As expected at the top of 2019, Disney has now made box office history as “Frozen II” crosses $1 billion in global grosses on Sunday. With this milestone, Disney is now the first studio ever to release six $1 billion hits in a calendar year.
These six hits — “Captain Marvel,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King,” “Toy Story 4,” “Frozen II,” and the all-time record breaker “Avengers: Endgame” — have pushed Disney to well over $10 billion in annual global grosses, shattering its own previous industry record of $7.6 billion. And of course, Disney could have a seventh $1 billion 2019 release when “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is released next weekend.
When the scope is widened beyond 2019, Disney’s streak of success since acquiring Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm becomes even greater. Since the release of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” in May 2015, the studio has released 18 movies that have grossed $1 billion, more than half of all the movies that have reached that mark. Of those 18, six have come from Marvel Studios, four from Walt Disney Studios, three each from Pixar and Lucasfilm, and two from Walt Disney Animation Studios.
2020 will likely see Disney’s overall numbers and market share finally take a step back with no “Avengers” or “Star Wars” on the slate. But the Mouse will still have a big footprint on the charts with releases that include “Black Widow,” a remake of “Mulan,” and three original animated films: Pixar’s “Onward” and “Soul” and WDAS’ “Raya and the Last Dragon.”