Disney Dominates at the Box Office
Movieguide® Contributor
After a rough year in 2023, Disney compensated with over $2 billion in box office revenue this year.
“After a string of events films that weren’t events in 2023, i.e. Pixar’s ELEMENTALS, THE MARVELS, THE HAUNTED MANSION and WISH, the Mouse House came raging back this year, becoming the only motion picture studio to cross the $2 billion threshold with three of the top five films in INSIDE OUT 2 ($652.9M), the highest grossing R-rated movie of all-time DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE ($636.7M) and MOANA 2 ($342M),” Deadline reported.
“And that amount is only going to go higher with the release of MUFASA this Friday, that prequel’s opening set to do $50M. There’s also Searchlight’s James Mangold-directed Bob Dylan movie, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, opening wide on Christmas Day.”
Disney also passed $2b in 2022, when BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER and AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER were released. This year marks the seventh time it has reached $2b since 2010 at the Canada and U.S. box office.
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Deadline reported, “While the Bob Chapek Disney era ramped up a plethora of content in an effort to respond to the demands of the Disney+ launch and audiences’ appetite for streaming during Covid, what we’re seeing now are the fruits of the Bob Iger administration. His mission since taking over from Chapek, as expressed in a November 2023 town hall: ‘I think when it comes to creativity, quality is critical, of course, and quantity in many ways can destroy quality.’”
Comic Book Resources reported, “Disney hasn’t released many films this year but, like many other studios, bet on sequels and existing IP, and it paid off.”
MOANA 2 is the fifth highest-grossing movie of the year, and INSIDE OUT 2 is the 11th highest-grossing movie ever in the U.S. box office. INSIDE OUT 2 is also the highest-grossing animated movie ever in the U.S.
“Disney isn’t the only studio having an incredible year at the box office,” Movie Web observed. “Universal Pictures has four films in the domestic top 10, with WICKED, DESPICABLE ME 4, TWISTERS, and KUNG FU PANDA 4 occupying the number three, four, seven, and 10 spots, respectively. Warner Bros. Pictures also has DUNE: PART TWO, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, and GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE in the top 10, but the studio also notably had one of the biggest flops of the year with JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX.”
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