Disney smashes all-time box office record in 2019

FROZEN 2 - In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Frozen 2, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven journey far beyond the gates of Arendelle in search of answers. Featuring the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad, “Frozen 2” opens in U.S. theaters November 22. © 2019 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
Frozen 2 (Credit: Disney)

Disney has officially smashed the all-time box office record for any movie studio in a single year, having hauled in $11.1 billion – just over £9 billion.

After a slew of billion dollar movies, the studio's movies made up a staggering 33 percent of the total box office in the US.

Read more: Terry Gilliam tears into Black Panther

It's largely thanks to six movies making more than a billion dollars each this year, kicking off with Captain Marvel in February last year.

It made $1.128 billion, and was followed by Avengers: Endgame ($2.8 billion), the Aladdin remake with $1.05 billion, The Lion King remake with $1.66 billion, Toy Story 4 with $1.07 billion and Frozen 2 with $1.26 billion.

Carol Danvers revealed her true potential in <i>Captain Marvel</i> (Disney)
Carol Danvers revealed her true potential in Captain Marvel (Disney)

Though Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker didn't hit the billion dollar mark before the New Year, it's still on course to hit the milestone, having made $815 million so far.

The studio has been hitting records all year, becoming the first studio ever to make more than $10 billion in a single year in early December.

As well as the international record, it's also broken the US domestic record too, making $3.76 billion in the US alone.

Read more: What’s the future for the Star Wars franchise?

And that's without the receipts from Fox, which the studio acquired in March last year.

When those figures are added up, it puts Disney's haul at $13.15 billion for the year.

The next biggest studio was Warner Bros – aided and abetted by the Joker – which brought in 13.7 percent of the US domestic receipts, according to stats from Comscore (via Variety)

However, what with the stars aligning with a series of big hitters this year, it's unlikely that it will bring in similar money next year, with no landmark Avengers movie on the cards, and now a hiatus planned for the Star Wars franchise.

That said, it should still do well with movies like Marvel's Black Widow and the forthcoming The Eternals.

Studio co-chairman Alan Horn said in a statement: “We are very proud of our Studios team and the extraordinary slate of films they delivered to fans all around the world in 2019. This was a year like no other!”