Disney has had an incredible year at the box office already. In fact, the studio has already broken its own record for total global earnings in a single year. It is currently July.
That’s right. In just seven months, Disney has broken the record for most box office earnings in a single calendar year. According to The Wrap, Disney’s 2019 films have earned a combined $7.67 billion worldwide, surpassing their 2016 benchmark of $7.61 billion.
- To date, Disney has released seven movies in 2019:
- Captain Marvel
- Dumbo
- Penguins
- Avengers: Endgame
- Aladdin
- Toy Story 4
- The Lion King
- The studios actually did not get a great start to the year, with Captain Marvel not hitting theaters until March and late 2018 releases Mary Poppins Returns and Ralph Breaks the Internet combining for just $90 million in 2019.
- Which means, Disney essentially broke this record in just five months.
- The most obvious contributor to Disney’s record-setting $7.67 billion, is Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, which recently became the highest-grossing film of all-time and currently sits at $2.79 billion.
- Next was Captain Marvel, which earned roughly $1.13 billion worldwide.
- Aladdin also recently crossed the $1 billion threshold while The Lion King is right on its heels after just two weekends in theaters. Toy Story 4 is not far behind at $918 million.
- Relative to the success of the other films, Dumbo was a misstep, earning just $353 million.
- Penguins, a Disneynature film, added another $7.7 million after its U.S. only release.
- There’s still plenty more to come for Disney in 2019 as well. The studio still has three films to release in 2019:
- Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
- Frozen 2
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
- While The Rise of Skywalker figures to be the biggest earner of that group, its late December release will limit its 2019 contribution (aside from what is sure to be a hugely successful opening weekend).
- However, Frozen 2 will likely add another billion dollars to Disney’s 2019 total on its own.
- When it’s all said and done, Disney could be looking at a $10 billion year.
- It’s also worth noting that, at this moment, Disney’s five biggest films of the year are currently the top five in terms of domestic earnings, though Sony’s Spider-Man: Far From Home seems likely to surpass Aladdin in the near future.