Disneyhas redeemed their dismal 2023 by hitting a major box office milestone in 2024. Across their brands, Disney had a string of unsuccessful releases last year. One of the most notorious was theMarvel Cinematic Universe movieThe Marvels, which grossed $206.1 million against a budget of more than $300 million and became the lowest-grossing movie in the 34-film franchise.Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destinywas similarly unsuccessful, reportedly losing Disney $143 million, whileHaunted Mansionalso severely underperformed, grossing $117.5 million against its $150 million budget.
PerDeadline,Disney has now become the only studio to gross more than $2 billion at the domestic box office, off the back of hits such asInside Out 2($652.9 million domestic), which is now the highest-grossing animated movie of all time worldwide,Deadpool & Wolverine($636.7 million), which is the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time worldwide, andMoana 2($342 million). This is the second time this decade that Disney has passed the $2 billion domestic milestone in a single year (the other year was 2022) and the seventh time since 2010.
What This Means For Disney
They Have Shifted Their Theatrical Priorities
Almost across the board,Disney has released fewer titles from each of their brandsin 2024 than 2023, giving movies more room to breathe and seemingly focusing on titles that have a stronger chance of connecting with audiences. Additionally, the brands with a similar number of titles have focused on stronger IP connections, such as 20th Century Studios, which released movies including the sequelKingdom of the Planet of the Apesand theAlienfranchiseinterquelRomulusin 2024. Below, see a breakdown of the major theatrical titles released by Disney’s key brands throughout 2023 and 2024:
2024 Titles
Marvel Studios
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,The Marvels
The Little Mermaid,Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,Haunted Mansion
Moana 2,Mufasa: The Lion King
Disney’s stellar 2024 also isn’t over yet. They have a potential moneymaker in theupcomingMufasa: The Lion King, which is a prequel to the 2019 photorealistic remake of their 1994 classicThe Lion King. The 2019 movie grossed a record-breaking $1.66 billion worldwide, soits follow-up has inroads to earn a solid profit. On Christmas Day, via Searchlight Pictures, Disney will also be releasing the Timothée Chalamet-led Bob Dylan biopicA Complete Unknown, which was directed byWalk the Line’s James Mangold and is an awards contender with solid commercial prospects.
Our Take On Disney’s $2 Billion 2024
Their Success May Continue Into 2025
WhileDisneyseems to be increasing their output in 2025,the solid IP connections of many of their upcoming titles could help them achieve the same successafter the end of 2024. Their upcoming slate already includesCaptain America: Brave New World,Snow White, Pixar’sElio,Thunderbolts*,Lilo & Stitch,The Fantastic Four: First Steps,Tron: Ares,Zootopia 2, andAvatar: Fire and Ash. If the studio keeps its momentum going, they could close out the 2020s with nearly as high a rate of earning $2 billion at the domestic box office annually as they did in the 2010s.
