The highest-earning films of 2018 at the New Zealand box office have been revealed, showing that it was superheroes and musicals that got Kiwis into cinemas last year.

$203.4 million was generated last year, second only to 2016's record haul of $206 million.

Three superhero movies made up the top ten, with Avengers: Infinity War the biggest release in 2018, earning $10.36 million. The Incredibles 2 follows with $7.7m, while Black Panther comes in third with $7.3m.

A trifecta of musicals came next; Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again holds fourth place with $6.2m, while Oscar nominees Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star is Born follow with $6.2m and $5.4m respectively.

Peter Garner, Chairman of the Motion Picture Distributors' Association, says a multitude of genres saw the industry pick up after a slump in 2017.

"New Zealand is a mature market and audiences need a variety of genres to choose from, and I think the studios provided that this year.

"Variety is the spice of life, as they say, so it's all about getting a good mix and a good balance."

He says that the uptick in profits, after a slight slump last year, shows that Netflix and other streaming services have not stopped people going to the movies.

"Any medium that grows the culture of growing movies is good in the long run.

"I think the onus is on the studios to produce quality films."

Jurassic World, Deadpool 2, Peter Rabbit, and Fantastic Beasts made up the rest of the list.

Comedy The Breakerer Upperers was the highest earning local movie, with $1.8 million.