'Avengers: Infinity War' and 'Black Panther' Helped Drive Rebound in 2018 U.S. Movie Ticket Sales

After a down year in ticket sales at movie theaters, box offices bounced back with huge numbers in 2018 thanks to Marvel Studios films like Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War.

According to the National Association of Theater Owners (via Variety), movie admissions in the United States rebounded to 1.3 billion, resulting in $11.85 billion spent at the box office in 2018.

Patrick Corcoran, the spokesperson of the National Association of Theater Owners, credited the increase in sales to the diverse offering of movies at the box office.

"When the movies are there, people show up, and when you have a broad range of titles, a broad range of audiences show up," said Corcoran. "From top to bottom – Black Panther on down to four documentaries bringing in more than $10 million each – you build a big audience through lots of different audiences of all sizes."

Black Panther accounted for $700 million and Avengers: Infinity War made $678 million at the domestic box office, while fellow Disney title The Incredibles 2 made $608 million. All in all, the House of Mouse dominated movie theaters and helped lead theater owners to a bounce back year.

But ticket sales and revenue aren't the only reason for these movies' successes, as The Incredibles 2, Avengers: Infinity War, and Black Panther all earned Disney numerous nominations at the Academy Awards.

Black Panther itself became the first superhero movie based on a comic book to be nominated for the Best Picture award, among seven other Oscar nominations.

Marvel Studios boss and Black Panther producer Kevin Feige praised the creative minds behind the successful superhero flick — especially director Ryan Coogler — for bringing a fresh perspective to the genre and putting Marvel Studios in serious awards contention for the first time.

"You're going to hear me say the name 'Ryan Coogler' constantly on this phone call," Feige told The New York Times in an interview today. "To me, the best thing a producer can do is find a person with something to say, who has a story to tell and can tell it in a way that the world responds to. That's what Mr. Coogler has done for us."

Marvel's next film on the docket premieres on March 8th with Captain Marvel finally hitting theaters. The ending to the two-part Thanos saga will hit the following month with Avengers: Endgame premiering on April 26th.