Spider-Man: Homecoming is the Highest Grossing Superhero Film of 2017

[bsaambl]

Spider-Man: Homecoming has become the highest-grossing superhero film of 2017 so far. Hollywood has had its fair share of duds this year, particularly with would-be blockbuster films failing to find solid ground domestically. However, superhero movies have continued to perform well both domestically and internationally.

Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming, starring Tom Holland as the eponymous web-slinging superhero, marked the character’s first solo film debut in the ground-breaking Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor had first made his debut as the hero in Anthony and Joe Russo’s Captain America: Civil War and he will be reprising his role in the Russos’ Avengers: Infinity War next year, and then again in the currently-untitled Avengers 4 in 2019. It will all culminate into Watt’s Homecoming 2, which will close out the character’s main five-part story arc in July 2019. If Homecoming‘s critical and commercial success is any indicator, the upcoming sequel will be another hit.

Thanks to its recent release in China, Spider-Man: Homecoming has now become the highest-grossing superhero film of 2017 so far, with an estimated $874.4 million under its belt, according to Box Office Mojo. Note that there are still two major superhero movies left in the year: Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, both of which are poised to be big box office earners, so it’s entirely possible that Homecoming will be dethroned come year’s end.
 

2017-Superhero-Films.jpg

Of its total, $331.8 million was earned domestically, putting it in fourth place in the franchise behind Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man trilogy. However, thanks to its international success, Homecoming is currently the second highest-grossing Spidey film to date.

Chris McKay’s The LEGO Batman Movie kicked off the year raking in approximately $312 million globally in February and then was followed up by James Mangold’s Logan, Hugh Jackman’s final chapter as the iconic superhero Wolverine. That film earned an appropriate $616.8 million worldwide. The next superhero flick, however, failed to perform as well. Dean Israelite’s Power Rangers reboot managed to score only $142.3 million against an estimated production budget of $100 million, but toy and home video sales may determine its future. James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 picked up where Logan left off and scored a whopping $863.4 million globally. It was the top-grossing superhero film of the year until Spidey came along.

Of course, one of the most talked about comic book films of the year has been Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot as the eponymous character. The DCEU installment surpassed all expectations to become the highest-grossing superhero origin film as well as the highest-grossing DCEU chapter domestically, while also blasting past several other milestones. Still, Spider-Man has consistently been one of the world’s most recognizable heroes and Homecoming‘s global box office performance proves just that.