2018 had been quite big for Disney. And now, 2019 seems even bigger!
The house of mouse has set an all-time box office record ahead of its much anticipated lineup for 2019. 2018 saw some larger than life films like Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Incredibles 2, with which the studio set a new domestic box office record, making $3.092 billion. Globally, it earned $7.325 billion, the second-biggest global total ever and just behind 2016’s record-setting Disney haul of $7.605 billion.
Till date, Disney is still the only studio to cross $7 billion in a single year, and in 2018 it was fortified by Marvel blockbusters like Infinity War ($2.049 billion globally) and Black Panther ($1.347 billion). These totals put both the films in the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time.
The Pixar sequel Incredibles 2 ($1.24 billion worldwide) and Ant-Man and the Wasp ($623.1 million) added to Disney’s total, along with other big releases like Ralph Breaks the Internet and Mary Poppins Returns.
But there’s always a black spot even on the moon! Not every Disney film this year was a hit A Wrinkle in Time earned only $132.9 million globally, while Solo: A Star Wars Story earned a franchise-worst total of $393.6 million — but overall, the studio had a year of bang!
Looking ahead to 2019, Disney’s got another two Marvel films in the pipeline, the Brie Larson-starring Captain Marvel (8 March) and the most awaited Avengers: Endgame (26 April). There are also a number of are live-action adaptations of Dumbo (29 March), Aladdin (24 May), The Lion King (19 July), Artemis Fowl (9 August) and Star Wars: Episode IX (December). On the animated side, Toy Story 4 (21 June) and Frozen 2 (22 November) are currently under production.
Disney’s acquisition of rival studio Fox expected to close early in 2019, and with that the studio will possibly on track to control an even bigger slice of the box office going forward.
