SJWs can be excused if they erroneously believe all is well with the Devil Mouse:
Hear Disney roar.
On Sunday, Hollywood’s alpha studio announced its films have collected a record-shattering $7.67 billion at the 2019 global box office — and it’s not even August.
The previous industry record of $7.61 billion was set by Disney in 2016.
The $7.67 billion figure includes $5.09 billion amassed overseas. It’s the first time any Hollywood studio has surpassed the $5 billion threshold internationally.
Already this year, three Disney titles have crossed $1 billion worldwide, not to mention that Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame ($2.79 billion) has surpassed Avatar to become the top-grossing film of all time. Fellow Marvel pic Captain Marvel finished its run with $1.23 billion.
Disney’s live-action Aladdin rode its magic carpet past the $1 billion mark last week, while The Lion King is on the verge of achieving the milestone after finishing Sunday with a worldwide total of $962.7 million after just two weeks in release.
And don’t forget Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4, which is likely to top $1 billion in the coming weeks. If so, Disney will set a new high-water mark for the number of $1 billion-plus films released in a given year (it set the current record in 2016 with four).
Disney accounts for as much as 45 percent of the $16 billion-plus collected worldwide so far this year by movies released on more than 1,000 screens, including revenue from titles inherited following the Disney-Fox merger. In stark contrast, the next closest studio, Warner Bros., has taken in just shy of $2 billion.
The devil, so to speak, is in the details. Devil Mouse movies are doing very well on a superficial level, but the Great Rat is rapidly devouring its seed corn and riding on the inertia of its past successes. It probably has one more good year in it before the numbers begin to turn south and the rapid decline begins.