It's been a good year for film records: Stephen King's It has broken just about every landmark going for money grossed by an R rated movie, a horror movie, a movie released in the autumn, a movie released in September, a Stephen King movie, a movie called It...we could keep going.
It hasn't been the only one breaking more records than a dissatisfied DJ, as Wonder Woman has just been announced as the most successful superhero origin film ever.
The movie overtook the original Spiderman from way back in 2002 - arguably the film that sparked the whole revival of the superhero genre - with a total gross of over $800 million worldwide.
Wonder Woman garnered widespread acclaim when it was released back in June, gaining critical success and a 92% Rotten Tomatoes rating, with particular attention drawn to its strong female lead, played by Israeli actress Gal Gadot.
Alongside the financial rewards, there is talk of award success as well, with Forbes stating this week that: "Warner is giving Wonder Woman a heavy Oscar push, including for Best Picture and Best Director. While you may think financial success doesn't matter much in Academy Award considerations, you'd be mistaken."
Of course, there is a dispute about whether Wonder Woman has actually taken more than Spiderman. It's basically impossible for any film to be the highest-grossing anything without at least a modicum of debate around it.
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Forbes is clear on this: "The exchange rate for dollars, length of a film's theatrical run and rereleases, the amount of competition in the marketplace from pictures with similar target demographics, amount of home entertainment competition compared to theatrical draw, competition from the Internet and streaming services, vast global piracy of movies nowadays, the particular role of a given film in the historic context for its genre and its own franchise, number of foreign screens and domestic screens, and many other issues come into play when discussing this matter."
Given that they're the folks who compile the lists of richest people in the world every year, we'll defer to their greater knowledge.
Nay-sayers might well point out that, if adjusted from 2002 (when Spiderman was released) to 2017, the Sam Raimi effort actually comes to somewhere near $1.1 billion, comfortably more than Wonder Woman.
That aside, the idea that a female-lead, female-directed movie about a female superhero could make such an impact on the traditionally male-dominated world of comic book movies is a major success without any takings at all.
So here's to you, Wonder Woman. And in all likelihood, Wonder Woman 2. And 3. And 4. Until everyone gets bored.
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Sources: Forbes
Topics: Forbes, Awesome, DC Comics, Film and TV, Celebrity, Superhero, US Entertainment, Marvel, Spider-Man, Gal Gadot
