All 37 Disney Movies That Broke $1 Billion at the Box Office (The Studio Claims Many It Shouldn’t)

Last week at CinemaCon, The Walt Disney Company blew the roof off the event and came away the clear “winner.” Naturally, this was in large part because of the exclusive trailer for Avengers: Doomsday that played in the venue and the hype that it has generated, but the studio also made it clear in their presentation that they’re one of the most consistent hit makers in Hollywood. This was something worth saying at CinemaCon, which is, in fact, not a San Diego Comic-Con-like event, but rather a tradeshow for movie theater owners and managers, the exhibitors that show the movies.

One of the key points that Disney touted in their presentation was that they have more billion-dollar movies than any other studio in Hollywood. Per the slide they put on screen in Las Vegas and bragged about to CinemaCon, Disney claims 37 billion-dollar movies are in its vast library. The next closest to that title is a tie with Universal and Warner Bros., both of whom have released nine movies that have made more than a billion dollars globally. After that comes Paramount with four and then Sony with three. Even when the proposed WB and Paramount merger is completed, they’ll still have 24 fewer billion-dollar movies than Disney. So, what are Disney’s billion-dollar movies? Can they actually claim ownership over all of them? And how did they get to those levels of success?

37) Titanic (1997)

Global Box Office in 2026: $2.264 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%

The caveat here, of course, is that Disney is claiming the billion-dollar success of the Best Picture-winning Titanic despite not having released the film at all. Instead, the movie was acquired by Disney when it absorbed 20th Century Fox, meaning, yes, technically they own it, but no, it did not make a billion dollars because of the Disney machine. In fact, the re-releases of the film put together by Disney barely made a dent in its overall box office numbers.

36) Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.046 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 54%

Once again, this film comes with the caveat that Disney did not make this and instead inherited it both after purchasing Lucasfilm and then after buying 20th Century Fox. There’s an additional caveat, though, which is that The Phantom Menace did not manage to hit the $1 billion mark until thirteen years after its initial release, with its totals inflated by the 2012 3D re-release of the film (which was also done before Disney owned the movie, but just eight months beforehand).

35) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.066

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 53%

Disney’s first proper billion-dollar movie, the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, managed to not only cross the threshold for Disney, but it did it faster than any of the other billion-dollar movies had to that point. The film managed to get to that level thanks to the extreme success of the first movie on home video after its initial theatrical success, on top of arriving just as the international box office was beginning to become a much more integral part of the entire picture for studios. A slightly more mixed reaction than the first film would see the third Pirates movie fail to cross the billion-dollar line, though, but the series would return.

34) Avatar (2009)

Global Box Office in 2026: $2.923 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%

Once again, the caveat must be stated that Avatar was produced and released by 20th Century Fox before Disney acquired it. Disney has obviously been a great steward of Avatar after incorporating it into their parks, and made sure to boost this movie’s numbers with a few different re-releases (notably a 2021 release in China ahead of the sequel), but its original success shouldn’t be theirs to claim.

33) Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.025 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 51%

A major component of Alice in Wonderland breaking the billion-dollar mark that gets lost in the history of the film (and the eventual cultural realization that it is terrible) is that the film arrived right as the 2010s 3D boom was in full swing. Audiences around the globe were bought into the hype of the format, and Tim Burton’s imagination was one of the few that was able to capture the cultural attention akin to James Cameron’s. The success of this movie is also the root cause for Disney leaning on live-action remakes of its classic cartoons for the next 16+ years.

32) Toy Story 3 (2010)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.067 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

A key reason that Toy Story 3 became the first Pixar movie to reach the milestone was not only that the international box office had become a key staple of the equation, but because Pixar had taken the appropriate length of time to make fans eager for another chapter. With an eleven-year gap between Toy Story 2 and 3, anticipation was allowed to build alongside nostalgia for the original films, which was a prime formula for a successful sequel. It certainly helped that Toy Story 3 was also the best-looking Pixar movie at that time and arrived with near universal acclaim.

31) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.046 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 32%

Despite the mixed reception to Pirates 2 & 3 at the time, the franchise was able to rebound at the box office when the fourth film arrived four years later. Once again, though, the success of On Stranger Tides was built on three key components: 1. Audiences loved Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow and wanted more. 2. International box office was finally a major factor. 3. The film was released in 3D.

30) The Avengers (2012)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.520

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

The success of The Avengers was proof of concept for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that individual franchises could be created and seeded to a massive crossover. Naturally, it helped that the movie is good, but having the patience to build to this movie and story proved to be the key piece of the formula.

29) Iron Man 3 (2013)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.215 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

Iron Man 3, though released to critical acclaim at the time, saw a swift backlash from diehard fans. Despite this, the goodwill of The Avengers helped propel this one to being the second MCU movie to gross over a billion dollars.

28) Frozen (2013)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.312 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

Though an original, new IP, two big factors helped Frozen cross the coveted box office landmark. The first is that the film premiered when it had no competition in the slightest at the box office, meaning families not only flocked to it during the Thanksgiving holiday, but continued to go for the weeks that followed with nothing else to watch. The second is that its original music, specifically the song “Let It Go,” was inescapable, and became a defining pop culture moment.

27) Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.405 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75%

Though two other Marvel movies arrived between Age of Ultron and Iron Man 3, they failed to cross a billion (though Guardians of the Galaxy did far better than pundits expected at the time). Age of Ultron proved that the big “crossover” movies for the MCU would be water cooler movies that audiences would show up for even if they hadn’t seen the films in between. Though a more mixed reception than the first Avengers, it still brought in huge numbers.

26) Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Global Box Office in 2026: $2.071 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

The first Star Wars movie in a decade, but the first with the original stars in over thirty years, was enough to push this one to the billion-dollar threshold. It helped that the film was reviewed favorably and the marketing push behind it was inescapable. Like Frozen, though, The Force Awakens had no competition, and made the rest of Hollywood move out of its way as every other studio anticipated its hit status. They were right, but the lack of competition helped boost its numbers even more.

25) Zootopia (2016)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.025 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

Zootopia was able to land in a surprising release window with no competition, which is to be expected of a March debut, but the success of the film at that time would make it clear that this early Spring window was actually prime real estate for feature films. Zootopia not only brought in $341 million at the domestic box office, but managed to hold on to more than 3,000 theaters for more than seven weeks. Furthermore, the film was a global hit. In China alone, Zootopia brought in over $236 million.

24) Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.155 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Though technically the third Captain America movie, Civil War quickly gained notoriety for actually being an Avengers movie since its cast not only included Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, but also saw the introduction of two key Marvel characters into the MCU: Spider-Man and Black Panther. All three of those factors led to the movie’s success.

23) Finding Dory (2016)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.029 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Just like with Toy Story, Finding Dory replicated the same success using the same formula: letting time build nostalgia and anticipation for a sequel from the original, but also so the animation could reach all-new levels of impressive. It also helped that the film managed to have great reviews.

22) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.058 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%

Despite months of bad press about the reshoots and reworking of the film, Rogue One‘s success had many convinced that the franchise under Disney was officially a guarantee for a billion dollars at the box office. The truth is that this wasn’t entirely wrong, but the problem is that even Disney bought into this line of thinking, which proved incorrect in just two years. A key factor in Rogue One‘s success, though, was that it took a slightly darker tone to Star Wars, something that longtime fans were eager to see.

21) Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.266 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%

Not only did Beauty and the Beast manage to capitalize on the success of the live-action Disney remakes, which hadn’t reached a saturation point, but it also managed to build on the success of an unrelated franchise, the Harry Potter films. Emma Watson as Belle wasn’t her first movie after those films; in fact, she’d starred in seven other films between them, but seeing her return to the fantasy genre was something audiences were clearly eager to see.

20) Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.334 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

Like so many other examples here, Star Wars: The Last Jedi was propelled to the billion-dollar club due to the goodwill built with the audience, not only with The Force Awakens but with Rogue One as well. It’s worth noting, however, that backlash from a vocal set of fans against The Last Jedi‘s narrative no doubt hampered it somewhat, but the film also had some competition in the Jumanji reboot with Dwayne Johnson.

19) Black Panther (2018)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.349 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Black Panther‘s success was a classic Hollywood story, as the studio trusted the vision of filmmaker Ryan Coogler to deliver a distinct blockbuster that satisfied audiences and even brought in new fans for the MCU. It cannot be understated how much Black Panther appealed to black audiences in America, who helped push the film to become the highest-grossing of the year domestically, but its MCU connections and stellar reviews no doubt helped it internationally.

18) Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Global Box Office in 2026: $2.052 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Not only was Avengers: Infinity War bolstered by having the name audiences associated with quality from the previous two movies, but it was able to lean on the goodwill built by Black Panther just months beforehand. Even after its grim conclusion was well publicized, Infinity War kept audiences enthralled as it became, once again, a water cooler movie, meaning audiences had to be in on the conversation.

17) Incredibles 2 (2018)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.243 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

As noted already, Incredibles 2 followed the same strategy as Toy Story and Finding Dory, letting anticipation build for a new movie while also arriving with critical acclaim and a clear upgrade in animation. The film would go on to bring in double the global box office of the original.

16) Captain Marvel (2019)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.131 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

Despite mixed reception, Captain Marvel cleared the billion-dollar mark thanks to being tee’d up by the post-credit scene in Infinity War, which made it clear this character would be important in the then-upcoming Endgame.

15) Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Global Box Office in 2026: $2.799 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

To no one’s surprise, the culmination of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe and its eleven years of feature films became the highest-grossing film across the series and one of the highest-grossing of all time, very nearly reaching $3 billion globally.

14) Aladdin (2019)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.054 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 57%

Even though the bloom was starting to fall off the rose with Disney’s live-action remakes when Aladdin arrived, this feature film managed to have a secret weapon up its sleeve in addition to being one of those guaranteed hits: it starred Will Smith. The film was Smith’s first blockbuster in three years, and audiences are always ready to watch him (yes, even now).

