Disney hauls in US$7.3b at box office in 2018

[LOS ANGELES] Disney posted its second best year at the box office ever, raking in US$7.325 billion worldwide for everything from "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War" to hit animated sequel "Incredibles 2" and the latest "Star Wars" film.

Disney remains the only studio to ever post more than US$7 billion in annual box office receipts. In 2016, it recorded its best year at US$7.6 billion.

"Thanks to the support of fans of Disney, Pixar, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm around the world, it's been a monumental year for The Walt Disney Studios," chairman Alan Horn said in a statement.

In North America, Disney made nearly US$3.1 billion, a new industry record, thanks to the runaway success of "Black Panther," "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Incredibles 2" - now all among the top 10 highest grossing films of all time.

Each one earned more than US$600 million in the United States and Canada.

Cumulatively, those three films alone made US$4.64 billion worldwide.

Other successes on the Disney slate include Marvel superhero flick "Ant-Man and The Wasp," "Solo: A Star Wars Story" and "Mary Poppins Returns" - which has already made more than US$200 million around the world and is still in theaters.

In 2019, Disney has another massive year ahead on the silver screen, with "Captain Marvel" and "Avengers: Endgame" leading the Marvel charge in the spring, and "Frozen 2" due at year's end, along with "Star Wars: Episode IX."

New versions of animated classics "Dumbo," "Aladdin" and "The Lion King" are yet to come, as is Pixar's "Toy Story 4 ."

AFP