A couple of years ago I took a look at the box office performances of the modern age (post-2000) comic book movies to see how popular these movies ended up being with the movie-going public after all the hoopla from opening weekend faded away. I also wanted to see how these stacked up once you adjusted the grosses for inflation because it wouldn’t make any sense to compare them in other way. (Well, unless they publicized total tickets sold, which is the only true comparison as ticket prices vary.) It was a lot of fun.
Now that another summer movie season is winding down, I’ve decided to revisit the box office numbers–this time casting a wider historical net–because the movie business has changed dramatically in the last 3-5 years, with things like the near-total collapse of the DVD market, the rise of 3D and its higher ticket prices, and an increased focus on the international (i.e. outside of the U.S. and Canada) box office by the major Hollywood studios.
As for methodology, the box office numbers come from BoxOfficeMojo and I used the US Inflation Calculator to get the adjusted grosses. While compiling the list I reached a grey area as to what exactly is a comic book movie and what isn’t, but at a certain point I just decided “what the hell” and I threw a lot of borderline films in the mix. Additionally, BoxOfficeMojo did not have foreign box office information for some films (indicated by “N/A”) so their ranking here would not indicate their total numbers, just those publicly available, but that’s okay because this is just all in good fun.
* – Denotes films still currently playing in theaters.
| Year | Poster | Title | Domestic Box Office (U.S. & Canada) | International Box Office | Total Box Office | Adjusted Box Office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2012 |  |
Marvel’s The Avengers | $623,357,910 | $888,400,000 | $1,511,757,910 | $1,538,109,013 |
| 2. | 2013 |  |
Iron Man 3 | $406,609,688 | $804,600,000 | $1,211,209,688 | $1,211,209,688 |
| 3. | 2012 |  |
The Dark Knight Rises | $488,139,099 | $636,300,000 | $1,084,439,099 | $1,103,341,706 |
| 4. | 2008 |  |
The Dark Knight | $533,345,358 | $468,576,467 | $1,001,921,825 | $1,087,049,091 |
| 5. | 1978 |  |
Superman: The Movie | $134,218,018 | $166,000,000 | $300,218,018 | $1,075,609,327 |
| 6. | 2002 |  |
Spider-Man | $403,706,375 | $418,002,176 | $821,708,551 | $1,066,969,598 |
| 7. | 2007 |  |
Spider-Man 3 | $336,530,303 | $554,341,32 | $890,871,626 | $1,003,675,320 |
| 8. | 2004 |  |
Spider-Man 2 | $373,585,825 | $410,180,516 | $783,766,341 | $969,214,834 |
| 9. | 1997 |  |
Men in Black | $250,690,539 | $338,700,000 | $589,390,539 | $857,814,780 |
| 10. | 1989 |  |
Batman | $251,188,924 | $160,160,000 | $411,348,924 | $774,915,026 |
| 11. | 2012 |  |
The Amazing Spider-Man | $262,030,663 | $490,185,894 | $752,216,557 | $765,328,270 |
| 12. | 2010 |  |
Iron Man 2 | $312,433,331 | $309,623,643 | $622,056,974 | $666,391,602 |
| 13. | 2013 |  |
Man of Steel * | $290,229,822 | $359,500,000 | $649,729,822 | $649,729,822 |
| 14. | 2012 |  |
MIB3 | $179,020,854 | $445,005,922 | $624,026,776 | $634,904,042 |
| 15. | 2008 |  |
Iron Man | $318,412,101 | $266,762,121 | $585,174,222 | $634,892,953 |
| 16. | 2002 |  |
Men in Black II | $190,418,803 | $251,400,000 | $441,818,803 | $573,691,523 |
| 17. | 1994 |  |
The Mask | $119,938,730 | $231,644,677 | $351,583,407 | $554,173,262 |
| 18. | 2006 |  |
X-Men: The Last Stand | $234,362,462 | $224,997,093 | $459,359,555 | $532,264,655 |
| 19. | 2003 |  |
