2016 Superhero Film Wrap-up!
Jondee here at the box office,
The box office is winding down for superhero films with an interesting year. The box office numbers are compiled from Box Office Mojo. Marvel has the tops with the number one box office camp, Captain America: Civil War at $1 billion(!), 153.3 million! It also has Doctor Strange which came out two weeks ago so still has some time to roll out it’s box office now at$496.7 million world wide. Sitting twelfth place at the moment. The total is $1,650 more than $27.3 million more than second place Warner Bros. and it’s still climbing! Looking at Warner Bros., they come in next at $1,622.7. The rankings is #5 for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, $873.3 million, and at #8 Suicide Squad at $745.6 million. Don’t forget that there was a Warner Bros. animated movie released in theaters, Batman: The Killing Joke which ranked 158 (not bad for what otherwise would be a direct to DVD release) at $3.8 million. Third is Fox with $1,326.5 million. It has tops Deadpool at number 7 with $782.6 million and then there was X-Men: Apocalypse which hit #10 bringing in $543.9 million. There is actually another studio, Paramount, at fourth place. It has the #25 film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows at $245.6 million. EIGHT films! Total box office is $4 billion, 844.8 million! Yes, comic book movies have begun.
So what can glean from the financial figures? Of course Marvel is leading, with War in one of it’s title, but has a positive, upbeat tone to it’s films. Warner Bros. with Suicide and Killing in it’s titles, dark, and humorless, the audience is already in Gotham and needs to get to a brighter Metropolis. Superhero films are escapism, not silly fun, but studios no longer have to convince audiences that superheroes are possible, we eat it up like popcorn. Fox has great prospects with Deadpool, hopefully they carry it through and get back on track, and also see that films have to positive escapism. There are FIVE superhero films in the box office top ten! So what about the future? Paramount needs new properties hopefully a strong comic book line. Possible a Pulpverse with Green Hornet leading the way. Sony which didn’t have films this year will hit it big with Spider-Man: Homecoming next year on July 7th which I think will build on Civil War’s box office. Fox has Logan, Wolverine 3, on March 3rd. Warner Bros. has the animated Lego Batman movie on February 10th, Wonder Woman on June 23rd and then Justice League Part One on November 17th. We have Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on May 5th and Thor: Ragnarok on November 3rd. This is one less comic book movie unless the Bloodshot (based on the Valiant comic) movie comes out from Sony. Studios have learned not to churn out comic book films, it’s not money on special effects, respect them, and the fans will bring the box office.
