How Disney Won In 2016

On December 19th 2016 Walt Disney Studios officially announced a film industry first – the company made over 7 billion dollars at the global box office in just one year.

All five of Disney’s film properties released extremely sucessful movies in 2016 – a first for the company.

You’re probably wondering how this happened and if it will keep happening in years to come.

The answer is simple – Disney creates content for everyone giving them the upperhand on all corners of the market.

For now it doesn’t look like Disney has any plans of slowing down or changing their slate of upcoming films.

With more Star Wars movies, Marvel movies, Disney Animated movies, Pixar movies, and a slew of live-action adaptations on the way Disney has never been more powerful in the film industry.

In a recent press release, “This historic achievement is possible because all of our film studios are bringing their absolute best to the table, telling great stories of all kinds that resonate with audiences across borders, gender, and generations,” said Alan Horn, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. “These films work because each one has not only something for everyone, but everything for someone. It’s our honor to be able to create these experiences for audiences, and we’re thankful to them for continuing to come out to the theater with us.”

Disney made history this past year and broke records left and right with most of their films having over a 90% critical and viewer rating.

Let’s break it down a little futher…

Lucasfilm

At this point, we’re hoping that Star Wars will never end.

Since Disney purchased Lucasfilm and revitalized the epic franchise, fans young and old have traveled to a galaxy far, far away.

The Force Awakens did give Disney a sizable advantage going into 2016, making over 740 milion this year alone.

With the surprising financial and critical success of the the first Star Wars stand alone movie ever and films planned until at least 2020, Disney shows no indication of slowing down.

While The Force Awakens was full of nostalgic fan service the film also appealed to an entirely new generation of fans securing Disney’s spot in the top ten for years to come.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story began its global rollout on Dec. 14, opening domestically Dec. 16 with $155.1 million and a global day-and-date debut of $290 million in five days of release. The film is yet to open in South Korea (Dec. 28) and China (Jan. 6).

In just under three weeks since Rogue One has released, the war movie with heart has jumped to the number 3 spot on the domestic box office total gross for 2016 with $393,554,705.

With this weekend’s number’s not tallied yet, by Monday we could see Rogue One take over Finding Dory as the number 1 box office film of of the year in just 3 weeks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marvel Studios

If you didn’t know this already, Disney owns Marvel Studios.

Both Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange were released in 2016, proving to be critical and box office hits.

Doctor Strange surprised fans and general audiences as being the biggest stand alone comic book movie opening since Iron Man in 2008. It’s appeal reached beyond the average superhero movie fan.

Doctor Strange, the second Marvel Cinematic Universe release in 2016, is the #9 film of the year domestically and internationally and the #10 film of the year globally. Still in release and not yet opened in Japan, it debuted domestically on Nov. 4 with $85 million and has earned $226.2 million domestically and $426.6 million internationally for a global total of $652.8 million to date.

Captain America: Civil War is easily Marvel’s biggest ensemble film to date, introducing Tom Holland as the new Spider-Man and Black Panther into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The film officially joined the billion dollar worldwide box office club and is holding down the number two spot for 2016’s domestic box office nestled in between other Disney movies – the biggest money maker in the history of film.

With Captain America: Civil War‘s $179.1 million debut, Disney now holds five of the top six domestic openings in industry history; four are Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

 

Pixar

In our eyes, Pixar can do no wrong.

This division of Disney Studios has been pushing out hits since Toy Story in 1995.

Finding Dory is the top grossing film domestically is the second Disney movie in 2016 to join the billion dollar club.

It’s held the number one spot since it’s release date, proving that forgetful blue fish are an audience hit.

Finding Dory is the #1 domestic and #2 global release of 2016. Released on June 17, it posted the biggest animated debut of all time with $135 million and went on to earn $486.3 million to become the #7 industry release of all time domestically. Internationally, it has taken in $541.3 million for a global total of $1.028 billion.

The top 3 films at the domestic box office for the entire year of 2016 are Finding Dory, Captain America: Civil War, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

But let’s not forget Disney’s other huge achievements this year…

 

 

Live-Action

At first fans were a bit unerved with the news of a live-action adaptation of the such a beloved animated classic – The Jungle Book.

But my gosh, did Disney prove us wrong.

Due to the success of The Jungle Book, Disney has set many other live-action adaptations in motion, most notably Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson.

The Jungle Book is the #3 international and #4 global and domestic release of 2016. It debuted in the US/Canada on April 15 with $103 million, going on to earn $364 million domestically, $602.6 million internationally, and $966.6 million globally.

It is the biggest Western release of all time in India.

Live-action works! Even though Pete’s Dragon did not make millions of dollars, the film itself was beautiful and grasped audiences just like The Jungle Book.

Or should we say if any studio can seamlessly adapt classic animation into a live-action film without ruining our childhood’s – it’s Disney.

And there is no sign of this trend slowing down either, as Mulan, Marry Poppins, The Little Mermaid and more are all in the pipeline.

 

 

Disney Animation

Disney Animation gave us two original animated films this year.

They keyword here is original! While many of the films of 2016 were reboots, sequels, or prequels, we began to ask what happened to creativity.

As it turns out, Disney has plenty of ideas in their Mickey Mouse house.

Zootopia and Moana are two brand new stories that both captured audiences across the globe.

Zootopia is just as entertaining for kids as it is for adults, cornering in on adorable animals and much needed social commentary.

Zootopia is the #3 global and #2 international release of the year. It opened to $75 million domestically on March 4, ultimately earning $341.3 million for an outstanding 4.5 domestic multiple. It earned $682.5 million internationally, including $235 million in China where it is the #1 animated release of all time (admissions), for a global total of $1.024 billion.

Named among American Film Institute’s top 10 movies of the year, it is Disney’s best reviewed film of the year with 98% on RottenTomatoes.

Now, imagine all of the merchandising, theme parks, and more have come from each of these movies…

Everything is coming up Disney!

Will Disney win again in 2017? We’ll have to wait and see.