X2: X-Men United | $214,949,694 | $192,761,855 | $407,711,549 | $517,607,538 |
| 20. | 1995 |  |
Batman Forever | $184,031,112 | $152,498,032 | $336,529,144 | $515,825,865 |
| 21. | 2007 |  |
300 | $210,614,939 | $245,453,242 | $456,068,181 | $513,816,317 |
| 22. | 2011 |  |
Thor | $181,030,624 | $268,295,994 | $449,326,618 | $466,619,397 |
| 23. | 2006 |  |
Superman Returns | $200,081,192 | $191,000,000 | $391,081,192 | $453,149,812 |
| 24. | 2005 |  |
Batman Begins | $205,343,774 | $167,366,241 | $372,710,015 | $445,794,002 |
| 25. | 1992 |  |
Batman Returns | $162,831,698 | $103,990,656 | $266,822,354 | $444,252,563 |
| 26. | 1995 |  |
Casper | $100,328,194 | $187,600,000 | $287,928,194 | $441,331,196 |
| 27. | 2009 |  |
X-Men Origins: Wolverine | $179,883,157 | $193,179,707 | $373,062,864 | $406,204,956 |
| 28. | 2000 |  |
X-Men | $157,299,717 | $139,039,810 | $296,339,527 | $401,996,098 |
| 29. | 2005 |  |
Fantastic Four | $154,696,080 | $175,883,639 | $330,579,719 | $395,402,457 |
| 30. | 2011 |  |
The Adventures of Tintin | $77,591,831 | $296,402,120 | $373,993,951 | $388,387,478 |
| 31. | 2011 |  |
Captain America: The First Avenger | $176,654,505 | $191,750,151 | $368,404,656 | $382,583,073 |
| 32. | 2013 |  |
G.I. Joe: Retaliation | $122,512,052 | $249,400,000 | $371,912,052 | $371,912,052 |
| 33. | 2008 |  |
Wanted | $134,508,551 | $206,924,701 | $341,433,252 | $370,442,780 |
| 34. | 2011 |  |
X-Men: First Class | $146,408,305 | $207,215,819 | $353,624,124 | $367,233,698 |
| 35. | 1990 |  |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | $135,265,915 | $66,700,000 | $201,965,915 | $360,967,328 |
| 36. | 2013 |  |
The Wolverine * | $125,079,463 | $225,600,000 | $350,679,463 | $350,679,463 |
| 37. | 1997 |  |
Batman and Robin | $107,325,195 | $130,0881,927 | $238,207,122 | $346,693,027 |
| 38. | 2009 |  |
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | $150,201,498 | $152,267,519 | $302,469,017 | $329,339,705 |
| 39. | 2007 |  |
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer | $131,921,738 | $157,126,025 | $289,047,763 | $325,647,486 |
| 40. | 2003 |  |
Hulk | $132,177,234 | $113,183,246 | $245,360,480 | $311,495,797 |
| 41. | 1990 |  |
Dick Tracy | $103,738,726 | $59,000,000 | $162,738,726 | $290,857,807 |
| 42. | 2012 |  |
John Carter | $73,078,100 | $209,700,000 | $282,778,100 | $287,707,139 |
| 43. | 2008 |  |
The Incredible Hulk | $134,806,913 | $128,620,638 | $263,427,551 | $285,809,404 |
| 44. | 1981 |  |
Superman II | $108,185,706 | N/A | $108,185,706 | $278,017,031 |
| 45. | 2005 |  |
Constantine | $75,976,178 | $154,908,550 | $230,884,728 | $276,158,468 |
| 46. | 2007 |  |
Ghost Rider | $115,802,596 | $112,935,797 | $228,738,393 | $257,701,641 |
| 47. | 2011 |  |
The Green Hornet | $98,780,042 | $129,037,206 | $227,817,248 | $236,585,020 |
| 48. | 2002 |  |
Road To Perdition | $104,454,762 | $76,546,716 | $181,001,478 | $235,026,243 |
| 49. | 2013 |  |
The Lone Ranger * | $87,989,692 | $142,400,000 | $230,389,692 | $230,389,692 |
| 50. | 2011 |  |
Green Lantern | $116,601,172 | $103,250,000 | $219,851,172 | $228,312,361 |
| 51. | 2003 |  |
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen | $66,465,204 | $112,800,000 | $179,265,204 | $227,584,970 |
| 52. | 2003 |  |
Daredevil | $102,543,518 | $76,636,200 | $179,179,718 | $227,476,442 |
| 53. | 2002 |  |
Blade II | $82,348,319 | $72,661,713 | $155,010,032 | $201,276,950 |
| 54. | 2008 |  |
Watchmen | $107,509,799 | $77,749,184 | $185,258,983 | $200,999,323 |
