Where the Data Ranks 2017’s (and 2018’s) Comic Book Films. Black Panther Nears $900 million

In what shouldn’t be a surprise, Marvel‘s Black Panther won the weekend pulling off a three-peat and continuing to dominate the movie market worldwide. The film earned an estimated $65.7 million over the weekend pushing the film over the $500 million mark domestically. It has earned $501.1 million in 17 days, the third fastest a film has crossed the $500 million mark. That tied Jurassic World and one day behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

The film also added $56.2 million internationally. Overseas it has earned $396.6 million and now is at $897.7 million worldwide. The film opened in Japan with $4.2 million including previews. The film opens in China this coming weekend.

The movie has earned more in these three weeks than every comic film released in 2017.

The film is the tenth highest grossing domestic release of all time and third highest comic adaptation domestically. It’s also now the seventh highest grossing comic adaptation ever. It’ll need to cross the billion dollar mark to move higher, which is very possible as the film has yet to open in China. There’s $107 million between it and the next highest grossing film, The Dark Knight.

The film is still earning far more domestically than the average Marvel film with 55.8% earned versus 41.37% on average. Things should shift once China opens as that market can bring in 20% of a film’s total earnings. If that’s the case here, this film will easily reach the top five comic adaptations of all time.

We’ll have a deeper analysis of 2018’s releases as more are released (and two come out this March) but lets do the time warp to 2017…


Justice League continues to fight at the box office and stands at $657.7 million worldwide, an increase of $100,000 since last week. While the film is lagging other DC films, it’s also earning much more at the foreign box office than any other film beside Batman v Superman. The film is earned 65.2% 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 now just $100,000 behind Big Hero 6‘s worldwide earnings and currently sits at #26 all time for comic adaptations.

Thor: Ragnarok added an estimated $200,000 worldwide to its total. Worldwide the film has earned $853.8 million. The film is about $9.5 million behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and it’s possible it might pass it, though not likely.

My Friend Dahmer continues to gain and now sits at $1,361,611 about a $6,000 increase from the previous week.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle has slowed down and stands at $410.8 million. That’s an increase of $100,000 over the week.

2017 has been a record year for comic adaptations. With over a month to go the films have earned $2.365 billion domestically beating the previous year’s $1.901 billion. Internationally, films have earned $3.752 billion beating the previous record of $3.215 billion set in 2014. Worldwide comic adaptations have earned $6.117 billion beating the 2016 record of $5.026 billion. “Profits” too have seen a record year with $4.439 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. Black Panther is included, so Marvel’s totals will increase over time. On average DC films earn $317.6 million domestically while Marvel earns $324 million. This is the first time Marvel has out averaged DC domestically. Internationally, Marvel rules with $481.6 million and DC lags behind with $435.7 million.

2017 has had 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: $2.365 billion
Total International Gross: $3.752 billion
Worldwide Gross: $6.117 billion
Total Reported Budgets: $1.667 million
Total “Profit”: $4.439 billion

Average Domestic Gross: $147.8 million
Average International Gross: $268 million
Average: Worldwide Gross: $382.3 million
Average Budget: $128.2 million
Average Profit: $254.1 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.