Now that the dust has settled on 2016’s record-breaking box office year, it’s clear that Disney was the biggest winner by leaps and bounds.
The studio released six of the top 10 highest grossing movies of 2016. And since 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” came out at the end of 2015, more than 30 percent of the hit film’s overall domestic grosses helped push Disney past a record-breaking $3 billion in the U.S. and Canada in 2016.
Yes, it’s 2017 and we’re still talking about Lucasfilm’s debut “Star Wars” reboot — that’s how massive it was.
The film earned $936.7 million in total domestically, and $284.7 million of that, or 30 percent, was made as the movie continued its run in early 2016.
Disney is the first studio ever to cross $3 billion at the domestic box office. The feat was helped by 2016 hits “Finding Dory” at No. 1, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” at No. 2, “Captain America: Civil War” at No. 3 and also 2015’s “The Force Awakens” in 10th place just for its 2016 ticket sales alone.
“Rogue One” earned nearly 93 percent of its total to-date grosses, or $408.2 million, in 2016. It’s still in theaters and has made $439.7 million overall in North America — and counting.
The parent to Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Pixar Animation and Walt Disney Animation enjoyed a record-breaking year, having also recently crossed the $7 billion mark at the worldwide box office for the first time ever.
Here is the 2016 Top 10 list for the overall domestic box office (figures represent grosses made in 2016 only):
1. “Finding Dory” (Disney) — $486.3 million
2. “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (Disney) — $408.2 million
3. “Captain America: Civil War” (Disney) — $408.1 million
4. “The Secret Life of Pets” (Universal) — $368.4 million
5. “The Jungle Book” (Disney) — $364 million
6. “Deadpool” (20th Century Fox) — $363.1 million
7. “Zootopia” (Disney) — $341.3 million
8. “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (Warner Bros.) — $330.4 million
9. “Suicide Squad” (Warner Bros.) — $325.1 million
10. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (Disney) $284.7 million
Walt Disney Studios reported $7.605 billion globally in ticket sales from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2016. That includes $3.001 billion in the U.S. and Canada for 16 films, including 2015’s “The Force Awakens,” as well as 13 new releases.
The studio also earned $4.604 billion internationally in 2016.
This is Disney’s second consecutive record-breaking year by all three measures: global, domestic and international. Disney grossed $5.844 billion globally in 2015 while earning $2.279 billion domestically and $3.565 billion internationally.
The studio’s estimated domestic market share for 2016 is 26.5 percent, when Disney movies topped the box office for 21 out of 52 weekends.
Disney had six of the top 11 films of the year worldwide and seven of the top 12 in North America.