney+ streaming service. The Fox merger. This isn’t necessarily good news for us, but is great news for corporate profits and creeping oligarchy. But, they gave us Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Incredibles 2, Mary Poppins Returns, Ralph Breaks the Internet. . . even the supposedly underperforming Solo: A Star Wars Story ended up making 393 million dollars worldwide. And that was considered by some a failure, even though 18 of my top 20 films of 2018 would love to have sold that many tickets.
But let’s talk about Black Panther for one moment. It’s arguably the most culturally salient and important piece of pop culture of the year, with Infinity War not far behind. For all their evils as a corporate overlord, we got something truly important for a lot of people to see — an authentically black superhero story that deals with identity, a history of violence and oppression towards the African diaspora, and that leaves us remember that “in times of crisis, the wise build bridges while the foolish build barriers.”
When the box office receipts went off the charts, you gave back– founding an actual charity to do the work of STEM education and scholarships like T’Challa and Shuri wanted. Thank you, Disney. For an evil corporation, you sure gave us a lot of what we loved this year. You win.
[tie] 1. The City of Oakland
Speaking of Black Panther, one of the most important pieces of the film is how director Ryan Coogler brought his Oakland roots into the film. That moment when you realize the voiceover from the beginning of the film is of young Erik and his dad N’Jobu (“Tell me a story of home.”) and the entire basis for Killmonger’s wrath is based on the economic oppression of being raised in poverty in Oakland and what he had to do to escape it. It ends with a hopeful note in the same building, that future children will not have to face such hardship. “Who are you?”
I already mentioned my love of Sorry to Bother You, but that film is not possible without Oakland as a backdrop. The same is true of another of my favorites, Blindspotting, which takes a similar look at poverty, gentrification, and violence. And then we have Bodied, the rap battle movie produced by Eminem, which plays a major part in the film, but whose setting is split between Berkeley, Oakland, and Los Angeles. Still, Oakland as a force is in that film.
And then there’s real life. The Golden State Warriors win the NBA Championship. A white woman calls the cops on a black family having a cookout at an Oakland city park at Lake Merritt and becomes known as “BBQ Becky.”
And then heartbreak. The Oakland Raiders plan to leave for Las Vegas looking for more corporate pork and handouts.
To understand what is going on in Oakland in film and culture is to understand a microcosm of what is happening in so many cities across the country facing gentrification and economic pressures that are displacing historically black populations. It is why I recommend to everyone they see each of these films I mentioned here and think about what is actually happening.
Comic film adaptations are big dollars and we track how they do each week to see trends and what’s working and what’s not.
2018 is a record setting year for comic film adaptations. It has topped 2017’s record year and then some. Currently, comic adaptations have earned $2.463 billion domestically, $4.191 billion internationally, $6.654 billion worldwide, with a “profit” of $5.443 billion. That’s off of 10 films. 2017, with 16 films, saw domestic earnings of $2.365 billion, international earnings of $3.755 billion, worldwide earnings of $6.120 billion, and “profits” of $4.442 billion.
It’s not surprising, but Aquaman won the weekend for the second in a row with an estimated $51.6 million and a drop of just 23.5%, the smallest of the DC Cinematic Universe as well as any Marvel Cinematic Universe film. Most DC films drop in the high 60% range in the second week, with Wonder Woman being the exception with the low 40s. Marvel films tend to drop in the mid-50% range in the second weekend. This would indicate that little competition and positive word of mouth are driving the film and DC’s late year gamble is paying off. While the film would fit right in during the summer popcorn film season, this time of year it’s counter-programming to the usual Oscar/adult focused films.
The film has now earned $188.8 million domestically. International earnings is the real story of the film. This past weekend the film earned an estimated $85.4 million from 78 markets to bring its international total to $560 million and a worldwide total of $748.8 million.
The movie is currently third when it comes to worldwide earnings for the DC Cinematic Universe with about $73 million between it and second place Wonder Woman and $125 million between it and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It will likely pass both by the time its run is over. It still has to open in Italy on January 1 and Japan on February 8.
The film currently ranks as 21st when it comes to worldwide earnings for a film based on comics and passed this year’s Deadpool 2 on the list over the past week.
In fourth place this past weekend was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which saw a 11.2% improvement from the previous weekend. It earned an estimated $18.3 million in its third week to bring its domestic total to $103.6 million. Internationally, the film added an estimated $27.4 million from 60 markets to bring that total to $109.6 million and a worldwide total of $213.2 million. The film still has Brazil to open which happens January 10 and Japan on March 28. Interestingly when it comes to earnings, the film has a domestic/international split that’s close to Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.
