Data about Merchandising sales, revenue and total box office revenue are from Wikipedia’s List of Highest Grossing Media Franchises, which are made up of estimates based on combined revenue from different media and merchandise, based on publicly available data. Data about Highest Grossing Movies & Wordwide Box Office revenue is sourced from the-numbers.com. Data about Most Talked About Movies on Social Media Worldwide’ is sourced from Statista. Data about the first merchandise and its original price and current worth is from toyworth.com.
Leading Movies Based On Merchandise Sales
There are loads of movie-themed online slot games which got us thinking about merchandising in the movie industry. Merchandising has always been a massive part of the film industry, but have you ever wondered which movies have made the most from merchandise alone? And does this correlate with which movies have officially licenced online slots? Let’s delve into the data to find out!
Which Movies Made More From Merchandise
Than at the Box Office?
Any successful film has a licencing deal in place so that everyone can capitalise on it. Whether that’s from toys, video games, theme park rides or slot games, merchandising can make a significant difference to a movies earning potential. If it works the first time round, you can bet they’ll be a sequel – almost as an advert for the merchandise that makes millions.
MOVIES THAT GENERATED MORE REVENUE FROM MERCHANDISE THAN AT THE BOX OFFICE
Star Wars
From Merchandise: $42.22 billion
At the Box Office: $10.3 billion
Cars
From Merchandise: $19.11 billion
At the Box Office: $2.03 billion
Toy Story
From Merchandise: $17.60 billion
At the Box Office: $3.04 billion
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
From Merchandise: $13.20 billion
At the Box Office: $1.15 billion
Transformers
From Merchandise: $12.20 billion
At the Box Office: $4.85 billion
Frozen
From Merchandise: $10.59 billion
At the Box Office: $2.32 billion
Minions
From Merchandise: $3.95 billion
At the Box Office: $3.72 billion
The Lion King
From Merchandise: $3.07 billion
At the Box Office: $2.63 billion
Which Movies Have Spurred on the
Sale of Merchandise?
Highest Grossing Movies
So which of the movies were most popular? Let’s take a look at the highest grossing movies from each series and their worldwide box office success. Sitting comfortably at the top is Avengers: Endgame (2019) with almost $2.8 billion made in ticket sales. In second place is Star Wars Ep. VII: The Force Awakens (2015) with $2.07 billion.
Most Talked About Movies on Social Media Worldwide
Success at the box office is one way to measure the best movies out there, but are they also getting talked about afterwards?
Based on data from April 2018 we can see that Avengers: Infinity War was the winner with 7,540,768 conversations recorded on social media, and 3 out of the top 5 being Star Wars!
The Very First Licensed Products
Let’s take a look at some of the very first pieces of merchandise to hit the shelves and how in-demand they still are today. Looking back to before the turn of the millennium we can see all of these toys have become collectors items. Star Wars definitely wins this title, but will it still be the case in the future?
The Star Wars Early Bird Certificate – 1977
Estimated Worth: $2000
Jurassic Park Figures – 1993
Estimated Worth: $20
TMNT 4 x Figures – 1988
Estimated Worth: $50
Transformers Gen 1
Bluestreak – 1984
Estimated Worth: $450
Pull String Woody – 1995
Estimated Worth: $300
Which Movies Have Officially Licenced
Slot Games?
Superheroes provide the perfect backdrop to slot games and today DC by far outdo every other movie on our list! This hasn’t always been the case though.
In 2005 Cryptologic partnered with Marvel and over 5 years developed 17 different online slot games, including Thor, Spiderman, Wolverine and Incredible Hulk Ultimate Revenge. Playtech also had a successful partnership with Marvel and their slots were even more successful due to their progressive jackpots. Among their 16 Marvel slots were Elektra, Iron Man 2, Fantastic Four and Captain America. Where are they today? Unfortunately, the licencing agreement came to an end when Disney bought Marvel.
Thankfully in 2016 Playtech filled the superhero void and struck a deal with Warner Bros. to produce a series of DC themed slots, most of which you can see below. What are you waiting for? Give them a try today!
