Disney Earned a Whopping $13.2 Billion At the Box Office Last Year

For those of you following along with MickeyBlog in 2019 you’ll know that it was a monumental year for Disney at the box office! The studio became the first in history to cross the $10 billion mark globally.  With 2019 officially behind us, we can look “big picture” at just how well Disney did last year and the figures are nothing short of jaw-dropping!

For the calendar year, Walt Disney Studios posted a gross of $13.2 billion at the global box office (including both Disney and Fox releases). Disney releases alone account for over $11 billion of those profits!

While those figures are momentous, industry insiders agree that we may not see figures like this again for a while. After all, this was the year the brought us Avengers: Endgame which surpassed Avatar and now holds the title of the biggest movie of all as well as the first billion-dollar opening in history. Add to this the release of titles like Toy Story 4 and Frozen 2 as well as live-action adaptations of The Lion King and Aladdin and you have a recipe for success. 

Thanks to a recent piece in Deadline, let’s take a look at some of the highlights: 

• Globally, Disney surpassed the $11B mark for the first time in industry history This beat out the previous record of $7 billion. This is the third time Disney has passed the mark. (2016, 2018 and 2019.)
• International grosses of over $7 billion set a new industry record surpassing the $4.6 billion mark set by Disney back in 2016.
• Domestic grosses in excess of $3.7 billion represent an industry record. This surpasses the previous record also set by Disney in 2018. 
• Last year Disney released six films across four different studios that crossed the $1billion mark. This includes Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Aladdin, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Frozen 2 with The Rise of Skywalker quickly on its way. 

Let’s take a closer look at the successes of some of these key titles: 

Avengers: Endgame (Marvel Studios) – $2.798B global, $858.4M domestic, $1.94B international; A+ CinemaScore, 94% Rotten Tomatoes; highest-grossing film of all time globally and the second highest-grossing film of all time domestically (behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and internationally (behind Avatar); Set all-time domestic, China, international, and global debut records ($357M domestic, $330.5M China, $866.5M international, $1.22B global); fastest film to $1B (5 days) and $2B (11 days); 10 weeks in domestic top 10; 8th Marvel Studios release to surpass $1B, 2nd to surpass $2B.

The Lion King (Disney) – $1.657B global, $543.6M domestic, $1.11B international; A CinemaScore; No. 7 highest-grossing film of all time globally; No. 11 all-time domestically; No. 2 highest-grossing film of the year globally and domestically; highest-grossing Disney Live-Action release of all time (domestic, international, global); 11 weeks in domestic top 10.

Frozen 2 (Walt Disney Animation Studios) – $1.26B global, $435.2M domestic, $825.3M international (still in release); A- CinemaScore; No. 2 animated film of all time globally; No. 3 highest grossing movie of the year globally and domestically; top global animated opening of all time ($358.4M).

Captain Marvel (Marvel Studios) – $1.13B global, $426.8M domestic, $702.9M international; A CinemaScore; No. 5 highest-grossing film of the year globally and domestically; nine weeks in domestic Top 10; 7th Marvel Studios release to surpass $1B worldwide.

Toy Story 4/ (Pixar) – $1.074B global, $434M domestic, $640.1M international; A CinemaScore, 97% Rotten Tomatoes; No. 4 highest-grossing movie of the year domestically, No. 6 of the year globally.

Aladdin (Disney) – $1.05B global, $355.6M domestic, $695.4M international; A CinemaScore; No. 8 highest-grossing movie of the year domestically and globally; 11 weeks in domestic Top 10.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (Lucasfilm) – $815.7M global, $407.8M domestic, $407.9M international (still in release, represents just 15 days of grosses); No. 12 all-time debut, No. 3 biggest opening of 2019 and of December all-time ($177.4M); No. 9 movie of the year globally/No. 6 domestically

Other noteworthy 2019 releases include: 

•  Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (Disney) with $490.7M global, $113.4M domestic/$377.3M international (still in release)
• Dumbo (Disney) with $353.2M global, $114.8M domestic/$238.4M international.
•  Ralph Breaks The Internet- The year also saw $175.5M in grosses from this 2018 film.
• Mary Poppins Returns- Also continued to make bank in 2019 to the tune of $164.8M

Commenting on the year, Walt Disney Studios Co-Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Alan Horn and Co-Chairman Alan Bergman said, “We are very proud of our studio’s team and the extraordinary slate of films they delivered to fans all around the world in 2019. This was a year like no other! We both know that these achievements would not have been possible without both the imaginative and compelling storytelling from the talented filmmakers and production teams across all of our film labels, and the exceptional work of our marketing, distribution, and operations teams and everyone at The Walt Disney Studios.”

Readers are encouraged to keep following along with MickeyBlog for the latest Disney movie news and updates!

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