Universal Surpasses Disney as the Highest-Grossing Studio at the 2023 Box Office

Universal Pictures emerged as the highest-grossing studio at the 2023 box office, marking the first time since 2015 that Disney was not the global box office leader. Universal's slate of 24 films, including "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," "Oppenheimer," and "M3GAN," collected $4.907 billion in worldwide ticket sales.

Disney secured the second spot with $4.827 billion in global box office revenue, with notable releases such as "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," and "The Little Mermaid." Disney emphasized having the most titles in the top 10, including four of the highest-grossing global releases and three of the biggest domestic releases.

Warner Bros. claimed the top three spots with "Barbie" ($1.4 billion), Universal's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" ($1.3 billion), and "Oppenheimer" ($950 million). This marked the first time since 2014, excluding the pandemic-affected years 2020 and 2021, that none of Disney's movies crossed the $1 billion benchmark.

Disney faced challenges with underperforming sequels and remakes, such as "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" and "The Marvels," resulting in Universal surpassing Disney in the box office rankings. Universal's wins included "Fast X," which grossed $704 million, making it the fifth-biggest movie of the year.

In the global box office rankings, Warner Bros. secured the third position with $3.84 billion, followed by Sony at No. 4 with $2.094 billion, featuring releases like "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," "Equalizer 3," and "Napoleon." Paramount rounded out the top five with $2.026 billion, driven by titles such as "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" and "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves."

(With Agency Inputs)