Where the Data Ranks 2017’s (and 2018’s) Comic Book Films. Black Panther Passes the Avengers Domestically

After five weeks at the top of the box office, Black Panther dropped to second place at the weekend box office earning an estimated $16.7 million domestically. Domestically, the film has earned $630.9 million. It’s now the highest grossing comic adaptation domestically beating The Avengers which earned $623.3 million. It’s the fifth largest domestic release of all-time and will likely climb higher. The film is about $22 million shy of fourth place Jurassic World and there’s a very good change it’ll pass that as well as third place Titanic which sits at $659.4 million.

Internationally, Black Panther added an estimated $12.9 million to bring its international total to $606.4 million to bring its worldwide total to $1.237 billion. It’s now the twelfth highest worldwide release of all time passing The Fate of the Furious and it will likely pass last year’s Beauty and the Beast. It’s now the third highest grossing comic adaptation passing Iron Man 3.

The film is still earning far more domestically than the average Marvel film with 51% earned versus 41.1% on average. Things have been shifting slowly towards the international market now that China has opened. That market tends to be one of the largest for films internationally.

The Death of Stalin expanded in its third weekend to 140 theaters from last weekend’s 32. It brought in an estimated $1.1 million (almost double the previous week) to bring its total to $2.1 million. It debuted internationally last year, with controversy in Russia. It has already earned $7.6 million in foreign markets.

I Kill Giants debuted this past weekend. The film has supposedly opened in box offices though no numbers have been returned. The movies is available on demand digitally and will get a Blu-ray released in May. It’s likely we won’t be getting returns back for this one.

We’ll have a deeper analysis of 2018’s releases as more are released but lets do the time warp to 2017…


Justice League looks like it has finally wound down its run settling at a respectable $657.9 million. Wile the film had the lowest domestic gross of a film as part of the DC Cinematic Universe, it also had the second highest international gross. The film earned a 65.19% internationally, the highest of a DC film. On average, the films earn 58% internationally.

Thor: Ragnarok looks to have had its earnings adjusted dropping about $300,000 compared to last week. It has earned $854 million worldwide.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle has slowed down and stands at $410.9 million. That’s an increase of $12,000 over the week. It looks to be the last film released in 2017 to still be earning money.

2017 has been a record year for comic adaptations. The films have earned $2.365 billion domestically beating the previous year’s $1.901 billion. Internationally, films have earned $3.753 billion beating the previous record of $3.215 billion set in 2014. Worldwide comic adaptations have earned $6.118 billion beating the 2016 record of $5.026 billion. “Profits” too have seen a record year with $4.44 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 a few more weeks.

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 $331.2 million. Internationally, Marvel rules with $493.3 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: $3.753 billion
Worldwide Gross: $6.118 billion
Total Reported Budgets: $1.667 million
Total “Profit”: $4.44 billion

Average Domestic Gross: $147.8 million
Average International Gross: $268 million
Average: Worldwide Gross: $382.4 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.