This past weekend Venomdidn’t chart but earned about $170,000 domestically and $480,000 internationally over the week. The film now stands at $213.2 million domestically and $642 internationally for a worldwide total of $855.2 million. There’s a chance the film will become the highest grossing “Spider-Man” film before its run is done and make it into the top ten comic based films of all time. It passed Thor: Ragnarok to become #13 for all time.
The film also shows that budget isn’t everything. It has the best return in multiplier when it comes to budget for a comic film of 2018, so far. With 8.55x it beats Avengers: Infinity War‘s 6.83x and 6.73x for Black Panther.
With a budget of just $100 million, the film is quite profitable and another success for Sony’s Spider-Man franchise which previously earned on average $318.8 million domestically, $488.4 million internationally, and $807.2 million worldwide. The film is likely to be the second or third worst performing Spider-Man related film domestically for Sony but first currently internationally. The difference is the budget is almost half the other films allowing for a healthy profit. The film is leaning heavily on the international market where it has earned 75.07% of its earnings compared to 62.65% for other Spider-Man films.
Once Upon a Deadpool didn’t chart for the weekend but did bring in dollars over the week. It added $239,000 to its domestic total. That total is being added to the original film, Deadpool 2‘s, earnings. Deadpool 2 has earned $324.5 million domestically, $417.1 internationally, and $741.5 million worldwide.
Avengers: Infinity War has gained some more dollars. The film added about $520,000 to its international earnings.
Here’s where this year’s comic films stand as far as the actual numbers.
Total Domestic Gross: $2.464 billion Total International Gross: $4.191 billion Worldwide Gross: $6.654 billion Total Reported Budgets: $1.187 billion Total “Profit”: $5.443 billion
Average Domestic Gross: $246.4 million Average International Gross: $419.1 million Average: Worldwide Gross: $665.4 million Average Budget: $131.9 million Average Profit: $533.5 million
Below is where the films released stand when it comes to being compared to this year’s averages. Those in green are above average while those below are red.
Comic film adaptations are big dollars and we track how they do each week to see trends and what’s working and what’s not.
2018 is shaping up to be a record setting year for comic film adaptations. It looks like it’ll top 2017’s record year and then some. Currently, comic adaptations have earned $2.308 billion domestically, $3.996 billion internationally, $6.303 billion worldwide, with a “profit” of $5.092 billion. That’s off of 10 films. 2017, with 16 films, saw domestic earnings of $2.365 billion, international earnings of $3.755 billion, worldwide earnings of $6.120 billion, and “profits” of $4.442 billion.
Aquaman won the weekend box office hitting the lower end of expectations and earning an estimated $67.4 million over the three-day weekend. When you add in the $4.7 million from the Amazon Prime showings from the previous weekend it stands at $72.1 million domestically. It’s expected to earned around $105 million over its five days which ends on Christmas.
The film received an “A-” CinemaScore from opening day audiences and played to an audience that was 55% male and 58% aged 25 or older. It also has an 86% rating on RottenTomatoes from the audience as of this writing.
The film was #1 worldwide adding $91.3 million from overseas and 70 markets. Its international total now stands at $410.7 million bringing its worldwide total to $482.8 million. The film is tracking higher than previous DC Universe films driven by the foreign box office. It still has to open in Australia, Italy, and Japan which opens February 8.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse dropped to fourth with an estimated $16.7 million to bring its domestic total to $64.8 million. The second weekend dip was 53% which is a bit higher than expected but it also has a lot of competition. The film opened in China debuting at #1 with an estimated $26.1 million. Worldwide the film brought in $38 million internationally and its foreign earnings now stands at $64.8 million. The film opens in Mexico and Italy December 25, Brazil on January 10, and Japan on March 28.
This past weekend Venomdidn’t chart but earned about $200,000 domestically and $1.5 million internationally over the week. The film now stands at $213 million domestically and $641.5 internationally for a worldwide total of $854.5 million. There’s a chance the film will become the highest grossing “Spider-Man” film before its run is done and make it into the top ten comic based films of all time. It passed Thor: Ragnarok to become #13 for all time.
The film also shows that budget isn’t everything. It has the best return in multiplier when it comes to budget for a comic film of 2018, so far. With 8.55x it beats Avengers: Infinity War‘s 6.83x and 6.73x for Black Panther.
