2022 was not the best year for Marvel. The year started off on a good note with theatres opening up after the horrendous Covid-19 being on and off during 2021. The year didn’t begin for until May as their big and highly anticipated sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness released. While the film was one of the highest grossing film of the year many analysts felt like the sequel underperformed. Marvel only had three major film releases. After Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder the fourth film in the Thor franchise released which unfortunately was one of the worst Marvel films ever released. The film did well on the box office despite the horrible reviews. Finally, Marvel closed off the year and Phase 4 with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which had decent reviews and did great at the box office. So out of the these three Marvel movies which one was most profitable for Marvel.
Which Of The Three Marvel Films Were The Most Profitable?
Here are the worldwide box office collections of the three Marvel movies released last year: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness- 955.7 million, Thor: Love and Thunder- $760.9 million and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever- $859 million. If we look at this then Doctor Strange emerges as the clear winner. However, the filmmaking business is a little more complex than that. This was the total box office collection, however 50% or more (depending on the deal with the exhibitors) will go to the theatre owners.
So, after taking out the theatre owners’ cut and of course after adding home entertainment, streaming, and television figures the total revenues of the three films look something like. Doctor Strange 2- $780 million, Thor 4- $650 million and Black Panther 2- $750 million. As you can see in terms of total revenue the collections of Doctor Strange and Black Panther sequels are much closer in comparison to Thor 4 which is severely lagging behind. Now, let’s look at the total costs that Marvel had to bear in making these three films.
These figures include production costs, marketing, and most other areas. Doctor Strange 2’s total budget was $496 million, Thor 4’s total budget was $547 million and Black Panther 2’s total budget $491 million. As it is abundantly clear, Doctor Strange 2 and Black Panther 2 are in the same ballpark with only a difference of $5 million. Thor 4 on the other hand took another $55-$60 million to make. As Thor 4 had the most budget and the least revenue it is clear that it didn’t produce the studio much profit. So it all comes down to the other two films.
The net profit of all the three films is as follows: Doctor Strange 2- $284 million, Thor 4- $103 million and Black Panther 2- $259 million. While Thor: Love and Thunder isn’t a flop it is a decently profitable film. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever came close but fell short, the film was a big financial success but not as big as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which was Marvel’s most profitable film of 2022.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently streaming on Disney+
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