Winning big: Disney enjoys best- ever year at box office

Company earns $5.9b in ticket sales during first 10 months of 2016

LOS ANGELES: Walt Disney Studios is celebrating its biggest year ever at the global box office after raking in $5.9 billion in ticket sales during the first 10 months of 2016. Hits such as Finding Dory, Captain America: Civil War and Zootopia ensured that the studio, which owns prestigious brands like Marvel and Pixar, has already beaten last year’s $5.8 billion with two months to spare, the company announced on Tuesday.

With a Star Wars spin-off, Marvel’s superhero movie Doctor Strange and animated musical Moana yet to open domestically, the studio could comfortably pass the record of $6.9 billion, set by Universal in 2015. “For the second year in a row, The Walt Disney Studios has reached a new high at the box office, thanks to an absolutely stellar collection of releases from Disney, Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm,” said studio chairman Alan Horn. “This success is a testament to the refined talent and innovative work the entire studio team puts into making these world-class cinematic experiences.”

Disney has set several records this year, becoming the fastest studio ever to hit $2 billion domestically and $5 billion at the global box office, both in July. It has not been entirely plain sailing, as Alice through the Looking Glass and The BFG were deemed commercial flops, while Pete’s Dragon hardly had the accountants jumping for joy. Coastguard drama The Finest Hours also sank without a trace, with Variety magazine reporting that Disney was expecting losses of around $75 million from the film.

On the other side of the ledger, the studio had three hits in 2016 that passed the illustrious $1 billion global mark: Captain America ($1.1 billion), Zootopia ($1.023 billion) and Finding Dory ($1.022 billion).

The Jungle Book made $966 million while Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which debuted in December last year, brought in $737 million of its $2.1 billion global take in 2016.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2016.

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