The Marvel Cinematic Universe Is The Most Successful Franchise In US History
Spider-Man, Shrek, The Lord of the Rings, Batman, James Bond, Star WarsandHarry Potterall have one thing in common. Their films have grossed less money at the domestic box office than theMarvel Cinematic Universe. But then, in looking at things that way, every film series that isn’t Marvel’s has that in common.
This week’s release ofCaptain America: The Winter Soldierbrought the domestic gross of the nine films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to $2,463,300,000 and counting. That’s more than the eightHarry Potterfilms, sevenStar Warsfilms (includingThe Clone Wars), and 24 James Bond films, making it the highest grossing franchise in American history…not adjusted for inflation. Read more details on the Marvel Cinematic Universe box office below.
Comic Book Moviemade the realization via this link onBox Office Mojothat tracks domestic film franchises.
While this is certainly an impressive feather in the cap of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are a few things to remember on both sides. First, this is just domestic box office. Internationally,Harry Potterhas a good $2 billion plus over Marvel ($5,979,6 billion to $7,723,4 billion). Second, it’s not adjusted for inflation. Ticket prices now are significantly higher than they were even two or three years ago, so that would bump Potter up a bit and bump up series likeStar Warsand James Bond astronomically. Third, almost all the Marvel movies have been in 3D, which adds even another bump.
On the other hand, this is only the beginning.Captain America: The Winter Soldierhas only been out a week.Guardians of the Galaxythen comes out in four months, further adding to the total.Avengers: Age of Ultronfollows in May 2015 andAnt-Manafter that in July 2015. All of those films will be out before the nextStar Warsmovie in December 2015 or James Bond film in November 2015. That’s going to give the Marvel Cinematic Universe a potential $2 billion-plus lead on any of those franchises, easily.
Here’s the current breakdown. Do you think any of these have a shot at taking the Marvel Cinematic Universe box office title?
