Entertainment
- Disney is the box-office champion this year with 38% of the domestic market share.
- Other studios are struggling to build up franchises to compete.
- But the future could be brighter, as Disney's slate next year won't be as strong as this year or last.
- We broke down the biggest movie assets of six Hollywood film studios to give a better sense of where they stand and what the future could bring.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Disney is the box-office champion of 2019 with 38% of the domestic market share and four movies in the top five earners both domestically and globally. And it still has "Frozen 2" and "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" on the way.
But it wasn't always like that. Disney's streak began in 2016, but in 2015, Universal was the top movie studio of the year. In 2014, it was Fox; in 2013, Warner Bros.; in 2012, Sony; and in 2011, Paramount.
So what happened?
Disney has built up a strong collection of assets that attract audiences to the theater and that's never been more apparent than this year, from Marvel's "Avengers: Endgame" and "Captain Marvel," to Pixar's "Toy Story 4." And it's capitalizing on its own Disney brand by remaking its classic animated movies, the most successful of which, "The Lion King," has grossed $1.6 billion worldwide this year.
Here's what the 2019 domestic market share looks like as of September 22, based on numbers from Box Office Mojo:
- Disney - 34.1% of the box office with $2.82 billion domestically
- Universal - 13.6% with $1.123 billion
- Warner Bros. - 13.5% with $1.117 billion
- Sony/Columbia - 11.3% with $939 million
- Lionsgate - 6.6% with $546 million
- Paramount - 4.9% with $406 million
- Fox (now owned by Disney) - 3.7% with $303 million
Paramount, one of the five major Hollywood studios (along with Disney, Universal, Warner Bros., Sony) has fallen far since 2011, when it released "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "Kung-Fu Panda 2," "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," and two Marvel movies before Disney took over full distribution rights. Now Paramount is behind Lionsgate and barely ahead of Fox, which was acquired by Disney in March.
Movie studios are racing to build up tentpole franchises to compete with Disney, but many attempts have backfired this year. In a lackluster summer of sequels, movies like Warner Bros.' "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," Sony's "Men in Black: International," and Fox's "Dark Phoenix" dramatically underperformed compared to their predecessors.
Could the future be brighter?
Disney's domination could be vulnerable next year. The MCU will be entering a new phase, there aren't any anticipated Pixar sequels coming, and no "Star Wars" movies are on the release slate until 2022. It's hard to count out the Mouse House, but other studios may have an opportunity to pounce.
For a better idea of where each studio stands and what the future may bring, we've broken down their biggest movie assets below.