Disney’s reign at the box office continues, as Moana 2 has officially surpassed $1 billion in global ticket sales over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. This marks the third Disney film in 2024 to reach this milestone, following Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine and Pixar’s Inside Out 2. In contrast, no other Hollywood studio had a film cross $1 billion last year.
With $442.8 million from domestic audiences and $567.1 million from international markets, Moana 2 has become only the fourth film from Walt Disney Animation to enter the billion-dollar club, joining Frozen, Frozen II, and Zootopia. This achievement is particularly significant for Disney, which had struggled post-pandemic to recapture its animated box office success, partially due to its strategy of releasing new animated films directly on Disney+ during theater closures. This shift conditioned audiences to expect animated content at home, impacting Disney’s theatrical performance in recent years.
However, 2024 has marked a strong comeback for the studio, with Inside Out 2 leading the charge in June. The Pixar sequel grossed over $650 million domestically and became the first film since Barbie to surpass $1 billion globally. It also set a record as the highest-grossing film of 2024 and was the first Pixar or Disney Animation film since 2019 to earn over $480 million worldwide.
Alongside Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Moana 2, Disney’s theatrical lineup in 2024 has helped the studio amass $2.2 billion at the domestic box office, accounting for 25% of the industry’s total revenue, according to Comscore data.
With Moana 2 crossing the billion-dollar threshold, Disney has now released 32 films that have achieved this feat—including three acquired through the 2019 Fox merger. To put this into perspective, only 56 movies in history have crossed the $1 billion mark, meaning Disney is responsible for nearly 60% of the highest-grossing films of all time.
As the studio continues to lead the industry, its 2024 success signals a resurgence in animated films, reinforcing its dominance in global cinema and setting the stage for future blockbusters.
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