• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs

2

Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998

3

Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ every day Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living

1

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs

2

Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998

3

Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ every day Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living
Arts & EntertainmentHollywood

Here’s Why Disney Is Having Its Best Year Ever at the Box Office

By
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 2, 2016, 5:47 PM ET
Photograph by Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

With nearly two more months left in 2016, Walt Disney looks primed to blow away the Hollywood record for yearly box-office haul.

This year is already Disney’s biggest ever at the box office, as the studio has kept up what it does best: releasing a steady stream of comic book adaptations that are popular with fans and critics alike, while also relying on the past success of its Pixar franchises to create newer, bigger blockbusters.

Walt Disney Studios announced on Wednesday that it’s officially set a personal record with $5.85 billion in global movie ticket sales through the start of November. That total puts Disney roughly $1 billion behind the all-time yearly record for global box office receipts set last year by Comcast’s Universal (nearly $6.9 billion), a number the “Mouse House” should easily top with a handful of major releases still yet to hit theaters.

First up is Doctor Strange, the latest critically-acclaimed release from Disney’s Marvel Studios that pulled in $88 million in its overseas opening this past weekend—an impressive total considering the film doesn’t open in China, the world’s second-largest movie market, until this weekend. Doctor Strange also opens in the U.S. this weekend and the movie’s strong critical reception—including a 91% aggregate rating on Rotten Tomatoes—suggests it could be the latest box-office hit for Disney and Marvel.

Disney already scored big over the summer with Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, the year’s biggest movie so far, at $1.15 billion in global ticket sales. In fact, Civil War is one of three Disney movies to top $1 billion in global box office in 2016, joining Pixar’s Finding Dory and Zootopia (both made $1.02 billion globally), according to Box Office Mojo. And, with the live-action version of The Jungle Book ($966 million) that Disney put out in April, the studio already claims four of the six highest-grossing movies of the year.

The studio also withstood its share of misses this year, though, including a massive flop in Alice Through the Looking Glass. The children’s book adaptation The BFG and the remake of Pete’s Dragon also underwhelmed at a summer box-office chock full of big-budget films.

Disney still has another highly-anticipated animated feature waiting in the wings, with Moana due for release on Nov. 23. The film features a Polynesian princess and stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, with songs co-written by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.

 

Meanwhile, next month, Disney will again tap into a massively popular franchise with its first-ever standalone Star Wars spin-off movie: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. That movie hits theaters on Dec. 16, which is almost exactly one year after the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which blasted past box office records on its way to becoming the highest-grossing domestic release ever. In fact, because The Force Awakens remained in theaters around the world into 2016, roughly $736 million of the movie’s more than $2 billion global box-office haul counted toward Disney’s 2016 total, the company said on Wednesday.

Rogue One isn’t necessarily expected to reach the same heights as The Force Awakens—it focuses mostly on a new set of characters outside of the main Star Wars narrative—but the franchise is so popular right now that the movie is almost certain to sell a huge number of tickets.

With high expectations for its remaining 2016 releases, Disney is almost certain to set a new record for yearly box-office revenue. The only real question that remains is: How much bigger can Disney’s 2016 box office get?

About the Author
By Tom Huddleston Jr.
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Arts & Entertainment

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Arts & Entertainment

The 1964 box set that predicted Dylan going electric — and still explains American music today
Arts & EntertainmentMusic
The 1964 box set that predicted Dylan going electric — and still explains American music today
By Ted Olson and The ConversationJuly 4, 2026
3 hours ago
mp
Arts & EntertainmentWorld Cup
FIFA engineered a plan to get the USMNT and their fans singing ‘Country Roads’ — and it worked
By R.J. Rico and The Associated PressJuly 4, 2026
4 hours ago
wh
PoliticsWhite House
Trump visits Mount Rushmore on 250th July 4th to declare communism a ‘mortal threat to American liberty’
By Steven Sloan, Steve Peoples, Michelle L. Price and The Associated PressJuly 4, 2026
4 hours ago
loco
Travel & LeisureEntrepreneurship
The World Cup is just now discovering Middle America’s big heart. These Irish bingo kingpins built a $24 million business knowing it all along
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 4, 2026
7 hours ago
s
Personal FinanceSports
The sports economy is unaffordable at the bar, let alone the stadium
By Catherina GioinoJuly 2, 2026
2 days ago
t
Arts & EntertainmentNew York
No holiday for New York City cops, who get a heat wave, World Cup and a Taylor Swift wedding at MSG
By Anthony Izaguirre and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
2 days ago

Most Popular

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
Law
Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
By Wyatte Grantham-Philips and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
2 days ago
Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998
AI
Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 3, 2026
1 day ago
Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ every day Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living
Success
Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ every day Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living
By Preston ForeJuly 4, 2026
9 hours ago
Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds
Economy
Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 2, 2026
2 days ago
$25 billion CEO says one-hour interviews are a waste of time—he puts candidates through six hours of tests and wants them to order wine at lunch
Success
$25 billion CEO says one-hour interviews are a waste of time—he puts candidates through six hours of tests and wants them to order wine at lunch
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 3, 2026
1 day ago
On Wall Street, analysts increasingly don’t believe the U.S. government’s 'misleading' job numbers
Economy
On Wall Street, analysts increasingly don’t believe the U.S. government’s 'misleading' job numbers
By Jim EdwardsJuly 3, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.