Where the Data Ranks 2017’s Comic Book Films. Justice League Crosses $650 Million

2017 has been 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 continues to fight at the box office adding $6 million over the past week. While the film is lagging other DC films at the same point of time, it’s also earning much more at the foreign box office when it comes to percent. It passed Suicide Squad‘s earnings at the foreign box office and is now second for DCU films behind Batman v Superman. The film is earning a little over 65.5% of its dollars from the foreign box office. The DCU on average has earned 58%. The higher percentage is partially due to lower domestic earnings, but the film is definitely not to be counted out at the worldwide box office. It’s $16 million behind Man of Steel and could possibly pass its worldwide earnings. It also moved past Thor: The Dark World the past weekend for worldwide earnings and will likely pass Big Hero 6.

Thor: Ragnarok added an estimated $1 million to its domestic total which is now $311.4 million. Worldwide the film has earned $848 million. It’ll end the year at #7 for earnings. The film is about $15 million behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and it’s possible it might pass it.

My Friend Dahmer continues to gain and now sits at $1,296,753 about a $7,000 increase.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle has slowed down and right now is fighting to pass the $400 million mark. It stands at $395.5 million. The film has earned more than the original at the international box office with $295.3 million compared to $286.1 million but trails domestically with $100.2 million to the original’s $128.2 million. It opens in Japan this January which should push the film across the $400 million mark.

2017 has been a record year for comic adaptations. With over a month to go the films have earned $2.353 billion domestically beating the previous year’s $1.901 billion. Internationally, films have earned $3.729 billion beating the previous record of $3.215 billion set in 2014. Worldwide comic adaptations have earned $6.081 billion beating the 2016 record of $5.026 billion. “Profits” too have seen a record year with $4.403 billion versus 2016’s record of $3.812 billion.

We’ll continue to report on 2017’s statistics until all dollars are in, at least another month, if not more.

Lets compare how the big two comic companies compare for earnings. On average DC films earn $316.9 million domestically while Marvel earns $313.2 million. Internationally, Marvel rules with $486.4 million and DC lags behind with $435.3 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: RagnarokWonder Woman, Logan, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 have done well this year. My Friend DahmerJustice LeagueKingsman: The Golden Circle, The LEGO Batman Movie and Smurfs: The Lost Village, and Atomic Blonde are in that debatable area. ValerianWilson, Ghost in the Shell, and Blade of the Immortal are generally disappointments. 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: $2.358 billion
Total International Gross: $3.733 billion
Worldwide Gross: $6.091 billion
Total Reported Budgets: $1.667 million
Total “Profit”: $4.413 billion

Average Domestic Gross: $147.4 million
Average International Gross: $266.6 million
Average: Worldwide Gross: $380.7 million
Average Budget: $128.2 million
Average Profit: $252.4 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.