The final total for the 2018 domestic box office is in, and the biggest year in industry history has clocked in at $11.85 billion, according to comScore.
That total is approximately 4 percent higher than the previous record of $11.38 billion set in 2016. The 2016 total was passed on Dec. 24, after a pre-Christmas weekend that saw the release of major blockbusters like “Aquaman,” “Mary Poppins Returns” and “Bumblebee.”
The strong domestic performance also drove a 2.6 percent increase in the global annual total, from $40.6 billion in 2017 to $41.6 billion in 2018. Overseas numbers, which have driven most of the global growth over the past decade, only increased by $300 million, or 1 percent, compared to last year from $29.5 billion to $29.8 billion.
Disney blew away the competition with an industry-record total of $3.09 billion, accounting for 26 percent of domestic market share. This is the second time in the last three years Disney has grossed over $3 billion domestically and $7 billion worldwide, and no other studio has ever reached that mark. The studio released the top three highest grossing films of the year: “Black Panther” ($700 million domestic), “Avengers: Infinity War” ($678.8 million) and “Incredibles 2” ($608.5 million).
Other top films in 2018 include “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” ($416 million), “Deadpool 2” ($318.4 million), “Ant-Man and the Wasp” ($216.6 million), “Venom” ($213 million) and “A Star Is Born” ($200 million).