Despite criticism of Disney’s post-Covid performance on Marvel, Pixar, and Lucasfilm titles, there is no denying that these brands are still delivering. In fact, Disney remains the leading box office powerhouse, having generated $3.4 billion worldwide from January 1 to July 2. This impressive figure includes $1.35 billion from the domestic market and $2.05 billion from international markets. Remarkably, this success has been achieved with just seven theatrical releases in 2023.

The exhibition industry can breathe a sigh of relief as Disney has moved away from its previous practice of simultaneous streaming and theatrical releases. The company has recommitted to a theatrical window, allowing the financial vibrancy of a traditional downstream model to prevail in the post-pandemic era. This decision has resulted in increased concession sales for theatre owners, as well as benefiting other ancillary businesses such as Imax and the wider exhibition industry.

Disney’s global box office dominance this year is staggering, surpassing its competitors by significant margins. With a total of five movies, Paramount earned $871 million, while Warner Bros, with six movies, earned $898 million. Sony, with its impressive 15 movies, garnered $1.1 billion. In comparison, Disney’s earnings of $3.4 billion are more than the combined totals of Paramount and Warner Bros.

Universal takes second place in the global box office race, accumulating an estimated $2.89 billion from 14 titles. This success is largely attributed to Illumination’s Super Mario Bros, which grossed a whopping $1.33 billion, making it the highest-grossing film of the year so far.

At the U.S./Canada box office, Disney maintains a commanding lead, surpassing Universal ($1.13 billion), Sony ($589 million), Paramount ($398 million), and Warner Bros ($264 million). Furthermore, Disney holds the top spot in the summer box office, with earnings of $811 million, contributing to 44% of the overall $1.9 billion season revenue from May 1 to July 2.

In the ongoing box office rivalry between Disney’s Marvel Studios and Warner Bros’ DC, Marvel’s last three releases—Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3—collectively raked in an impressive $2.1 billion worldwide. In contrast, DC’s trio of Black Adam, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and The Flash earned a combined total of $773 million worldwide. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 stands as the second highest-grossing film of the year, amassing $837 million, while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania outperformed Black Adam with $476 million compared to $393.2 million.

Among the top 20 highest-grossing films of the year so far, Disney claims ownership of five of them. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 leads the pack with $837 million, followed by Little Mermaid at $525 million (ranked 5th), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania at $476 million (ranked 6th), Elemental at $188 million (ranked 12th), and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at $131 million (ranked 16th).