Looking to the future, it seems Disney studio heads are going to be rubbing their hands together for a while now.
While Disney have had massive successes in the past few years - 2013's Frozen broken a number of records to affirm itself as the biggest animated movie of all time with domestic earnings of $400m Marvel's The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron also scooped huge $623m and $459m returns in 20, respectively - the dominating company appear to be going from strength to strength. As Civil War continues to make huge amounts of money in its opening week (currently on $179m), Disney have surprise hit Zootpia ($328m and counting) and Jon Favreau's live-action The Jungle Book($287.6m and counting), and of course $284m+ from The Force Awakens to thank. However, Box Office Mojo is reporting that Disney has trounced that record with the same result 37 days faster. It was only last year that Universal smashed the record for tipping the billion mark in 165 days with a trio of mega-hits: Jurassic World ($652m), Furious 7($353m), and Minions($336m).
It won't come as a shock to know that, almost halfway into the year, Disney are making a heck of a lot of money at the box office, with huge hits following on from Star Wars: The Force Awakens(which made an incredible $936 million domestically), such as Zootopiaand Captain America: Civil War. And now, just over four months into 2016, Disney has exceeded $1 billion for domestic ticket sales in a mere 128 days - setting a new record and leaving every other studio in its wake. Now a dominant force in the global movie box office, it's no surprise to see Disney rake in hundreds of millions of dollars in relatively short spells from hit after hit (after hit). A decade later, they're now proud owners of Lucasfilm (which includes the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises), as well as a little superhero studio known as Marvel Studios. The latest film from the company – Marvel’s Doctor Strange – has now made $110.1 million internationally.Ever since Walt Disney Studios acquired Pixar back in 2006, it was obvious how rapidly the Mouse House wanted to expand. “This success is a testament to the refined talent and innovative work the entire studio team puts into making these world-class cinematic experiences.” “For the second year in a row, The Walt Disney Studios has reached a new high at the box office thanks to an absolutely stellar collection of releases from Disney, Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm,” said Alan Horn, chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. The arrival of the eagerly anticipated Moana and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will further boost this figure. This compares to the $5.851 billion it recorded for 2015. Disney has soared past the $6 billion mark at the box office in 2016, marking the second year that it has reached a new high at the cinema.įilms such as Finding Dory, Captain America: Civil War, The Jungle Book and Zootropolis (Zootopia in the US) have helped the studio to reach $6.07 billion so far this year.