Marvel or DC: Which superhero movie lost the most money at the box office in 2023?

In its latest Blockbusters roundup, Deadline analyzed the revenue, costs and profits of blockbusters released in 2023. In terms of earnings, the site took into account both the results of the films in the cinema, as well as their income from streaming and broadcast on television. Also their income at the Home Entertainment level (sales of Blu-ray, DVD and others). In terms of costs, the publication took into account production costs, advertising, residual income and other distribution costs, as well as other interest and overhead costs.

And if we stick to the superhero genre, here are the movies that lost the most money last year.

Marvels

You’d think a $1.1 billion female superhero sequel that marks the return of Brie Larson would look better, and yet The Marvels is indeed the superhero movie that lost the most money last year. While its predecessor, Captain Marvel (2019), benefited from its release between Infinity War and Endgame, at a time when craze for genre films was at its peak, Marvels It was released in a more difficult context, especially due to the actors’ strike, which also greatly affected the film’s promotion.

The feature film also sought to draw inspiration from Disney+ series such as Ms. Marvel. However, this strategy has shown its shortcomings because Ms. Marvel It hasn’t been widely embraced by MCU fans, unlike series like Loki or WandaVision.

his total income Marvels 218 million dollars. But against total costs of 455 million… the result is a net loss of $237 million for Marvel!

Excitement

In the second position we find the Flash on the DC side. Even though the film was released well before the actors’ strike, it doesn’t help when your lead star is on the front page of the tabloids… Ezra Miller thus stayed out of the film’s promotion and is back again. Michael Keaton as Batman was not enough to save the project – he himself promoted the film in limited doses, perhaps hesitating in front of the press and unwilling to answer questions about Miller.

gross income Excitement That’s 250 million dollars. And again, against total costs of $405 million, the result is a net loss of $155 million for DC.

For comparison, back Marvels and ExcitementWe find no fewer than four Disney films (aside from the superhero genre) that also didn’t shine in 2023: Indiana Jones and the Clock of Fortune with a net loss of $143 million, Wish – Asha and The Lucky Star That Lost. A total of $131 million net and The Haunted Mansion, which in turn lost $117 million. That’s why Disney isn’t doing any better.

And what about the best one then?

In the superhero genre (and not just that), Spider-Man in 2023: No one can match the Spider-Verse. With 598 million dollars in revenue and 270 million dollars in expenses, the film made a profit. 328 million dollars – and is in third place in the ranking of Deadline, all genres combined. As for Guardians of the Galaxy 3: Revenue 674 million, expenses 550 million and the film made a profit of 124 million.

Note that Deadline did not (yet?) include Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Shazam! Wrath of the Gods or Blue Beetle. To be continued.

Another superhero movie, of sorts, is also on the way in 2023, but it’s not from Marvel or DC, this time from Paramount. We’re talking about Ninja Turtles: Teenage Years , which was a surprise at the box office last year — and which Deadline ranks fourth overall with $204.5 million gross, ahead of Oppenheimer’s $201.9 million.

The publication has yet to reveal the top two in the ranking of the highest-grossing movies of 2023, but we know that it is between Super Mario Bros., the movie and Barbie. Answer very soon.