| 55. | 2010 |  |
Red | $90,380,162 | $96,191,551 | $186,571,713 | $199,868,867 |
| 56. | 2005 |  |
Frank Miller’s Sin City | $74,103,820 | $84,650,000 | $158,753,820 | $189,883,550 |
| 57. | 1998 |  |
Blade | $70,087,718 | $61,095,812 | $131,183,530 | $187,999,680 |
| 58. | 2011 |  |
Cowboys & Aliens | $100,240,551 | $74,581,774 | $174,822,325 | $181,550,535 |
| 59. | 2008 |  |
Hellboy II: The Golden Army | $75,986,503 | $84,401,560 | $160,388,063 | $174,015,271 |
| 60. | 1995 |  |
Judge Dredd | $34,693,481 | $78,800,000 | $113,493,481 | $173,960,782 |
| 61. | 1994 |  |
Timecop | $44,853,581 | $56,793,000 | $101,646,581 | $160,217,508 |
| 62. | 2004 |  |
Blade: Trinity | $52,411,906 | $76,493,460 | $128,905,366 | $159,405,917 |
| 63. | 2006 |  |
V For Vendetta | $70,511,035 | $62,000,000 | $132,511,035 | $153,541,903 |
| 64. | 1980 |  |
Popeye | $49,823,037 | N/A | $49,823,037 | $141,243,472 |
| 65. | 1983 |  |
Superman III | $59,950,623 | N/A | $59,950,623 | $140,604,676 |
| 66. | 1982 |  |
Annie | $57,059,003 | N/A | $57,059,003 | $138,121,812 |
| 67. | 1991 |  |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II | $78,656,813 | N/A | $78,656,813 | $134,903,941 |
| 68. | 2012 |  |
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance | $51,774,002 | $80,789,928 | $132,563,930 | $134,874,621 |
| 69. | 2009 |  |
Surrogates | $38,577,772 | $83,867,000 | $122,444,772 | $133,322,498 |
| 70. | 1997 |  |
Spawn | $54,870,175 | $32,969,867 | $87,840,042 | $127,844,750 |
| 71. | 2004 |  |
Hellboy | $59,623,958 | $39,695,029 | $99,318,987 | $122,819,047 |
| 72. | 2007 |  |
TMNT | $54,149,098 | $41,459,897 | $95,608,995 | $107,715,170 |
| 73. | 2013 |  |
Red 2 * | $51,605,125 | $53,231,000 | $104,836,125 | $104,836,125 |
| 74. | 2010 |  |
Kick-Ass | $48,071,303 | $48,117,600 | $96,188,903 | $103,044,383 |
| 75. | 2004 |  |
Catwoman | $40,202,379 | $41,900,000 | $82,102,379 | $101,528,784 |
| 76. | 2001 |  |
From Hell | $31,602,566 | $42,955,549 | $74,558,115 | $98,398,177 |
| 77. | 2007 |  |
30 Days of Night | $39,568,996 | $35,936,977 | $75,505,973 | $85,066,668 |
| 78. | 2011 |  |
Priest | $29,136,626 | $49,172,505 | $78,309,131 | $81,322,935 |
| 79. | 1986 |  |
Howard the Duck | $16,295,774 | $21,667,000 | $37,962,774 | $80,911,972 |
| 80. | 1991 |  |
The Rocketeer | $46,704,056 | N/A | $46,704,056 | $80,101,913 |
| 81. | 1994 |  |
The Crow | $50,693,129 | N/A | $50,693,129 | $79,903,590 |
| 82. | 1980 |  |
Flash Gordon | $27,107,960 | N/A | $27,107,960 | $76,848,434 |
| 83. | 1994 |  |
The Shadow | $32,063,435 | $16,000,000 | $48,063,435 | $75,758,611 |
| 84. | 2005 |  |
A History of Violence | $31,504,633 | $29,236,194 | $60,740,827 | $72,651,378 |
| 85. | 1979 |  |
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | $21,671,241 | N/A | $21,671,241 | $69,728,859 |
| 86. | 1993 |  |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III | $42,273,609 | N/A | $42,273,609 | $68,338,726 |
| 87. | 2005 |  |
Elektra | $24,409,722 | $32,271,844 | $56,681,566 | $67,796,144 |
| 88. | 2004 |  |
The Punisher | $33,810,189 | $20,889,916 | $54,700,105 | $67,642,804 |
| 89. | 2013 |  |
2Guns * | $65,353,995 | N/A | $65,353,995 | $65,353,995 |
| 90. | 2013 |  |
R.I.P.D. * | $32,731,495 | $28,900,000 | $61,631,495 | $61,631,495 |
| 91. | 1994 |  |
Richie Rich | $38,087,756 | N/A | $38,087,756 | $60,034,733 |
| 92. | 1981 |  |
Heavy Metal | $20,117,636 | $N/A | $20,117,636 | $51,698,562 |
| 93. | 2010 |  |
