The Walt Disney Studios on Friday reached a new milestone, passing $ 4 billion at the global box office for the second time in its history. The first time was just last year, but that was on November 26, meaning Disney bested its speed to $ 4B by 12 days this year. The new tally of roughly $ 4.05B joins the studio’s other 2014 records, including $ 2B internationally on Aug. 4, and $ 3B globally on Aug. 5, faster than any previous year.
Disney’s 2014 box office has been largely driven by four films, two from the hit machine that is Marvel, and two firmly rooted in fairy tales, and with female protagonists to boot.
Tops is Guardians Of The Galaxy. With $ 330M, it is the year’s No. 1 film domestically, and its global cume of $ 770.1M makes it the the No. 2 film worldwide. It recently hit its last markets, including China, where it topped out at about $ 96.5M.
Also from Marvel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier had a fantastic tour of duty this spring with $ 259.8M domestically, making it the year’s No. 2 film. Its $ 714.7M worldwide gives it the No. 5 slot globally.
Angelina Jolie-starrer Maleficent holds the No. 2 spot internationally in 2014 with $ 516.8M. It’s the No. 3 film globally, having conjured up $ 758M during its run, which began in May. The juggernaut holdover that was Frozen earned $ 733M of its total $ 1.27B during this calendar year. Elsa & Co. notably iced the competition in Japan, where the movie made a staggering $ 249M and stayed at the top of the chart for 16 weeks — until Maleficent stole the crown in July, that is.
In more recent news, Big Hero 6 started rolling out internationally at the end of October and has now earned $ 148.M globally. It continues bowing through February and is the 85th title in the studio’s history to cross $ 100M (see my international box office report for more).
Next up on Disney’s roster is the feature adaptation of Broadway musical Into The Woods, starring Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, Anna Kendrick and Chris Pine. It releases domestically on Dec. 25 and rolls out elsewhere from there.
Nancy Tartaglione