Worldwide Box Office Heads for All-Time Record Year

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The worldwide movie business is on track to hit an all-time benchmark . Estimates show 2018 could end up with $41.7 billion globally.

That would mark a healthy 2.7% gain from last year, with most of that hike coming from North America. Year-end projections released Thursday by Comscore predict that domestic grosses will hit $11.9 billion, a 7% increase from 2017. International grosses look to reach $29.8 billion, a 2.7% bump compared to the previous year.

Four titles joined the elusive $1 billion club: Disney and Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War” ($2.05 billion), Disney and Marvel’s “Black Panther ($1.35 billion), Universal’s “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” ($1.3 billion), and Disney and Pixar’s “Incredibles 2” ($1.24 billion). Sony’s “Venom” finished in fifth place worldwide with $855 million, followed by Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” with $791 million, Fox’s “Deadpool 2” with $735 million, and Fox’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” with $668 million.

In all, 53 films finished with more than $100 million in global box office. One of the most profitable films on the list was Paramount’s thriller “A Quiet Place,” directed by John Krasinski. It ended its theatrical run with $340 million worldwide on a $17 million budget.

The year was a tonic for the domestic movie business, which had struggled in 2017 with a 2.3% decline in North America amid concerns that streaming services, led by Netflix, were eroding the customer base. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with Comscore, said the major studios have responded effectively to the challenge.

“2018 was an absolute monster at the multiplex, delivering a diverse slate of movies big and small,” Dergarabedian said.

The 2018 worldwide total represents a 50% gain over a decade’s time since 2008, when that figure was $27.7 billion — $9.64 billion in North America and $11.1 billion internationally.