Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker becomes Disney's 7th movie of 2019 to gross $1 billion
The Force truly was with Disney at the box office in 2019.
Now that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has passed the $1 billion mark worldwide, it's official: Disney released a total of seven movies in 2019 that grossed more than $1 billion at the box office.
This is by far the most billion-dollar movies ever released by a studio in a single year. The previous record was set by Disney itself, which released four movies that grossed $1 billion in 2016, CNBC notes. But prior to 2019, Polygon points out the most billion-dollar movies to come out in one year across all studios was five, and Disney leaped past that number all by itself.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Disney's seven billion-dollar movies were Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Aladdin, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Frozen 2, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Only two other movies from rival studios reached $1 billion last year: Joker and Spider-Man: Far From Home, the latter of which Disney was still involved in since Marvel Studios produced it.
Despite its mixed reviews, The Rise of Skywalker was always expected to gross at least $1 billion at the box office, but it took longer to do so than the critically-acclaimed previous two episodes. The film reached $1 billion after 28 days, Variety notes, whereas Star Wars: The Force Awakens got there in 12 days and Star Wars: The Last Jedi got there in 19 days. In the end, Deadline expects The Rise of Skywalker to finish around $1.1 billion, a decline from The Last Jedi's total of $1.3 billion and the lowest worldwide gross of the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Without Cuba, US State Sponsors of Terrorism list shortens
The Explainer How the remaining three countries on the U.S. terrorism blacklist earned their spots
By David Faris Published
-
Crossword: January 21, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku medium: January 21, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talks
Speed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Video games to play this winter, including 'Marvel Rivals' and 'Alien: Rogue Incursion'
The Week Recommends A Star Wars classic gets remastered, and 'Marvel Rivals' pits players against superhero faves
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tour
Speed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamation
Speed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box office
Speed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appeal
Speed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91
Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
TV to watch in June, from 'House of the Dragon' to 'The Bear'
The Week Recommends The return of an HBO fantasy epic, another 'Star Wars' show and more yelling in the kitchen
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published