Universal Studios Outperforms Disney to Become the Top Film Studio of 2023

In a remarkable shift, Disney has been surpassed by Universal Studios for the first time in eight years. In 2023, Universal Studios emerged as the leading film studio, accumulating a revenue of over $4.907 billion, thereby outperforming Disney.

Universal Studios released a total of 24 movies during the year, with several becoming major hits. Notable titles from Universal included Christopher Nolan’s World War II drama “Oppenheimer,” the horror film “M3GAN,” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”

Disney, traditionally a frontrunner in the industry, fell to the second position with a total earning of $4.827 billion. Its 2023 releases included “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3,” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” and 15 other titles. Despite releasing fewer films than Universal, Disney highlighted in a statement that it still held four of the top ten highest-grossing global releases and three of the biggest domestic releases.

The highest-grossing films were “Barbie” ($1.4 billion) from Warner Bros, followed by Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros Movie” ($1.3 billion) and “Oppenheimer” ($950 million). Disney faced a comparatively subdued year with its Marvel superhero films, which contributed to its drop to second place.

Disney’s most profitable film of 2023 was “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which grossed $845 million.