Culture
Animation: The Earnings of the Biggest Movie Franchises Over the Last 20 Years
Note: The Numbers defines North America as the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam. The data here does not cover all of the top-grossing movie franchises.
Animation: The Earnings of the Biggest Movie Franchises Over the Last 20 Years
From Iron Man to Luke Skywalker, viewers love watching their favorite heroes triumph over evil time and time again. These successful movie franchises have won our hearts, and padded film studios’ wallets in the process.
Today’s animation comes from Reddit user /u/rebellious_scum and it charts North American box office sales for select movie franchises, as reported by movie data website The Numbers. The daily ticket earnings were captured from May 19, 1999 (release date of Star Wars: Episode I) to April 4, 2019 and adjusted for inflation.
What stands out the most?
The clear takeaway from the animation is Marvel’s exponential earnings growth since it debuted with Iron Man in 2008.
As of April 4, the franchise had earned inflation-adjusted revenue of $7.63 billion – almost double that of runner-up Star Wars, which totaled $4.03 billion. Of course, this does not take into account data from the record-shattering release of Avengers: Endgame on April 26th, which would skew numbers in Marvel’s favor even more.
Average Revenue Per Movie
While these numbers sound impressive, what’s the average revenue each movie has generated in North America?
Using the animation’s inflation-adjusted numbers, here’s how it all breaks down:
Star Wars and Middle Earth top the list in terms of average revenue per movie. Meanwhile, Marvel lands in third place and is closely followed by Pirates of the Caribbean, the Wizarding World, and the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).
Compared to direct competitor DCEU, Marvel earns roughly $30 million more per movie.
The Rate of Movie Production
The secret, in part, to Marvel’s astronomical surge?
They produce movies at breakneck speed. The studio knows it has a winning recipe, and cooks up movies quickly to stay fresh in viewers’ minds.
In twelve years, Marvel Studios has produced 22 movies including Avengers: Endgame. By comparison, the giant James Bond franchise has produced 24 movies since its inception 57 years ago in 1962.
Source: 007.com, Marvel.com
The Market Share Leaders
With Disney’s recent purchase of Fox, the ownership of movie franchises became even more concentrated.
Today, Hollywood essentially has three parent companies: The Walt Disney Company, Universal/Comcast Corp., and WarnerMedia (previously TimeWarner).
Here’s who owns the above eight franchises:
Sources: Business Insider, Forbes, Fortune, The Tolkien Society
Disney is a major player in the franchise space, and shows no signs of slowing down. There are even talks that the company is looking to reboot the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
In an industry full of risk, studios are looking to capitalize on a winning franchise formula: build a trusted brand with beloved characters, and produce movies as fast as time will allow.
Culture
Ranked: Which Countries Drink the Most Beer?
Global consumption exceeded 185 million kiloliters in 2021, enough to fill more than 74,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Visualizing Global Beer Consumption
Global beer consumption exceeded 185 million kiloliters in 2021, enough to fill more than 74,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
So, which countries drink the most beer?
This graphic uses data from Kirin Holdings to compare global beer consumption by country. The Japanese company has been tracking beer consumption around the world since 1975.
Which Countries Drink the Most Beer?
Every region in the world increased its overall beer consumption in 2021 compared to 2020, with global consumption rising by 4%.
Asia holds a 31% share of the global beer market, remaining the world’s largest beer-consuming region over the last 14 years.
Rank | Country | Total Consumption (thousand kl) | Market Share |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 🇨🇳 China | 38,093 | 20.5% |
2 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 24,170 | 13.0% |
3 | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 14,540 | 7.8% |
4 | 🇷🇺 Russia | 8,937 | 4.8% |
5 | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 8,660 | 4.7% |
6 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 7,584 | 4.1% |
7 | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 4,608 | 2.5% |
8 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 4,188 | 2.3% |
9 | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | 4,159 | 2.2% |
10 | 🇪🇸 Spain | 4,131 | 2.2% |
China was the largest beer-consuming country for the 19th consecutive year.
The tradition of brewing and enjoying beer in China spans approximately nine millennia. Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed that as far back as 7000 BC, ancient Chinese communities were engaged in producing beer-like alcoholic beverages, primarily on a small and localized basis.
China was also the leading producer of beer in 2022, followed by the United States.
Beer Consumption Per Capita
When examining per capita beer consumption, Asia falls behind Europe. In fact, nine of the top 10 consumers of beer per capita are European nations.
The Czech Republic remains the leader in per capita beer drinking for the 29th year. In 2021, the average Czech drank more than 184 liters of beer.
Rank | Country | Per Capita Beer Consumption (volume in liters) | Total Consumption (thousand kl) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 🇨🇿 Czech Republic | 184.1 | 1,969 |
2 | 🇦🇹 Austria | 98.7 | 888 |
3 | 🇱🇹 Lithuania | 96.3 | 260 |
4 | 🇷🇴 Romania | 95.6 | 1,826 |
5 | 🇵🇱 Poland | 94.1 | 3,557 |
6 | 🇪🇪 Estonia | 91.4 | 119 |
7 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 90.4 | 7,584 |
8 | 🇪🇸 Spain | 88.5 | 4,131 |
9 | 🇳🇦 Namibia | 85.7 | 223 |
10 | 🇭🇷 Croatia | 82.4 | 338 |
The Czech Republic is known for its affordable beer. In some parts of the country, beer can even cost less than bottled water.
Small Brewers and Technology
Beer production is expected to rise over the next decade, boosted by new smaller brewers, particularly in Western countries.
Investments have also been made in new technology to expedite the brewing process, including the utilization of ‘BeerBots’ capable of accelerating the fermentation process.
According to Future Market Insights, the global beer market is projected to be valued at $690 billion in 2023, rising to $996 billion by 2033.
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