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World | $31,524,275 | $16,140,284 | $47,664,559 | $51,061,660 |
| 94. | 2003 |  |
Bulletproof Monk | $23,358,708 | $14,355,171 | $37,713,879 | $47,879,409 |
| 95. | 1999 |  |
Mystery Men | $29,762,011 | $3,699,000 | $33,461,011 | $46,916,916 |
| 96. | 1999 |  |
Virus | $14,036,005 | $16,616,000 | $30,652,005 | $42,978,305 |
| 97. | 2008 |  |
The Spirit | $19,806,188 | $19,225,149 | $39,031,337 | $42,347,594 |
| 98. | 2013 |  |
Kick-Ass 2 * | $22,526,445 | $16,100,000 | $38,626,445 | $38,626,445 |
| 99. | 2012 |  |
Dredd | $13,414,714 | $22,211,811 | $35,626,525 | $36,247,522 |
| 100. | 1981 |  |
The Legend of the Lone Ranger | $12,617,845 | N/A | $12,617,845 | $32,425,501 |
| 101. | 1987 |  |
Superman IV: The Quest For Peace | $15,681,020 | N/A | $15,681,020 | $32,244,925 |
| 102. | 1984 |  |
Supergirl | $14,296,438 | N/A | $14,296,438 | $32,142,355 |
| 103. | 2010 |  |
The Losers | $23,591,432 | $5,788,291 | $29,379,723 | $31,473,645 |
| 104. | 1996 |  |
The Crow: City of Angels | $17,917,287 | N/A | $17,917,287 | $26,675,631 |
| 105. | 1996 |  |
The Phantom | $17,323,326 | N/A | $17,323,326 | $25,791,329 |
| 106. | 2001 |  |
Josie and the Pussycats | $14,271,015 | $595,000 | $14,866,015 | $19,619,444 |
| 107. | 2009 |  |
Whiteout | $10,275,638 | $7,565,229 | $17,840,867 | $19,425,810 |
| 108. | 1984 |  |
Sheena | $5,778,353 | N/A | $5,778,353 | $12,991,339 |
| 109. | 2010 |  |
Jonah Hex | $10,547,117 | $356,195 | $10,903,312 | $11,680,402 |
| 110. | 2001 |  |
Ghost World | $6,217,849 | $2,546,158 | $8,764,007 | $11,566,310 |
| 111. | 2008 |  |
The Punisher: War Zone | $8,050,977 | $2,049,059 | $10,100,036 | $10,958,175 |
| 112. | 2003 |  |
American Splendor | $6,010,990 | $1,975,094 | $7,986,084 | $10,138,680 |
| 113. | 2013 |  |
Bullet to the Head | $9,489,829 | N/A | $9,489,829 | $9,489,829 |
| 114. | 1993 |  |
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm | $5,617,391 | N/A | $5,617,391 | $9,080,969 |
| 115. | 1995 |  |
Tank Girl | $4,064,495 | N/A | $4,064,495 | $6,229,985 |
| 116. | 1996 |  |
Barb Wire | $3,793,614 | N/A | $3,793,614 | $5,648,011 |
| 117. | 2006 |  |
Art School Confidential | $3,297,137 | $9,492 | $3,306,629 | $3,831,425 |
| 118. | 1997 |  |
Steel | $1,710,972 | N/A | $1,710,972 | $2,490,194 |
Note: I scoured the internet for box office figures for Batman: The Movie (1966) but I couldn’t find any credible numbers or sourced numbers that I trusted. It remains in the top ten of my heart.
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Poor Steel. No one liked that movie.
But at the same time Ghost World, American Splendor, and Mask of the Phantasm are among the bottom 10…
Ghost World and American Splendor are ‘indie’ films… you don’t expect them to make hundreds of millions.
Mask of the Phantasm didn’t make bank because Warner Bros. didn’t handle or promote it well. What started as a direct-to-home video film got flipped to a theatrical release.
Shaq’s Steel on the other hand, is not an indie film and was promoted heavily.
If you’re trying to say that dollars don’t equate to quality, then its only partially true, it depends on other factors. What would be interesting is to see this same list ranked by critic meta-scores, and to see the same list ranked by ratio of revenue to budget.
Two things leap to mind.
1. It makes me happy that Superman:The Movie is in the top 5. That’s my Superman.
2. Dredd should have made a lot more money because it was fantastic.
I agree. Dredd is good stuff.
Yet Superman 2 did pretty low.
