By: Scott Johnson on September 16, 2012
Over at Box Office Mojo, they have a list of the top movie franchises. It’s possible to rank the list based on total gross at the domestic box office. When ranked the highest grossing franchise in the United States is Harry Potter, followed by Star Wars, followed by Batman, followed by The Avengers. While Harry Potter has a lofty lead with $2.39 billion, the Harry Potter franchise has concluded its run.
After Harry Potter, the next three are fairly close in total gross. The Star Wars franchise has grossed $1.92 billion, the Batman franchise has grossed $1.89 billion, and The Avengers franchise has grossed $1.75 billion. With both the Star Wars and Batman franchises apparently done for awhile, The Avengers is in a good position to move up the list fairly quickly.
Even if the Star Wars and Batman franchises do continue at some point as most would expect, they will likely only produce one movie every three years or so. However, with The Avengers franchise, Marvel Studios is on track to put out one or two movies a year. Iron Man 3 and Thor The Dark World are already slated for 2013 with Captain America The Winter Soldier to follow in 2014 and The Avengers 2 to follow in 2015. We’re not sure if the Guardians of the Galaxy would be classified as part of The Avengers franchise, but if so it would push the total even higher.
Assuming that Iron Man 3 takes in $350 million and Thor The Dark World takes in $200 million, then The Avengers could be #2 as far as top grossing franchises by next year. If Captain America The Winter Soldier takes in another $200 million, then by 2014, The Avengers would be the #1 grossing franchise at the domestic box office. Even if Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America don’t perform up to our predictions (which we think are conservative), The Avengers 2 in 2015 will almost certainly make The Avengers franchise the highest grossing franchise of all time at the domestic box office.
