Warner Bros. tops $ 5 b at 2017 Worldwide Box Office, led by ‘Wonder Woman’

Los Angeles (Variety.com): Led by ‘Wonder Woman,’ Warner Bros. has crossed the $5 billion mark at the global box office this year, marking only the second time it has ever crossed the milestone.

The studio made the announcement on Tuesday, noting that it’s also the eighth time in the last nine years that Warner Bros. has earned more than $4 billion in a single year.

The announcement came five days after Disney proclaimed it had topped $5 billion worldwide for the third year in a row.

Warner Bros. noted that it had five titles take in more than $500 million worldwide with ‘Kong: Skull Island,’ ‘Wonder Woman,’ ‘Dunkirk,’ ‘It,’ and ‘Justice League’. Gal Gadot’s ‘Wonder Woman’ leads the list with $821 million with ‘It’ at $694 million, ‘Justice League’ at $570 million, ‘Kong: Skull Island’ at $566 million, and ‘Dunkirk’ at $525 million.

Warner Bros. has not disclosed the budget on ‘Justice League’ – which launched mid-November and is still doing decent business. Some estimates have placed the budget for the superhero team-up at as much as $300 million.

Three more Warner Bros. releases topped $250 million worldwide: ‘The Lego Batman Movie,’ ‘Annabelle: Creation’ and ‘Blade Runner 2049’. Alcon and Sony co-financed the ‘Blade Runner’ sequel and Warner handled domestic distribution.

“We are thrilled to reach this extraordinary benchmark as we come to the end of an amazing, record-setting year,” Sue Kroll, president of worldwide marketing and distribution, said. “Surpassing $5 billion in a single year can only happen with an incredible level of hard work across all theatrical divisions, as well as the invaluable contributions of the many talented filmmakers and actors with whom we are so fortunate to collaborate.”