Credit: DisneyAfter nearly a decade of unbroken dominance, the Walt Disney Company has finally been bested at the box office.
2023 closed out with a surprisingly robust holiday season for theatrical releases, but the year was still noted for shocking lows for Disney, which, combined with the extravagantly high budgets of its tentpole releases, has caused the studio to lose its place as the highest grossing major studio for the first time since 2016.
Related: Despite Flops, Disney Scores on Box Office Top 10
Disney released 17 theatrical films in 2023, resulting in an impressive $4.827 billion (per Box Office Mojo) across its slate of Marvel Studios, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and animated films. In most years, a multi-billion global gross would undoubtedly have propelled Disney to the top of the pack, but this year, it had to contend with an unexpected trio of huge box-office hits.
Universal Pictures ended the year grossing a total of $4.907 billion, edging out Disney by some $80 million, to take the top studio box office crown. In large part, this was due to Universal producing The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer, two of the biggest movies of the year, along with the robo-horror movie sleeper hit M3GAN.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s Barbie, the single highest-grossing movie of the year, is also a big factor in the Mouse taking a step down in box office receipts, with the House of Mouse unable to compete with the two-pronged phenomenon known as Barbenheimer.
Related: Disney Had Eight Successes in a Year of Flops in 2023
It should be noted, in fairness, Disney did release more movies than Universal (41% more, to be precise), which means that flops like The Marvels, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and even tepid earners like The Little Mermaid live-action remake hurt the studio’s overall numbers more than its competition’s own low grosses.
However, it is difficult not to see this small step down from grace as concrete proof that Disney can no longer rely on Marvel movies and animation nostalgia to ensure it remains the top dog at the box office. Maybe it can recover in 2024, but we’ll have to see whether Bob Iger can do anything about that.
Do you think that Disney overall failed at the box office in 2023? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below!