13) Toy Story 4 (2019)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.073 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Pixar and Disney managed to once again replicate the same formula as Toy Story 3, but with an added hook: answering a fandom question that had developed over the years. By bringing back Bo Peep and filling in a major gap of the Toy Story franchise narrative, the film proved that even Pixar movies could lean on storylines and characters like the MCU.

12) Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.132 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

This film comes with a different kind of caveat from the others, that being Disney didn’t actually distribute the movie. Instead, this film was a co-production between the Disney-owned Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures, who distributed. That said, the two studios split profits on the new Spider-Man movies, so they at least have a level of claim to the billion-dollar success here, not only because they helped actually make the movie but because it no doubt reached that height thanks to the success of their Avengers movie that arrived just months beforehand.

11) The Lion King (2019)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.662 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 52%

The success of The Lion King can be boiled down to three factors. The first is that the original film and its music remain beloved, so even a remake that hits the same narratie beats can become a hit. The second is, yes, Disney live-action remakes are still capable of becoming major hits. The third, though, and perhaps most important, was the major celebrity voice actors tapped for the film, which included Beyonce.

10) Frozen II (2019)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.453 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77%

The theme of “the last movie did well, so the sequel followed suit” continued with Frozen II. Even though the critical reception was mixed, and even audiences agreed none of the new songs were able to match “Let It Go,” the film’s success cemented its place as an iconic Disney franchise. The films were also bolstered by Frozen mania in retail stores and the Disney theme parks, enough that two more movies are on the way.

9) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.077 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 51%

Despite the bloom falling off the rose with Star Wars ahead of this film’s release, The Rise of Skywalker was able to lean on a clear marketing plot to reach the billion-dollar threshold: the finality of it all. Not only was the movie marketed as being the end of the new trilogy, but the end of the entire franchise. That alone pushed this movie over the edge, even though audiences were clearly uninterested in its narrative choices.

8) Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.921 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Like Spider-Man: Far From Home, this one comes with a slight asterisk, as the movie was once again a co-production between the Disney-owned Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures, who own the film rights to Spider-Man outright but work with Disney on the MCU films. No Way Home does have the distinction of being the biggest hit of the COVID-19 era, and the first film post-pandemic to cross a billion (bolstered, of course, by the crossover with previous Spider-Men).

7) Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Global Box Office in 2026: $2.334 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76%

Even though “Avatar has no cultural footprint” became a classic talking point in the thirteen years, The Way of Water was able to make a name for itself immediately upon release as being an event film that had to be seen in a premium format. Cameron’s sequel joined not only the billion-dollar club, but the even more rare $2 billion club.

6) Inside Out 2 (2024)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.698 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

Once again, the Pixar formula strikes again. In the nine years since the first Inside Out, though, the series quietly became a favorite with its international box office doubling compared to the first film. Unlike other major hits, Inside Out 2 managed to reach its box office success even without much fanfare from China, where it only grossed $47 million.

5) Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.338 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77%

Deadpool & Wolverine had three key elements to its success that set it up for the billion-dollar club. The first being the integration of Ryan Reynolds’ beloved Marvel anti-hero into the proper Marvel Cinematic Universe, the second being the return of Hugh Jackman to the role of Wolverien after an eight-year absence, and the third the big cameos as eventually the film revealed the return of Wesley Snipes as Blade, among others.

4) Moana 2 (2024)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.059 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 61%

Moana 2 reaching this coveted milestone is surprising for a big reason: the film began its life as a TV series for Disney+ and was retrofitted into a movie instead. The reason behind this is due to the Hollywood creative strikes of 2023; Disney realized it had no big movie to debut at Thanksgiving in 2024. After reworking Moana 2 into a movie and putting it in that slot, where it had no competition, which set it up for major success.

3) Lilo & Stitch (2025)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.038 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 73%

Once again, Lilo & Stitch arrived without any competition, as no proper family movies had been released in the weeks beforehand which created a vacuum in the summer movie schedule and helped push this one to the success that it had. It also helped that the Disney marketing machine was about to follow the same strategy as the original animated movie, lampooning their other movies and even channels like ESPN by “allowing” Stitch to wreak havoc on them as promotion.

2) Zootopia 2 (2025)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.866 billion

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

The success of Zootopia is once again rooted in being appropriate family entertainment, but also the clear ability that the filmmakers have found to be universal in the appeal of an animal-themed world. This can be seen in the fact that in China alone, Zootopia 2 brought in over $650 million, more than double what the original film managed in the middle kingdom, which propelled the film to gross $800 million more than the first film.

1) Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)

Global Box Office in 2026: $1.485

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 66%

Despite the $2 billion success of Avatar: The Way of Water, the “Avatar has no cultural footprint” discussion reared its head again and tried to stay around despite the film still grossing over a billion dollars. Reviews that pointed toward the film being too repetitive gave this one some bad word of mouth, on top of the fact that not as much time had passed between the second and third films. In any event, it’s the latest film to join the billion-dollar club.