There's no denying the powerhouse that Marvel Studios has become. The comic book movie universe that the company has created hardly came out of humble beginnings - Jon Favreau's Iron Man made $585 million internationally when it was released back in 2008 - but ever since Joss Whedon's The Avengers came out last year the franchise's popularity has exploded. Avengers and Shane Black's Iron Man 3 currently sit at number three and number five, respectively, on the all time worldwide box office chart, and Alan Taylor's Thor: The Dark World keeps shooting up the charts as well. Following a big premiere in many markets overseas and a huge debut here in the United States, the God of Thunder sequel has now officially passed the $500 million mark, making it now the fifth Marvel Cinematic Universe film to do so.
Since hitting US theaters on November 8h, the action movie has pulled in a strong $152 million, but the bulk of the receipts come from overseas where the movie has made over $352 million in ticket sales. It's a big payoff for Marvel, which gave the production a $170 million budget - $20 million more than what Kenneth Branagh got to make the first Thor movie in 2011. Even factoring big-time advertising costs the film has already made a profit, and surely the champagne is flowing over at Marvel.
As big a success as Thor: The Dark World is, it won't be catching up its previously-released brethren at the top of the all-time worldwide charts. On that particular list it currently sits at #113, which places it right between Ghost with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, and Disney's animated Aladdin from the 90s. That should deflate the studio's ego just a bit, but it's also worth mentioning that the movie is now the ninth highest grossing film of the year internationally, having just passed Sam Raimi's Oz The Great and Powerful.
So what's next? At the start of April next year we will get to see the theatrical release of Joe and Anthony Russo's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which will be followed by James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy in August and then Joss Whedon's The Avengers: Age of Ultron in May 2015. While it hasn't been announced yet, we can also expect a Thor 3 in the next couple years as - without spoiling the movie - the end of The Dark World has a very exciting cliffhanger ending.
Have you seen Thor: The Dark World yet? Do you still plan on going? Do you plan on going back to the theater and seeing it again? Let us know what you thought o the film in the comments section below!