Dredd was very good. In case anyone has not seen it, you can now catch it on Netflix streaming.
Dredd FTW.
My takeaway from all this is the sheer number of comic book movies that somehow got their asses handed to them by Howard the Duck. Poor Scott Pilgrim. Poor Inexplicable, Bewildering Cult of Josie and the Fucking Pussycats.
I’m in that cult. Tread Lightly.
So are Paul and I!
No human being has ever looked better than Rachael Leigh Cook did in Josie and the Pussycats. Even beyond that, it’s such a weird, subversive movie in all the right ways.
It’s a licensed, pre-packaged property, but it has this anti-commercial message, but it’s doing the exact thing it’s ridiculing, but it’s self-aware, but there’s genuine product placement all over it… that pussycat is eating its own tail. I’d be much more on board if it didn’t seem all too happy to belly up to the trough itself.
That’s it. I’m going to take some time to finally watch that film. Maybe Monday. Mine will be the tie-breaking vote because I called it.
@Jeff: It WAS in my Top 10 in 2010:
https://ifanboy.com/articles/ranking-the-modern-age-comic-book-super-hero-movies/
It probably isn’t any more, but still.
Scott Pilgrim 🙁 I really wish it was way up high on that list.
It was such a fantastic movie but it was made for such a specific audience unfortunately.
Still till this day Road to Perdition is one of the best on that list. Loved that movie.
I still love the daredevil movie, always will!!! 🙂
Me too lol, I hear the director’s cut is even better?
I think it definatepy is, in fact the theatitcal and DC seem like 2 different movies. In the DC, no Electra sex scenes, Coolio’s subplot gets expanded and plays into the main plot; it just seems better and more cohesive. Which is why I like that movie anyway.
Great job on this list, Conor. I’ll be going back to it for a while.
Happy to see Tintin so high up on the list. That film was a blast. Seeing Steel at the bottom of this list bums me out. I’d hope a “Superman” movie would do better than that. But, its placement does remind me that I need to finally watch it.
WIth STEEL they excised everything having to do with Superman from the film. Apparently. I say “apparently” because I haven’t seen it.
I’ll vouch for it @Conor. My only experiance with Steel before that was Superman:TAS and the whole time I watched the movie I kept wondering when he was going to meet Superman. He never did…
My experience with Steel was from the Death and Return of Superman comic books in the early 90’s. It sort of tried to play into Steel’s storyline there, but it was just awful and, no, Superman had nothing to do with anything.
It’s really not good. I think there’s a How Did This Get Made? about it.
Why is 2Guns up there? (shrugs).
My take away from this is that what modern movies made, is what they made regardless of inflation (I didn’t actually stare obessively at the screen and memorize all the numbers so forgive me if I missed a half-dozen that prove the opposite). Other films had the benefit of decades of DVD sales, which I guess will disappear soon? Is anyone still getting profits from Blade? The original TMNT?
One other thing I noticed; Superman 4 earned the same as Supergirl. Thats gotta say alot about both movies.
Also, I feel like I should thank Conor for doing all this research and writing the article. But I’d be even more impressed if he had watched every movie on here as well 🙂 .
“Why is 2Guns up there? (shrugs).”
Because it’s based on a very good crime comic from BOOM! Studios.
https://ifanboy.com/comics/2-guns-tp/
This is the first I’m hearing of that fact, I thought it was like “Domino”; (somewhat)Based on a true story. I thought Jeremy Jahns (movie reviewer on Youtube) said as much in his 2Guns review.
I can’t say the movie makes me want to read the book, but out of curiosity what was it like? Similair to MIB or Cowboys and Aliens?
@IthoSpaien: If that’s what that guy said then he’s misinformed. 2 GUNS was a five issue mini-series that came out in 2007 and it was a lot of fun. We talked about it a bunch on the podcast when it was originally coming out.
I can’t imagine that it’s anything like MIB or COWBOYS AND ALIENS in that there are no aliens in it.
Ah, but are there cowboys?
Oh man, it just occurred to me I may have meant “Pain & Gain”. IN MY DEFENSE, the movies seem really similar from their trailers.
And I wasn’t asking if 2Guns had aliens or cowboys, just if the book was similar in tone maybe to MiB or Cowboys and Aliens comics.
I think Road to Perdition is my favorite movie on this list.
Why did the Transformer movies get left off of the list?
Are they based on comics? Or are they based on Cartoons based on Toys based on awesome?
It’s funny, when I made this list those movies didn’t even occur to me. And when I showed it to other people for vetting no one mentioned them. Huh. Maybe I’ll add them in later if I have time.
