Nowadays in Hollywood it is not enough to do a superhero/comic book movie, but rather a superhero/comic book movie series. Hollywood executives are getting a guaranteed return on their investment when they decide to take on projects like these. And what was previously thought of as low rent work for actors has quickly become the most coveted role in town.
Take a look at the table below to see how much each franchise has made…
| Film Series | Studio | Estimated Budget | Box Office Gross | Profit (to date) | ROI (return on investment) |
| Spiderman | Columbia | 597,000,000 | 1,113,822,503 | $516,822,503 | 86% |
| X-Men | 20th Century Fox | 545,000,000 | 786,491,527 | $241,491,527 | 44% |
| Batman | Warner Bros | 335,000,000 | 738,659,835 | $403,659,835 | 120% |
| Mission Impossible | Paramount | 355,000,000 | 529,761,322 | $174,761,322 | 49% |
| Bourne | Universal | 245,000,000 | 524,644,180 | $279,644,180 | 114% |
| Ironman | Universal | 140,000,000 | 318,298,180 | $178,298,180 | 127% |
| The Incredible Hulk | Universal | 150,000,000 | 263,427,551 | $113,427,551 | 75% |
I’m no financial analyst, but I dare you to try and find a stock broker who can give you that kind of ROI. Remember franchises like these haul also haul in enormous amounts of cash through licensing agreements and DVD sales. In most cases, the box office gross is only the tip of the iceberg.
Tobey McGuire in Columbia’s Spider-Man, starting a fourth
Edward Norton in Universal’s The Incredible Hulk, starting a second
Hugh Jackman in 20th Century Fox’s X-Men
Christian Bale and Heath Ledger in Warner Bros’ Batman, starting a third
Robert Downey Jr in Universal’s Ironman, starting a second
Matt Damon in Universal’s Bourne series
Tom Cruise in Paramount’s Mission Impossible, starting a fourth