With a budget of just $100 million, the film is quite profitable and another success for Sony’s Spider-Man franchise which previously earned on average $318.8 million domestically, $488.4 million internationally, and $807.2 million worldwide. The film is likely to be the second worst performing Spider-Man related film domestically for Sony but first currently internationally. The difference is the budget is almost half the other films allowing for a healthy profit. The film is leaning heavily on the international market where it has earned 75.07% of its earnings compared to 62.65% for other Spider-Man films.
Once Upon a Deadpool came in at #17 for the weekend dropping from the previous #11. It added $775,000 to its total which stands at $5.7 million. At the foreign box office the film has earned $993,967. Those totals are being added to the original film, Deadpool 2‘s, totals. Deadpool 2 has earned $324.2 million domestically, $417.1 internationally, and $741.3 million worldwide.
Avengers: Infinity War gained some dollars. Avengers: Infinity War added about $500,000 to its international earnings.
Teen Titans Go! to the Movies also adjusted up. Its domestic total now stands at $29.8 million an increase of about $230,000 from the last week’s reporting.
Here’s where this year’s comic films stand as far as the actual numbers.
Total Domestic Gross: $2.308 billion Total International Gross: $3.996 billion Worldwide Gross: $6.303 billion Total Reported Budgets: $1.187 billion Total “Profit”: $5.092 billion
Average Domestic Gross: $230.8 million Average International Gross: $399.6 million Average: Worldwide Gross: $630.3 million Average Budget: $131.9 million Average Profit: $498.4 million
Below is where the films released stand when it comes to being compared to this year’s averages. Those in green are above average while those below are red.
Comic film adaptations are big dollars and we track how they do each week to see trends and what’s working and what’s not.
2018 is shaping up to be a record setting year for comic film adaptations. It looks like it’ll top 2017’s record year and then some. Currently, comic adaptations have earned $2.207 billion domestically, $3.799 billion internationally, $6.006 billion worldwide, with a “profit” of $4.794 billion. That’s off of 10 films. 2017, with 16 films, saw domestic earnings of $2.365 billion, international earnings of $3.755 billion, worldwide earnings of $6.120 billion, and “profits” of $4.442 billion. 2018 still has Aquaman opening domestically and expanding internationally. That film along with the recent release of Into the Spider-Verse will combine easily for another billion at the box office.
The end of the year is looking pretty good for comic adaptations so far. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse brought in an estimated $35.4 million for the largest three-day animated opening in the month of December.
The film is receiving universal praise from critics and fans with a “A+” CinemaScore from opening day audiences. The audience was 63% male with 41% aged 25 or older.
Internationally, the film brought in $21 million from 44 overseas markets for a worldwide total of $56.4 million on a $90 million budget.
This past weekend Venomdidn’t chart but earned about $100,000 domestically and $1 million internationally over the week. The film now stands at $212.8 million domestically and $639.9 internationally for a worldwide total of $852.7 million. There’s a chance the film will become the highest grossing “Spider-Man” film before its run is done and make it into the top ten superhero films of all time. The film also shows that budget isn’t everything. It has the best return in multiplier when it comes to budget for a comic film of 2018, so far. With 8.53x it beats Avengers: Infinity War‘s 6.83x and 6.73x for Black Panther.
With a budget of just $100 million, the film is quite profitable and another success for Sony’s Spider-Man franchise which previously earned on average $318.8 million domestically, $488.4 million internationally, and $807.2 million worldwide. The film is likely to be the second worst performing Spider-Man related film domestically for Sony but first currently internationally. The difference is the budget is almost half the other films allowing for a healthy profit. The film is leaning heavily on the international market where it has earned 75.04% of its earnings compared to 62.65% for other Spider-Man films.
Aquaman continued its strong foreign performance where it added 42 markets and brought in an estimated $126.4 million for an international total of $261.3 million. It still has to open in France, South Korea, Germany, Spain, Australia, Ital, and Japan which will go into February 2019.
On Saturday night the film earned an estimated $2.9 million from a single paid sneak preview from 1,225 theaters in North America.
Deadpool 2‘s Once Upon a Deadpool came in at #11 and brought in $2.6 million. This PG-13 re-release will be added to the total for Deadpool 2 which stands at $322.3 million. It was also released in 12 international markets where it brought in about $1 million.
Ant-Man and the Wasp didn’t chart for the weekend but still earned about $25,000 internationally over the past week. It now stands at $216.6 million domestically, $406 million internationally, and $622.7 million worldwide.