The cartoon came first so I wouldn’t consider the movies based on a comic book.
@ghostmann: There are bunch of films on the list featuring characters whose other media appearances pre-dated their comic books appearances.
I don’t know how this influences the ruling, but Transformers got started with Hasbro buying Japanese toy lines and hiring Jim Shooter and Denny O’Neil to write the backstory for them.
Similarly, G.I. Joe was adapted from Larry Hama’s concept for “Fury Force,” which was going to be a Nick Fury team fighting Hydra. Archie Goodwin came up with Cobra and Hama did everything else.
USELESS KNOWLEDGE DUMP COMPLETE
Hey Conor, so then shouldn’t you have Star Wars on the list then? 😉
@ghostmann: Like I said in the intro, lots of movies could qualify but I had to draw an arbitrary line somewhere and Star Wars would be firmly outside that line.
Yeah but Conor what about…. ahh fuck it… I’m off to Toshi Station to pick up some power converters. 😉
I seem to remember reading an article on this site in which it stated that Star Wars had a comic book that predates the movie release date. I’m of the impression that it was made to drum up interest for the movie, but still.
Well, they got the same start as G.I.Joe. Hasbto got a toy line and started a comic and cartoon to promote it. I’m not sure which came first though, the comic or cartoon.
I literally answered this six comments up.
Dozens of people talking to no one!
Hey Jim. Question for ya. Was Gijoe adapted from Lara Hama’s “fury force” concept? I Just want to make sure there is no confusion.
Man I would love to see a third column including budget.
It makes me wonder what the overall John Carter Budget was. I really liked that movie and it did pretty well internationally, but it is considered the biggest flop of last summer. I still blame whoever was in charge of advertising for that one.
Ya i thought John Carter was really good.
Go to the site where Conor pulled the info from… Box Office Mojo has ALL kinds of data on every film, including budget.
John Carter’s budget was $250 million according to BOM.
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=johncarterofmars.htm
http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/?pagenum=m50&sort=opengross&p=.htm&order=DESC
Also cheers to Conor for actually adjusting for inflation, it drives me BONKERS that most top selling movie lists don’t do that.
Thanks! And it drives me bonkers me too!
For shits and giggles….
I’ve seen 99 out of the 118 films listed here.
The ones haven’t seen in case you were wondering (and I know you were)
Spider-Man 3, Casper, Adventures of Tin Tin, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, Lone Ranger, Ghost Rider: Spirits of Vengeance, Surrogates, TMNT, Red 2, Catwoman, Priest, TMNT III, 2 Guns, R.I.P.D, Legend of The Lone Ranger, Josie and the Pussycats, Whiteout, and Jonah Hex
Yeah, I watched Steel. 😉
You are the blessed soul that was spared the torture that is Spider-Man 3? I’ve long heard tales of your existence, but never truly believed.
You lucky bastard.
Did my own count. Just for funsies.
I come in at having seen 97 out of 118. Sadly, I wasn’t spared the same atrocities you were.
Does this make us awesome? Or pathetic?
Don’t ever watch Priest, Whiteout, or Spiderman 3. They are painful to watch. I have not seen catwoman, j and the p cats, casper or the new ones on the list. The rest are just mediocre. I think you managed to avoid some stinkers, congrats.
For some reason I’m thinking there’s a JayZ song reference opportunity here.
Hey WheelHands, truth be told I got 23 minutes into Spider-Man 3 and then turned it off. =)
Great round up. Can’t believe you didn’t include the best Punisher movie (Dolph Lundgren, 1989) on the list. However, I did look it up on the site you used and it was not there, so I understand the omission.
It went straight to video and was never released in theaters in the United States and it’s too old for any reliable foreign box office numbers and so I left it off the list. Same thing with CAPTAIN AMERICA (1990).
I’m sure this is damn near impossible, or at the very least not worth the effort, but it’d be a lot of fun to imbed some kind of voting system onto this list and have the iFanbase generate the same list in order of popularity. I’m sure the result would be a very different list and sprout some really good discussion.
The only reason I thought of it was after looking at the bottom half of the list, it’s amazing how many cult/fan favorite films garnered a lot of their praise on VHS/DVD. Films like Mask of the Phantasm, Scott Pilgrim, American Splendor, and The Rocketeer are considered required viewing among our kind, and yet their box office turnout was sinfully poor.
Random thoughts:
– It’s amazing (and inspiring) that Superman: The Movie maintains at the number 5 spot in the wake of the onslaught of superhero films that it inspired. Truly wonderful.
