The Marvel Cinematic Universe has officially grossed over $9 billion in the United States alone. At this point, it is no secret that the MCU is the biggest blockbuster franchise in Hollywood history. Avengers: Endgame was (pre-Avatar re-release) the highest-grossing film of all time, earning over $858M at the domestic box office and a gargantuan $2.7 billion overall. Including Endgame, the MCU has had nine different movies make their way into the billion-dollar club, and prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, five of the last six Marvel films had done so (with the sole exception being Ant-Man and the Wasp).
As with most things, Marvel's box office has drastically changed following the onset of the pandemic. The overall box office runs for both Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings are quite a ways below previous Marvel entries, with Black Widow earning $379M overall ($183M domestic) and Shang-Chi taking in $430M ($223M domestic). However, Black Widow is still the third highest-grossing film of the year in the U.S. while Shang-Chi is holding onto the top spot. Marvel Studios' latest release, Chloé Zhao's Eternals, is currently doing solid business, but its $71M opening falls below both of this year's previous MCU outings. Despite Eternals not performing as well as some had hoped it would, the film has pushed the MCU beyond yet another box office milestone.
According to a new report from Forbes, Eternals took in $5.25M in domestic earnings on Tuesday, which has pushed the MCU over the $9 billion mark at the U.S. box office. The film has now totaled $80.8M domestically in five days, about the same Black Widow made in its first three. Though the Eternals domestic box office run may be Marvel's lowest since Ant-Man in 2015, it still had the fourth-highest opening of the year behind Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Black Widow, and Shang-Chi.
As far as the overall MCU box office is concerned, it's no surprise that the franchise has passed this threshold, as Eternals is the 26th film to come from Marvel Studios over the last 13 years. The studio produces hit after hit and is now at a point in which they're usually putting out at least three films in one year, with them almost universally being box office smashes. To add some perspective, it wasn't until the studio's 5th film (Captain America: The First Avenger) that they crossed the $1 billion-dollar mark domestically. Now, on average, the MCU is usually adding another billion dollars to its U.S. total every two or three films.
Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe was bound to pass the $9 billion mark domestically at some point, it's incredibly impressive nonetheless. The superhero studio has become the biggest juggernaut in Hollywood, and with an upcoming slate of films including the likes of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it likely won't take too long for the franchise to fly its way past the $10 billion line.
Source: Forbes