Disney Already Earned $1 Billion at the Box Office in 2023

We're only six weeks into 2023, and The Walt Disney Company has already grossed $1 billion at the box office, a benchmark that many other studios won't reach in the entire year. Variety reports that the studio's box office returns currently stand at $1.283 billion. That's largely on the backs of Avatar: The Way of Water and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Titanic returning to theaters also helped boost the company's box office numbers for the year to date. Disney's earnings are split between $383 million at the domestic box office and $900 from international markets. Hitting this early milestone comes shortly after recently returned CEO Bob Iger announced that the company will lay off 7,000 employees as part of a restructuring plan.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opened with $225 million worldwide. Domestically, the film made $104 million in its first three days, and will likely see its total rise to $118 by the end of the long President's Day holiday weekend. 

Avatar: The Way of Water became the third highest-grossing film of all time this weekend, sporting a global box office total of. $2.2433 billion. In doing so, it bumped Titanic, with $2.2428 billion, out of that spot. James Cameron directed both films.

Disney is likely to multiply that box office several times over by the end of the year. The company is expecting large numbers at the box office from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Little Mermaid in May, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in June, and The Marvels, which Marvel Studios recently delayed into November.

Disney holds the record for the biggest box office year for a single company, earning $11.12 billion in 2019. The studio released seven films that grossed at least $1 billion in that time frame. However, the overall box office has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels, and Disney ended 2022 with $4.9 billion from the global box office.

Disney is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023. The studio kicked off the celebration with a video package showing off its library of intellectual property.

"As we commemorate our historic 100th anniversary, it is remarkable to look back at Walt Disney's legacy and his passionate pursuit of excellence that continue to propel the Company forward today. We are incredibly grateful to the generations of people all over the world for being such a special part of our history and for inviting our stories and characters into their lives over the past century," said Iger in a statement. "Disney100 represents a celebration of all of our fans and families, and our storytellers and creative visionaries whose talents and imaginations have created the magical moments that make Disney such an enduring part of the global culture."

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Titanic are playing now in theaters.