A little over a week ago, the domestic box office crossed the $6 billion threshold in 2018 – making June 27th the earliest it’s ever reached that total. What with Black Panther ($700M) and Avengers: Infinity War ($670M) accounting for $1.37 billion, though, the new touchstone isn’t all that surprising. Unfortunately for the Powers That Be, then, the weekend of June 29th – July 1st marked the first time an MCU movie hasn’t been inside the ticket booth top ten since February.
That’s right, since Black Panther was released earlier this year, Marvel Studios has managed to stay inside the box office top ten – which, for those of you keeping track, is a remarkable twenty weeks. The Ryan Coogler-directed blockbuster – which became the first African-American film to earn more than $1 billion, mind you – stayed inside the top ten box office earners for thirteen weeks straight, including five straight weeks at number one. Impressed yet?
Although following up a massive box office success with an even bigger one is no easy feat, it’s something that Marvel’s familiar with, nonetheless. Case in point: Avengers: Infinity War. The Anthony and Joe Russo-directed blockbuster held a top ten spot for ten weeks, with three weeks at number one. Not to mention it became only the fourth ticket booth titan ever to conquer the elusive $2 billion plateau.
Fortunately, it won’t be long before the box office tyrant is back in action. Ant-Man and the Wasp is set to kick-off the first full weekend of July to the tune of $80 million. Granted, that figure is nowhere near $200 million-plus hauled in by Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War in their respective opening weekends, but it’s still an improvement over its predecessor and should help Marvel close out what’s been a record year on a high note.
