Call it the ‘Summer of Disney’
Never before has one studio so dominated summer at the movies. The Walt Disney Co. accounted for about half of all ticket sales in U.S. and Canada theaters in the season, which came to a close Sunday with the Gerard Butler action thriller “Angel Has Fallen” topping the box office for a second weekend.
Summer ticket sales finished 2 percent behind last year, according to data firm Comscore, a slight downturn that came despite an unprecedented display by Disney.
The studio’s approximate $2.2 billion in domestic summer box office is greater than that of all the other major studios combined.
Five of Disney’s films crossed $1 billion this summer, including the season’s biggest hit, “The Lion King.” It currently ranks seventh all-time globally with $1.56 billion in ticket sales. “Avengers: Endgame” ($2.796 billion) opened in late April, just before the summer began. “Toy Story 4” and “Aladdin” both easily cleared $1 billion.
The only non-disney film in the summer’s top four was Sony’s “Spiderman: Far From Home,” and that film was produced by Disney’s Marvel Studios.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore.
1. “Angel Has Fallen,” $11.6 million.
2. “Good Boys,” $9.2 million.
3. “The Lion King,” $6.7 million.
4. “Hobbs & Shaw,” $6.3 million.
5. “Overcomer,” $5.7 million.
6. “Ready or Not,” $5.6 million.
7. “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” $5 million.
8. “Spider-man: Far From Home,” $4.3 million.
9. “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” $4.1 million.
10. “The Angry Birds Movie 2,” $4.1 million.