The film has not only passed the original domestically (both adjusted and not-adjusted for inflation) but it also has passed it internationally. The film should keeping adding dollars to its total for the next month and is above $100 million over the original. The sequel has a budget of about $32 million more than the original so it’ll need to that to even out profitability.
Avengers: Infinity War gained some dollars. Avengers: Infinity War added about $13,000 to its international earnings.
Here’s where this year’s comic films stand as far as the actual numbers.
Total Domestic Gross: $2.207 billion Total International Gross: $3.799 billion Worldwide Gross: $6.006 billion Total Reported Budgets: $1.187 billion Total “Profit”: $4.794 billion
Average Domestic Gross: $220.7 million Average International Gross: $379.9 million Average: Worldwide Gross: $600.6 million Average Budget: $131.9 million Average Profit: $468.7 million
Below is where the films released stand when it comes to being compared to this year’s averages. Those in green are above average while those below are red.
For a week which feels like it was full of news, we don’t have much for this Friday. Here’s a bit to keep you busy until the work day ends and the weekend begins.
CBR – Aquaman Beats Out Infinity War & Black Panther For New Pre-Sales Record – Interesting. But, many of the DC films had record pre-sales to only “bust” in the end. Pre-sales just means things will be front loaded. If the film’s no good, that’s more word of mouth to tank later sales.
Comic film adaptations are big dollars and we track how they do each week to see trends and what’s working and what’s not.
2018 is shaping up to be a record setting year for comic film adaptations. It looks like it’ll top 2017’s record year and then some. Currently, comic adaptations have earned $2.165 billion domestically, $3.609 billion internationally, $5.773 billion worldwide, with a “profit” of $4.758 billion. That’s off of 5 films. 2017, with 16 films, saw domestic earnings of $2.365 billion, international earnings of $3.755 billion, worldwide earnings of $6.120 billion, and “profits” of $4.442 billion. 2018 still has Aquaman opening domestically and expanding internationally, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse yet to open, as well as the PG-13 recut of Deadpool 2, Once Upon a Deadpool. Those three should easily add another billion to this year’s total.
This past weekend Venom came in at #17 improving one spot from the previous weekend with an estimated $305,000 to bring its domestic total to $212.7 million. Internationally, the film added $7 million over the past week to bring that total to $638.6 million. There’s a chance the film will become the highest grossing “Spider-Man” film before its run is done and make it into the top ten superhero films of all time. The film also shows that budget isn’t everything. It has the best return in multiplier when it comes to budget for a comic film of 2018, so far. With 8.51x it beats Avengers: Infinity War‘s 6.83x and 6.73x for Black Panther.
With a budget of just $100 million, the film is quite profitable and another success for Sony’s Spider-Man franchise which previously earned on average $318.8 million domestically, $488.4 million internationally, and $807.2 million worldwide. The film is likely to be the second worst performing Spider-Man related film domestically for Sony but first currently internationally. The difference is the budget is almost half the other films allowing for a healthy profit. The film is leaning heavily on the international market where it has earned 75.01% of its earnings compared to 62.65% for other Spider-Man films.
Aquaman debuted in China two weeks ahead of the domestic release where it earning an impressive $93.6 million. That’s 85% of the total market share for the weekend in China and is the the studio’s largest opening weekend ever in China and the largest industry opening in the market in December. It expands internationally next weekend with 40+ more overseas market including the UK, Russia, Mexico, and Brazil.
Ant-Man and the Wasp didn’t chart for the weekend but still earned about $42,000 internationally over the past week. It now stands at $216.6 million domestically, $406 million internationally, and $622.6 million worldwide.
The film has not only passed the original domestically (both adjusted and not-adjusted for inflation) but it also has passed it internationally. The film should keeping adding dollars to its total for the next month and is above $100 million over the original. The sequel has a budget of about $32 million more than the original so it’ll need to that to even out profitability.
Avengers: Infinity War gained some dollars. Avengers: Infinity War added about $760,000 to its international earnings.
Here’s where this year’s comic films stand as far as the actual numbers.
Total Domestic Gross: $2.165 billion Total International Gross: $3.609 billion Worldwide Gross: $5.773 billion Total Reported Budgets: $1.097 billion Total “Profit”: $4.652 billion
Average Domestic Gross: $270.6 million Average International Gross: $401 million Average: Worldwide Gross: $641.5 million Average Budget: $137.1 million Average Profit: $504.3 million
Below is where the films released stand when it comes to being compared to this year’s averages. Those in green are above average while those below are red.
