If you thought Superhero Fatigue was going to kill the movie industry, 2018 wasn’t the year for that. The numbers are in, and comic book properties dominated the box office.
According to Box Office Mojo here are the top domestic films for the year.
- Black Panther – $700,059,566
- Avengers: Infinity War – $678,815,482
- Incredibles 2 – $608,581,744
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – $416,769,345
- Deadpool 2 – $318,491,426
- Dr. Suess’ the Grinch – $265,499,485
- Mission: Impossible – Fallout – $220,159,104
- Ant-Man and the Wasp – $216,648,740
- Solo: A Star Wars Story – $213,767,512
- Venom – $213,205,181
There are a couple of things that I see in this initial data that stand out to me. First, the huge drop in money ($200 million) between Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World, really shows that big movies tend to roll over everything else.
Black Panther. I know a number of people who, before the movie arrived, complained about a black superhero movie, how it would tank, and even those who don’t think representation matters. Black Panther definitely knocked down those arguments this year, was able to be in theaters for seven months (ti was still in theaters even when the Blu-ray and digital download versions were released), and as of this post, is the third largest box office success falling behind Avatar ($760,507,623) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936,662,225) when looking at dollars not adjusted for inflation.
Then there is also the elephant in the room – or rather the mouse in the room. Buena Vista, aka Disney nabbed five of the top ten spots in movie releases in 2018, and with the Disney/Fox deal closer to finally closing, six of those movies are from the House of Mouse. While everyone can jump up and down about the success of Marvel characters (five movies), and superhero movies in general, it is kind of scary that one movie studio continues to grow in size and control. This, in turn, could very easily decide what movies we see in the years to come.
So what is missing from the list? Well, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was only out for a few weeks before the year came to a close, so it didn’t make the top ten list, even though it is the far superior comic book movie. Also, Aquaman, a highly anticipated DC movie came out in December but has done well enough to land at the number 12 spot for the year with $189,375,000.
What insights did you get from the data? Use the comment section below to share your thoughts and reactions.
