‘Black Panther’ Helps Propel 2018 Box Office to Record $11.9 Billion

Box office earnings surged in 2018, thanks in large part to superhero films including Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War.

Over the past year, the domestic box office climbed to a record $11.9 billion, Comscore told Urban Hollywood 411 on Sunday. That’s a 7 percent increase from the $11.1 billion earned in 2017, which saw a 2.3 percent decline.

Outside North America this year, the box office reached $29.8 billion. Combined with domestic earnings, the worldwide box office total was a record $41 billion in 2018.

It was “a truly great year in movie theaters around the world!” Comscore Sr. Media Analyst Paul? Dergarabedian said in a statement.

Read More: Ryan Coogler Set to Write and Direct ‘Black Panther 2’

This year’s top five earning films domestically were Black Panther with $700 million, Avengers: Infinity War with $678 million, Incredibles 2 with $608 million, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom with $416 million and Deadpool 2 with $318 million.

Among the films that crossed the $200 million mark were Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Venom and A Star is Born.

Meanwhile, the final weekend of the year ended on a high note, with Aquaman topping the box office with an estimated $51.5 million. It marked the Warner Bros. film’s second consecutive week at number 1.

Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns came in second place with $28.0 million, and in third was Paramount’s Bumblebee with $20.5 million. Rounding out the top five were Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse with $18.3 million and Clint Eastwood’s The Mule earned $11.7 million.