As was expected, Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” finally crossed the $1 billion milestone yesterday. Considering “Toy Story 3” earned $1.07 billion worldwide during its run in 2010, analysts had zero doubt that the latest Pixar film would reach the number. In fact, the big story about “Toy Story 4” reaching the $1 billion threshold is less about the film and more about its parent company, Disney, as the studio has now broken another record.
With the Pixar film’s new worldwide cume, Disney has released five separate $1 billion-grossing films in 2019 (“Captain Marvel,” “Aladdin,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “The Lion King,” and “Toy Story 4), which is a new record. And to further show the studio’s dominance this year, Disney has released all but one billion-dollar film this year. Funny enough, the only other film to reach the milestone so far in 2019 is “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” which is produced by Disney-owned Marvel Studios, but released by Sony Pictures. So, let’s call that one 5 ½.
And Disney isn’t done yet. Looking forward to the rest of the year, many are predicting that the studio will easily add at least two more films to the billion-dollar club, with “Frozen 2” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” The latter of which is the Saga-ending film that is supposed to be the culmination of the story that George Lucas started in 1977. So, we really should be looking at closer to $2 billion for that one. And “Frozen 2” is the direct sequel to the massive hit “Frozen,” which grossed $1.28 billion in 2013.
But the real disgusting part of this whole studio domination is how outside of those 7 films, Disney is also releasing “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” in October, which is the Angelina Jolie-starring sequel to the first film, which grossed $758 million during its run. If ‘Maleficent 2’ has a stronger run, we could be looking at another film that flirts with $1 billion.
Overall, this is probably just the beginning of a decades-long box office domination for Disney, as the upcoming years include even more Marvel Studios projects, those ‘Avatar’ sequels, and more “Star Wars.” In addition, you have the Pixar films, live-action remakes, and other animated films that Disney will release. All that to say, it’s Disney’s world and we just live in it.