Black Panther To Become 2018’s Highest Grossing Domestic Film

Ever since Avengers: Infinity War fell slightly short of the North American gross total for Black Panther, it’s seemed pretty inevitable that T’Challa’s solo debut would finish 2018 as the year’s biggest domestic box office earner, but as December nears its end, we’re on the verge of this achievement finally being official.

As a recent tweet from The Hollywood Reporter’s Pamela McClintock observes, 2018’s domestic box office revenue is closing in on a total of between $11.8 and $11.9 billion, which unadjusted for inflation, will beat the all-time record set by 2016’s $11.4 billion domestic figure. Moreover, a whopping $700,059,566 of that total comes courtesy of Black Panther.

Second place on the 2018 ranking is Infinity War with a domestic total of $678,815,482, and in case it wasn’t clear enough that Disney and superheroes owned this year, Incredibles 2 followed in third with $608,581,744. After that, comes Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($416,769,345) and Deadpool 2 ($318,491,426) at fourth and fifth, respectively.

Of course, the global box office ranking tells a slightly different story, which sees Infinity War in the top spot with $2,048,709,917, followed by Black Panther with $1,346,913,161. Going from three to five, the rest of the Top 5 is rounded out by Fallen Kingdom ($1,304,944,060), Incredibles 2 ($1,242,513,600), and Venom ($855,156,907), while Deadpool 2 is down at eighth ($741,547,413). 

Anyway, while Infinity War took number two on the home front, don’t be surprised if Avengers: Endgame wins in both the domestic and global rankings for 2019 once it hits theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, Black Panther will likely have plenty more achievements to its name once awards season is through with it. After that, we’ve still got a few years to go before Black Panther 2 comes our way, but when it does, you can bet that a similarly huge audience will be ready and mobilized.