Disney Becomes First Studio With Five Movies Grossing $1 Billion in a Single Year

It’s time to add yet another record to The Walt Disney Company’s resume. Not only does the studio own the highest grossing movie in all of cinematic history in Avengers: Endgame, but Disney is now the only studio to ever have five different movies cross $1 billion in a single year.

On Thursday, Toy Story 4 officially passed the $1 billion mark at the global box office, following in the footsteps of its Pixar predecessor, Incredibles 2. The milestone for Toy Story 4 arrived shortly after two other Disney films crossed $1 billion: The Lion King and Aladdin. Captain Marvel was the first Disney-owned film to hit $1 billion in 2019, and it was followed by Avengers: Endgame, which was always a guarantee.

What’s perhaps even more impressive is that it’s only August, and Disney still has more movies on the way this fall, two of which are all but locks to earn $1 billion by the end of the respective runs. Frozen 2 hits theaters in November and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives at Christmas. The predecessors for both movies are in the coveted $1 billion club, so there’s little to no doubt that these will join them when all is said and done.

While Disney will likely continue its dominance at the box office into 2020 and beyond, especially following the company’s purchase of Fox, 2019 will probably stand alone as an anomaly. The combination of Avengers: Endgame, Rise of Skywalker, and several sequels in the same year was purely a timing situation. 2020 will see the release of movies like Black Widow, Cruella, Mulan, and Pixar’s Onward, but none of them are on the level of the 2019 release slate.

Still, this will be a record that no studio will likely ever break. Less than 50 movies in history have made $1 billion or more at the box office. At least 10% of them will have come from Disney in one single year.

What other Disney movies do you think will reach $1 billion at the box office? Let us know in the comments!