Just a week after Disney
set a new all-time record for global ticket sales for a single studio with $7.67 billion worldwide — breaking its own record set in 2016 — CEO Bob Iger announced that Walt Disney Studios has reached $8 billion at the global box office this year.
"I’d like to congratulate The Walt Disney Studios for reaching $8 billion at the global box office so far this year–a new industry record–thanks to the stellar performance of our Marvel, Pixar and Disney films," Iger said in the company's earnings report.
Disney's record-breaking year has been fueled by
Avengers: Endgame,
The Lion King,
Captain Marvel, and
Aladdin — all four of which have surpassed $1 billion globally.
Avengers: Endgame, aided by a theatrical re-release, scored a global haul of $2.789 billion,
surpassing James Cameron's Avatar as the highest-grossing movie of all-time.
As previously noted, of the top six movies at the global box office, Disney is responsible for five of them:
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Avengers: Edngame - $2.79B
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The Lion King - $1.20B
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Captain Marvel - $1.12B
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Spider-Man: Far From Home (Sony) - $1.07B
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Aladdin - $1.02B
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Toy Story 4 - $961.5M
Having already hit $8 billion, it's looking increasingly likely that Disney will surpass $10 billion globally this year alone. Looking at the calendar, Disney still has three potential major blockbusters:
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (October 2019),
Frozen 2 (Novembert 2019), and
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (December 2019). The latter two
will almost certainly each earn over $1 billion globally.
And looking even further down the line to 2020 and 2021, Marvel Studios announced
a robust plan for Phase 4 of the MCU, which includes an assortment of movies and TV shows that'll be released either in theaters or through Disney+.
Despite the unprecedented box office performance, Disney's earnings for the quarter actually came in well-below industry analysts' estimates, which sent the stock tumbling after hours. However, Disney atributed the missed targets to higher operating costs associated with the acquisition of 21st Century Fox, full ownership of Hulu, and the investment in its upcoming streaming service Disney+.
During the investor call, Disney also
announced a bundle package deal for Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu.