With Marvel rolling out the return of the Russo Brothers and Robert Downey Jr. to the MCU at Hall H of Comic Con a few weeks ago, expectations are at a fever pitch for the surprises in store at D23 in Anaheim this weekend. Will guests get a sneak peek at James Cameron’s next installment in the “Avatar” saga? Is footage from “Zootopia 2” or Pixar’s latest original “Elio” ready to seen? With Marvel news remaining relatively lite at Comic Con, will we hear more about some of their larger plans or even get trailers for Disney+ series like “Agatha All Along” and “Daredevil: Born Again?” The possibilities are endless and fans are itching to find out more.
Unlike many legacy companies facing the struggles of industry contraction and dwindling box office returns, Disney continues to come out on top, with two releases this summer that independently and cumulatively helped rescue theaters from uncomfortably low ticket sales. First, in June, the Pixar sequel “Inside Out 2” blew past all expectations, earning $295 million in its global opening weekend, the first film since last summer’s “Barbie” to gross more than $100 million in its debut and the biggest opening for an animated film when accounting for exchange rates. It has since earned $1.5 billion and still remains in theaters, but faces stiff competition from Disney’s other huge summer success, “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Though the film is proudly less kid-friendly than “Inside Out 2,” it still seems to be attracting large swathes of audiences, including families, earning a record-shattering $444 million during its worldwide opening weekend. Its grosses currently stand at $924 million, but are likely to cross $1 billion this weekend or next.
As if the news couldn’t get any better, this week, Disney happily reported during its quarterly earnings that the company had finally turned a profit with streaming, with revenue jumping 15% this past spring. Disney as a whole also announced an operating income $4.225 billion, 19% above its last accounting, largely a result of “Inside Out 2” box office figures, but revenues from “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” a franchise that came to Disney from their acquisition of Fox, also added to the mix.
