Where the Data Ranks 2017’s Comic Book Films. Justice League Nears $500 Million While the Year Nears $6 Billion
2017 feels like it’s shaping up to be a wild ride for comic adaptions. We look at who the real winners and losers are for this year’s comic films and dive into the numbers… not opinions.
Maybe the lesson of the year is to not count a film down? With what can only be described as a disappointing opening, Justice League earned an estimated $40.7 million for three days and $59.6 million over five. That brings its domestic total to $171.5 million after ten days. At the foreign box office it added $72.2 million from 66 markets pushing its international earnings over $300 million to $309.8 million. Worldwide the film has earned $481.3 million.
Thor: Ragnarok came in fourth for the weekend and earned $16.8 million over three days and $25 million over five. Domestically, the film has earned $277.5 million and $512.6 million at the foreign box office for a worldwide total of $790.1 million. The film has shot past Suicide Squad, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Amazing Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, and Spider-Man 2 for worldwide earnings. It now sits behind Spider-Man‘s $821.7 million and Wonder Woman‘s $821.76 million and currently in #13 in worldwide earnings for a comic adapted film ever.
My Friend Dahmer continues to gain and now sits at $742,113 passing Wilson for this year’s releases. The film how stands at $485,675. Blade of the Immortal didn’t do all that much domestically with its total only standing at $117,545, a $7,000 increase from the previous week.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle has slowed down and right now is fighting to pass the $400 million mark. It stands at $394.1 million. The film has earned more than the original at the international box office with $294.2 million compared to $286.1 million but trails domestically with $99.9 million to the original’s $128.2 million.
2017 has been a record year for comic adaptations. With over a month to go the films have earned $2.268 billion domestically beating the previous year’s $1.901 billion. Internationally, films have earned $3.590 billion beating the previous record of $3.215 billion set in 2014. Worldwide comic adaptations have earned $5.859 billion beating the 2016 record of $5.026 billion. “Profits” too have seen a record year with $4.181 billion versus 2016’s record of $3.812 billion.
Lets compare how the big two comic companies compare for earnings. Things have shifted a lot due to the debut of Justice League. On average DC films earn $291 million domestically while Marvel earns $309.6 million. Internationally, Marvel rules with $483.8 million and DC lags behind with $387 million. This will change a lot over the next few weeks and traditionally DC films out earn Marvel films domestically.
Already, the year is an interesting one with five clear successes and a whole lot of mixed otherwise. Thor: Ragnarok, Wonder Woman, Logan, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 have done well this year. Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The LEGO Batman Movie and Smurfs: The Lost Village, and Atomic Blonde are in that debatable area, and Valerian, Wilson, Ghost in the Shell, and Blade of the Immortal are generally disappointments. We’ll wait and see about My Friend Dahmer and Justice League. Marvel’s Inhumans… got no clue and tough to debate since it’s a television show primarily with a limited film engagement.
Here’s where this year’s comic films stand as far as the actual numbers. With a new film opening the averages have dipped.
Total Domestic Gross: $2.268 billion
Total International Gross: $3.590 billion
Worldwide Gross: $5.859 billion
Total Reported Budgets: $1.667 million
Total “Profit”: $4.181 billion
Average Domestic Gross: $141.8 million
Average International Gross: $256.5 million
Average: Worldwide Gross: $366.2 million
Average Budget: $128.2 million
Average Profit: $237.9 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.

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