Walt Disney Studios grossed a combined $13.1517 billion globally across its Disney and Fox film releases in 2019, the studio announced today. That number includes $4.3283 billion in North America and $8.8234 billion overseas.
Among Disney titles alone, the studio topped the $11 billion mark ($11.1191 billion) worldwide for the first time in industry history, far surpassing the previous record of $7.6053 billion set by the studio in 2016 (this is the third time Disney has crossed $7 billion globally). In fact, Disney’s non-Fox releases in 2019 — which include the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Star Wars franchise and Pixar — nearly matched the studio’s previous global record in international grosses alone, bringing in a total of $7.3543 billion for the year. The previous international record, set by Disney in 2016, was $4.6044 billion.
Domestically, Disney also set a new industry record of $3.7648 billion in 2019, surpassing the $3.0923 billion record it set just last year. This marks the third time the studio has grossed more than $3 billion in North America.
Digging further into the numbers, Disney released a record six movies last year that surpassed $1 billion globally: Captain Marvel ($1.13 billion), Avengers: Endgame ($2.798 billion), Aladdin ($1.05 billion), Toy Story 4 ($1.074 billion), The Lion King ($1.657 billion) and Frozen II ($1.26B billion); meanwhile, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($815.7 million) is on track to cross the billion-dollar threshold by the end of its run. That crop of billion-dollar releases includes two of the ten highest-grossing worldwide releases of all time: Avengers: Endgame, which stole away the No. 1 spot from Avatar earlier this year; and The Lion King, which currently sits at No. 7 on the all-time list.
All on its own, Marvel Studios enjoyed three of the five highest-grossing titles worldwide in 2019 with Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home ($1.1319 billion, released by Sony) and Captain Marvel. Disney also released seven of the nine top-grossing films of the year globally overall.
In North America, the studio released seven of the ten highest-grossing films of 2019: Avengers: Endgame ($858.4 million); The Lion King ($543.6 million); Frozen II ($435.2 million, still in release); Toy Story 4 ($434 million); Captain Marvel ($426.8 million); Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($407.8 million, still in release) and Aladdin ($355.6 million). Six of those films had three-day debuts north of $100 million, while a seventh — Aladdin — reached the threshold in four days. Overall, a total of nine Disney films grossed more than $100 million domestically in 2019, including Dumbo ($114.8 million) and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil ($113.4 million, still in release).
Other industry records posted by Disney this year include the highest-ever yearly box office in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with $2.75 billion; the highest-ever yearly box office in Latin America with over $1.09 billion; and the highest-grossing title ever in the Asia-Pacific region with Avengers: Endgame.
On the Fox side of the equation, Disney saw worldwide grosses of $2.0326 billion combined between 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight releases in 2019 ($563.5 million domestically, $1.4691 billion internationally). Globally, the top 20th Century Fox releases of the year were Alita: Battle Angel ($404.9 million), Dark Phoenix ($253.1 million), Ford v. Ferrari ($202.6 million) and Ad Astra ($127.6 million). The studio also took in $148.5 million from the international release of Terminator: Dark Fate (released by Paramount in North America), $59.2 million from the animated comedy Spies in Disguise (released Dec. 25) and $197.2 million from Bohemian Rhapsody, which earned north of $900 million globally beginning in 2018.
On the domestic front, Ford v. Ferrari was the standout among 20th Century Fox titles with a total of $107.9 million to date, while Fox Searchlight Pictures successfully released Ready or Not ($57.6 million global, including $28.7 million in North America) and Jojo Rabbit ($26.5 million global, including $21.2 million in North America). Searchlight grosses in 2019 additionally included $79.4 million from 2018’s The Favourite.
The studio notes that while it maintained separate tallies for Disney and Fox grosses in 2019 (given that Disney’s acquisition of Fox occurred partway through the year), grosses for the two studios will be combined in 2020.
“We are very proud of our Studios team and the extraordinary slate of films they delivered to fans all around the world in 2019,” said Walt Disney Studios co-chairman and chief creative officer Alan Horn and co-chairman Alan Bergman in a statement. “This was a year like no other! We both know that these achievements would not have been possible without both the imaginative and compelling storytelling from the talented filmmakers and production teams across all of our film labels, and the exceptional work of our marketing, distribution, and operations teams and everyone at The Walt Disney Studios.”
Disney’s global yearly grosses in 2019 also included Maleficent: Mistress of Evil ($490.7 million global), Dumbo ($353.2 million global) and 2018 releases Ralph Breaks the Internet ($175.5 million in 2019) and Mary Poppins Returns ($164. 8 million in 2019). The studio also nabbed $136.5 million from the international release of Glass (released by Universal in North America).
Here’s a further breakdown on a film-by-film basis:
Avengers: Endgame ($2.798 billion global, $858.4 million domestic, $1.94 billion international)
- Highest-grossing film of all time globally
- Second highest-grossing film of all time domestically (behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and internationally (behind Avatar)
- Highest-ever domestic, international, global and Chinese openings ($357 million, $866.5 million, $1.22 billion and $330.5 million, respectively)
- Fastest film to $1 billion (5 days) and $2 billion (11 days)
- 10 weeks in the top 10 in North America, No. 1 for first three weeks
- Eighth Marvel Studios release to surpass $1 billion and second to surpass $2 billion
The Lion King ($1.657 billion global, $543.6 million domestic, $1.11 billion international)
- Seventh highest-grossing film of all time globally, eleventh highest-grossing all time domestically
- Second highest-grossing film of the year globally and domestically (behind Avengers: Endgame)
- Highest-grossing Disney live-action release of all time domestic, international and global (not counting Marvel Studios and Star Wars releases)
- Eighth-largest domestic opening of all time ($191.8 million)
- 11 weeks in the top 10 in North America
Frozen II ($1.26B billion global, $435.2 million domestic, $825.3 million international)
- Second highest-grossing animated film of all time globally (behind the first Frozen)
- Third highest-grossing film of the year globally and domestically
- Highest global animated opening of all time ($358.4 million)
- Third highest animated opening of all time domestically ($130.2 million) and largest animated opening of all time outside the summer season
- No. 1 film domestically and globally for first three weekends of release
Captain Marvel ($1.13 billion global, $426.8 million domestic, $702.9 million international)
- Fifth highest-grossing film of the year globally and domestically
- Nine weeks in the top 10 in North America
Toy Story 4 ($1.074 billion global, $434. million domestic, $640.1 million international)
- Fourth highest-grossing film of the year domestically, sixth highest-grossing globally
- Eight weeks in the top 10 in North America
- Second highest-grossing Pixar title of all time globally (behind Incredibles 2)
- Fifth highest-grossing animated release of all time globally
Aladdin ($1.05 billion global, $355.6 million domestic, $695.4 million international)
- Eighth highest-grossing film of the year domestically and globally
- 11 weeks in the top 10 in North America
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($815.7 million global, $407.8 million domestic, $407.9 million international in first 15 days)
- 12th largest opening of all time in North America
- Third largest opening of 2019 in North America
- Third largest December opening of all time ($177.4 million)
- Ninth highest-grossing movie of the year globally, sixth-highest domestically (after 15 days of release)
- Second highest-grossing Christmas Day of all time ($32.16 million, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Share this post