Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies Pass $4 Billion at Box Office in 2018
By Cameron Bonomolo - September 10, 2018 06:45 pm EDT
Ant-Man and the Wasp has pushed the Marvel Cinematic Universe to more than $4 billion at the worldwide box office in 2018.
Disney-owned Marvel Studios' three releases this year — Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, and Ant-Man and the Wasp — have emerged in the top ten films of 2018 so far, in first, second, and seventh place, respectively.
Crossover event film Infinity War leads with $2.046 billion worldwide, trailed by Black Panther at $1.34 billion. Ant-Man and the Wasp has pulled in a solid $610 million worldwide, putting the Ant-Man followup within range of other lower-end MCU projects like Doctor Strange ($677m) and Thor sequel The Dark World ($644m).
Infinity War is the first superhero film to earn more than $2 billion at the worldwide box office and is just the fourth film in history to accomplish the feat, behind only James Cameron-directed heavyweights Avatar ($2.78b) and Titanic ($2.18b), and Disney's own Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.06b).
Domestically, Black Panther ranks first with $700 million — only the third film in history to reach that milestone, after Avatar ($760m) and The Force Awakens ($936m) — topping the second place Infinity War, which earned $678 million of its haul domestically.
Universal's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ranks third worldwide at $1.30b, ahead of Disney-Pixar's Incredibles 2 at $1.17b, after that film emerged as the first-ever animated film to earn more than $600 million domestically.
Fox Marvel Comics adaptation Deadpool 2 is fifth overall worldwide at $734m, trailed closely by Paramount's Mission: Impossible — Fallout at $726m. Ant-Man and the Wasp ranks seventh, well ahead of Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One ($582m), and China's Operation Red Sea ($579m) and Detective Chinatown 2 ($544m).
Only two 2018 releases have entered the top ten all time worldwide list: Infinity War and Black Panther. Disney now owns five of the top ten biggest box office hits of all time — 2012's The Avengers is in sixth place all time with $1.51b, followed by Age of Ultron in eighth place with $1.40b — and is the only studio to have more than two films on that list.
Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4.2 billion in 2009, a buyout that included the then just-launched independent Marvel Studios and an expansive library of thousands of characters.
In November, Thor: Ragnarok helped make the Marvel Cinematic Universe the first franchise to cross five billion domestically. In July, Ant-Man and the Wasp pushed the MCU past $17 billion worldwide, making it the highest-earning movie franchise of all time.
Marvel Studios next releases Captain Marvel, due out March 8, followed by Avengers 4 May 3 and Spider-Man: Far From Home July 5, 2019.
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