– Also interesting is the amount of terrible sequels (usually third in a trilogy) that rank higher than their predecessors. Proof that the more interest is gained by quality initial entries, the tougher the disappointment when everything fizzles out.
– For some reason, when I was really little, I watched the shit out of Annie. I have no idea why. But seeing it on the list made me smile. Go ahead girl! … Don’t mock me.
Thanks for this, CK. Really cool stuff.
You could do that here: http://www.flickchart.com/ if you select the superhero genre, but be prepared to see a bunch of films on the list that you’ve never heard of. For example, my first two films were “Ultraman Cosmos 2: The Blue Planet (2002)” and “Cho-Den-O Trilogy: Episode Yellow: Treasure de End Pirates (2010)”
No one can judge you for enjoying Annie.
Carol Burnett, Tim Curry, and Albert Finney…..that movie is just a fun time.
Is Albert Finney the awesomest of the awesome or what?
He’s incredible.
If you have never had the chance to see it watch Scrooge.
I seriously love ANNIE. I memorized all the songs as a kid.
Excellent. I’m glad this is inflation adjusted.
Man bullet proof monk and mystery men deserved way more cash.
How could The Phantom be so low on the list? Billy Zane! Purple tights!
Dick Tracey made over 100 million in the US alone? I thought that was a gigantic bomb?
According to IMDb, the budget for Dick Tracy was ~$46M. I believe that doesn’t include the money spent on marketing, which was substantial. So, it wasn’t a huge financial success, but it wasn’t a total stinker either. In the end, I think the disappointment surrounding Dick Tracy had to do with what should have been achieved given the level of star power (Beatty, Madonna, Pacino), the strength of the IP, and the size of the marketing budget.
That makes sense. For done reason I remember this being spoken of as a disaster, but the truth is probably much closer to your explanation.
Tracy made money because everyone was riding high on Burton’s Batman still.
@JesseCuster: And because of the heavily hyped cast and because it is a fantastic movie.
@Conor: Have you watched it recently? I admit that I have not watched it since seeing it in the theater. I think once you get over what the film is and isn’t, I think it could be very enjoyable. But, “fantastic”? Are you saying 4 stars (or better) on the Netflix scale? Based on my recollection, I would give it 3.5.
@ctrosejr: Yes, I own it on Blu-ray. I’d give it 4 stars (which I did on Netflix).
Conor, fantastic job compiling this list! Very interesting stuff.
Thanks!
Also, this list shows if you wan a gigantic box office, put Stan Lee in your movie!
I’m astonished that Iron Man 1 is so low on the list, since it practically changed everything having to do with comic book movies (well, I guess Blade did more for comic movies…but since Blade at least).
Fun basic math: Iron Man 1, and to some extent RDJ, is responsible for $4,747,930,068 in Disney/Marvel’s coffers.
Total of these films I have seen: 66 (56%)
Total of these films I really like: 35 (53%)
Total of these films my girlfriend actually enjoys: 13
Man, Mask of the Phantasm should have made SOOO much more! Favorite animated flick of ALL TIME (seconded by Return of the Joker: Uncut)…
You’d figure that an animated Batman would have grossed a lot more than it did, even in the 90’s. I mean, Disney movies have ALWAYS made a ton of money! You can’t really blame it on being animated. Was it just poorly marketed?
I fondly remember seeing it in theaters. I did my part.
Apparently it wasn’t good enough! 😉
Just kidding. I’m sure it was purely our demographic that saw it. I would have seen it like 20 times and dragged all my friends with me!
If I recall, it was originally produced as a direct to video feature, us Warner Bros. decided last minute to push it into theaters just before Christmas, so it had virtually zero marketing behind it. It’s a shame, but I think it’s had some solid numbers on VHS/DVD sales. It is clearly the best interpretation of Batman in film.
@MaxPower Oh, definitely. It has a good cult following and remains the absolute definitive version on film. Beats Burton, Nolan, and all the rest!
Yeah I completely forgot this was a theatrical film. It was a really good, mainly expanded, story in the Animated Series universe.
As we all know, THE PHANTOM should have been much higher on this list. Thanks to the lovely and dreamy Billy Zane.
Can’t believe Superman Returns out grossed Batman Begins. How did that happen??
I think that’s pretty simple: Superman Returns came out after Batman Begins. So a ton of people went to that thinking it was going to be on par with Begins.
I actually like Returns, but I hear I’m a rarity.
