The Marvel Cinematic Universe is unique in terms of having sequels that have always outperformed their predecessors. Barring Iron Man 2 and Avengers: Age of Ultron, every other Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel has earned more domestically, overseas as well as worldwide than its immediate predecessor, which is a rare feat for two-tier franchises in Hollywood.
Age of Ultron earned less domestically than The Avengers, but the earned more overseas, leading to a slightly smaller ($1.405 billion) worldwide number compared to The Avengers ($1.519 billion). In case of Iron Man, the sequel earned less domestically, but made more money worldwide, said Forbes.
The Thor trilogy went from $181 million domestic and $449 million worldwide in 2011 to $206 million/$644 million in 2017 and $315 million/$854 million in 2017. The Captain America trilogy went from $176 million/$371 million in 2011 to $259 million/$714 million in 2014 to $408 million/$1.155 billion in 2016.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 earned $389 million domestic and $869 million worldwide, 17% more than the the original that had earned $333 million/$773 million in 2014. Ant-Man and the Wasp made $215 million/$621 million three years after Ant-Man's $181 million/$519 million gross in 2015, taking a 20% jump. These percentages, even though they indicate an increase, are small jumps in the Marvel Universe.
Although, in case of the Avengers quadrilogy, Age of Ultron earned 7.5% less than The Avengers worldwide, Infinity War earned 48% more than Age of Ultron domestically. The franchise went from $623 million/$1.519 billion in 2012 to $459 million/$1.405 billion in 2015 to $679 million/$2.048 billion in 2018 to (currently) $831 million/$2.743 billion in 2019.
The Avengers franchise is also uniquely positioned among quadrilogies. There have been only 15 "part four" movies that have out-earned the respective "part three" installments in unadjusted North American grosses. Many franchises start to wind down after the first three films (Batman & Robin, Saw IV) or try to reboot themselves with a fourth movie well past the expiration date (Men in Black International, Scream 4).
As of now, Avengers: Endgame is slated to end up with around $840 million domestic, a 24% increase from Infinity War's $679 million earning. Among the part four installments, Endgame will be behind only Thunderball (+24% from Goldfinger's $52 million total) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (+43% from Star Trek III: The Search For Spock's $76.47 million gross).
The jump is proof of what makes the MCU unique among the various Hollywood franchises, because the interest for a sequel remains no matter how good or bad the last movie's plot was. It remains to be seen if Spider-Man: Far from Home can keep this winning streak alive.
Follow @News18Movies for more
Comments
0 comment