While four studios earned more than $3B in 2019, Universal milestone indicates that there has been progress in the recovery of box office.
Universal Pictures announced Sunday that it became the first studio worldwide to gross more than $3 billion per year in a calendar-year since the pandemic. It did this largely due to the mid-summer success its franchise hits. “Jurassic World: Dominion” “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”
Universal has released 11 films and a holiday holdover this year. “Sing 2”Also, a 40th anniversary rerelease “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.”So far “Dominion” “Rise of Gru” have combined for more than half of the studio’s global gross to date with $1.76 billion, as “Dominion”The company has earned $976 millions “Rise of Gru”Contributed $790 million
Universal’s other success stories this year include DreamWorks’ animated film “The Bad Guys”($246 million globally) and horror films “Nope”($113 million WW). “The Black Phone”($152 Million WW). Upcoming films on Universal’s 2022 slate include the seasonal franchise horror film “Halloween Ends,”The potential Oscar nominee “She Said,” and DreamWorks’ “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.”
In 2019, $3 billion worldwide wasn’t a difficult bar to clear. It was Disney, Warner Bros. Universal, Sony Pictures and Universal that topped it in the year before the pandemic. Disney scored a record-breaking $11.1 billion, thanks to hits like “Avengers: Endgame,” “The Lion King” “Frozen II.” That doesn’t count the additional $2 billion from 20th Century Fox, which it acquired that year.
But Universal’s ability to hit that mark after a summer in which many blockbusters performed at or close to the level of their pre-pandemic counterparts shows how much progress the box office has made in getting back to normal compared to 2021. While China’s struggles with COVID-19 along with its film board’s more stringent release strategies for Hollywood films have hampered international totals, the domestic overall total for 2022 cross the $5 billion mark this weekend.
The $5 billion gross is only 31% less than the $7.32 trillion in 2019 but it’s still well above the $1.8 billion that was earned through mid-August 2021 when very few blockbusters were earning any serious money in theaters.
Disney is on track to easily surpass $3 billion worldwide, despite its poor performance. “Lightyear,” as the studio will end the year with the release of Disney Animation’s “Strange World,” Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water.”Paramount is likely to fall short of this mark, given the number of major films they have yet to release. But the studio still holds the top film of 2022. “Top Gun: Maverick,”It has earned $673 million domestically and $1.37 trillion worldwide.
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