The Disney 2024 Movie Slate hit a box office milestone not seen since 2019

Disney was for some time the undisputed ruler of the box office. In 2019 alone, Disney generated more than $10 billion globallybecoming the first studio to ever do so. Then 2020 came and turned the film industry upside down in a big, bad way. The pandemic closed theaters for months on end, and the recovery has been much slower than hoped. However, thanks to the massive success of “Moana 2,” Disney has now achieved something no studio has achieved since 2019, with three of its 2024 films surpassing the $1 billion mark worldwide.

With another surprisingly strong weekend, “Moana 2” has now grossed $1.01 billion worldwide. Passing “Jurassic World Domination” ($1 billion) As the eighth biggest movie of the pandemic era. More importantly, it now joins other 2024 Disney releases “Inside Out 2” ($1.69 billion) and “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($1.33 billion) as members of the billion-dollar club. No other studio achieved that feat last year, though “Despicable Me 4” ($969.1 million) came very close.

There are some key takeaways here. For example, the only other year after 2020 that saw three billion-dollar films hit theaters was 2022, thanks to the joining of “Avatar: The Way of Water” ($2.3 billion) and “Top Gun: Maverick” ($1.49 Billion dollars) to Dominion. In this case, three different studios shared the wealth. However, in 2024, Disney has dominated the market with three high-profile sequels. in case “Moana 2” We’re talking about a movie that was originally supposed to be a Disney+ series.

Disney’s choice to instead send “Moana 2” to theaters was a) a great decision and b) a watershed moment in the ongoing streaming wars. Investing a lot of money into A-list, live streaming content may be a thing of the past. In doing so, Disney was able to reclaim its seat on the throne and give the industry a much-needed boost after a rocky start to the year due to the 2023 SAG and WGA strikes.

All told, Disney grossed $5.46 billion globally in 2024, the highest total of any studio. Of course, this is still a far cry from the $10 billion we saw In 2019, “Avengers: Endgame” grossed $2.8 billion and briefly became the biggest movie of all time.. In total, nine films crossed the $1 billion mark that year, including “Aladdin” ($1 billion), “Toy Story 4” ($1.073 billion), and “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” ($1.074 “Joker” ($1.078 billion), “Captain Marvel” ($1.12 billion), “Spider-Man: Far From Home” ($1.13 billion), “Frozen 2” ($1.13 billion) ($1.45 billion), and “The Lion King” ($1.65 billion), seven of which come directly from Disney.

On the one hand, this shows how far the box office still has to go before we can reach pre-pandemic levels. On the other hand, Disney has shown that with the right movies, people will still happily leave the house and head to the theater. “Inside Out 2,” in particular, became the biggest animated film of all time And it helped prove that the Pixar name still means something. The jury’s still out on whether studio originals like “Elio” can deliver the goods, but it’s still good to see.

To that end, it’s easy to look at the dominance of sequels like Deadpool & Wolverine from a glass-half-empty perspective. The biggest original film of 2024 is “IF” ($190 million), and its budget prevented it from being a complete hit. However, everything is relative. If the success of these sequels can allow films like “Longlegs” or “Anora” to exist by taking the pressure off them and helping theaters keep the lights on, so be it.

Either way, Disney is demonstrating its ability to be an outright force in the pop culture landscape. With a list that includes “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Lilo & Stitch,” “Zootopia 2,” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” don’t be surprised to see the Mouse House at the top again in 2025.

“Moana 2” is now showing in theaters.