In 2023 box office, Universal surpasses Disney as the top-earning studio

Universal's lineup, featuring 24 films such as The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Oppenheimer, and M3GAN, amassed a total of $4.907 billion in global box office revenue. Universal's triumph is significant as it breaks Disney's streak as the global box office leader, a position held since 2015.

Disney's Market Share Drops

Disney slipped to the second position in market share, generating $4.827 billion globally with 17 new films, including hits like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and The Little Mermaid. In a press statement, the studio acknowledged the $80 million gap, attributing it in part to releasing seven fewer movies than Universal in 2023. Disney emphasized having the most titles in the top 10 this year, boasting four of the highest-grossing global releases and three of the biggest domestic releases.

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Breaking from tradition, Disney failed to secure a spot in the top three highest-grossing movies, with Warner Bros.' Barbie ($1.4 billion) and Universal's The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($1.3 billion) and Oppenheimer ($950 million) claiming those positions. This marks the first occurrence since 2014 (excluding the pandemic-affected years of 2020 and 2021) where none of Disney's films surpassed the $1 billion mark.

Disney's Box Office Stumble in 2023

While Disney continues to dominate the box office, the truth is that many of the studio's key releases in 2023 fell short of anticipated success. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($845 million) stood out as the sole notable success, overshadowed by a series of underperforming sequels and remakes such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, and Haunted Mansion. This lineup contributed to Disney relinquishing its box office supremacy to Universal.

Universal faced a few setbacks too, though not as pronounced. The vampire comedy Renfield struggled with a global total of $26 million, Book Club: The Next Chapter fell short of $30 million worldwide (compared to its predecessor's $100 million in 2018), and the animated Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken just scraped past $45 million. Despite the hefty $340 million budget, Fast X managed to break even, grossing $704 million and securing the fifth spot among the biggest movies of the year.

In the intense competition for the top spot, Universal and Disney emerged as frontrunners, leaving Warner Bros. in a distant third place with a global total of $3.84 billion. The studio's performance was spearheaded by hits like Barbie, The Nun II," and Wonka.

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