I didn’t think it was absolutely horrible…
I wasn’t aware Timecop was from a comic. I thought they might have just made it up as they went along. (Radiocarbon dating gold? What?)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timecop_%28comics%29
The Green Hornet and John Carter aren’t actually ‘comic’ movies. Since The Green Hornet started as a radio show and John Carter was a series of novels. EDIT: Ditto for GI Joe flicks
Also you forgot Persepolis.
Also possibly Akria, Ghost in the Shell, Nausicaa Valley of the Wind, and other major Manga adaptions that got US domestic releases.
Just so happened that Superman II was on last night… what a pile of crap. Hoooooo boy was that bad.
No Dylan Dog: Dark of Night? Which would be about third from last with some $4m.
Great list though. Do we have any idea what accounts for the massive drop between Superman and Superman II? I can’t believe the very public Donner falling out would mangle its success that badly.
Of the top 25 films, I’ve seen all but two: Spider-Man 3 and MIB3.
Some days, you just can’t get rid of a bomb
Right?
I have been going back and forth over this list several times (I love this stuff). I think it’s really interesting as it truly points out how much of a “flop” summer we have had this year with blockbuster movies. I know that’s something everyone and their dog as announced already but when you see the potential of “comic book films” or “Franchise Films based on IP’s” and then see how short everyone, except Warner Bros, has fallen.
Also, why has Sam Raimi not been given the same deal the Christopher Nolan has? Three of the films he has directed make up the top ten. Maybe, Drag me to Hell didn’t blow up the box office but shouldn’t he get some sort of credit to do whatever he wants at this point?
I think SM3 kinda tarnished his rep a bit, and I don’t think he ever had the same “reach” with his movies as Nolan. Also, I don’t think his directing is as intellectual as Nolan. Still, both had respect for their material and artistic intergrity against the Studio Execs. So I agree, Raimi should get alittle more credit I think.
Something I always wondered… why did Batman Begins debut so modestly? Back then, I was so damn excited to see it that I forced people to come with me to midnight showings, which was packed! And then I saw it a 2nd time.
Were Begin’s numbers actually really good for a major blockbuster back in 2005? (I don’t think so? When you consider The Matrix , Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and Pixar movies?)
Was the average film-goer still reeling from Joel Schmuck-maker’s horrible Bat-films, and had trust issues?
I love BoxOfficeMojo BTW… I actually have it bookmarked.
Also…I don’t know many people who read it… but does anyone else agree that A History of Violence the movie is WAY better than the book? (of course, I saw the film first before reading the book).
“I don’t know many people who read it… but does anyone else agree that A History of Violence the movie is WAY better than the book? (of course, I saw the film first before reading the book).”
Yeah, the movie is much better than the book. ROAD TO PERDITION too.
I never read it, but I’ll take your word for it. The movie is amazing!
Rocketeer, John Carter, Dredd and Scott Pilgram should have made heaps more money. Dredd and John Carter are two of my favorite comic book movies by far.
I have only not watched 10 of these films…………..well now I’m just depressed. A lot of wasted time in my life.
I’m impressed by you guys who have seen so many. I’m only at 77 of 118. I worked at a movie theater for several years in the 1990’s where I saw lots of movies for free, and I’ve had Netflix for the past 15 years. I feel like I watch A LOT of movies, so you guys who are in the 90+ range are true aficionados of the comic-book movie genre.
96 out of 118 . . . I’m embarassed to say that I’ve actually sat in a theater and watched some of these . . . SMH
My predisposition not to watch bad movies is clearly evident as I go through this list. If I group the list in groups of 25, the number of movies I have seen goes down dramatically as I go down the list.
Rank / # I have seen / Cumulative # I have seen
01 – 25 / 25 / 25
26 – 50 / 17 / 42
51 – 75 / 19 / 61
76 – 100 / 7 / 68
101 – 118 / 7 / 75
There’s just one problem. Movies that don’t gross well aren’t nessisarily BAD movies.
See, Dredd 3D, Scott Pilgrim, Rocketeer, etc…
and Bullet proof monk, Mystery men, and John Carter.
I just saw a pick of Olivia Wilde with a wonder woman t shirt. Maybe she knows something we don’t. Justice League movie isn’t that far away, who knows.
Olivia Wilde… That would be interesting… Or maybe that’s my crush on her talking. 😉
Maybe they should screen-test her. She’s a good actress and needs another big, memorable role.
My crush is bigger than your crush. 🙂
Oh what the hell. I would even share my crush with you.
She was so hot in that movie that everyone hated. The one with Jack Black. I didn’t think it was so bad, or maybe that’s my crush on her talking.