Disney’s 2024 Family Movies Ruled at the Box Office

Published: December 31, 2024

Disney’s 2024 Family Movies Ruled at the Box Office

By Movieguide® Contributor

Disney had some big wins at the box office this year — its family-friendly movies were smash hits, along with some other studios’ sequels.

“Over the past few years, the movie business has suffered one setback after another. First, COVID shuttered theaters for months, prompting a wave of release-date delays, and halted filming on major movies, which only resumed with costly new health measures in place that added millions to budgets,” Variety reported Dec. 27. “Then, 2023 saw historic writers and actors strikes that scuttled production once again, resulting in another monthslong work stoppage as a fresh crop of films saw their opening weekends pushed back. All of this has left theaters with fewer films to showcase, which analysts believe is partly the cause of the decline in year-over-year revenues.”

“So, what worked?” Variety asks. “Sequels and special effects-heavy adventures dominated the 2024 box office, while family-friendly films finally rebounded in a major way. Nine of the 10 highest-grossing worldwide releases were part of franchises (INSIDE OUT 2, DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, DESPICABLE ME 4, MOANA 2 and DUNE: PART II among them), while WICKED, the only original movie among the top earners, was adapted from a wildly popular 20-year-old Broadway musical that leans heavily on WIZARD OF OZ lore.”

This contrasts with last year’s three top movies — BARBIE, OPPENHEIMER and SUPER MARIO BROS. — which were all originals.

“It seems like everything Hollywood is offering is a sequel, a prequel or a reboot,” said Jeff Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations. “But can you blame the studios? That’s what audiences are feasting on.”

“Audiences say they want original titles, yet they’re doubling down and supporting the safer options of titles they know,” said Disney’s executive VP of global theatrical distribution Tony Chambers.

Disney’s INSIDE OUT 2 surpassed $1 billion, and MOANA 2 is expected to get close to that number or surpass it soon. There wasn’t a single other studio that surpassed $1 billion in 2024.

“But INSIDE OUT 2 wasn’t the only film this year that showed the power of families. During the time where the box office was seriously flagging, KUNG FU PANDA 4 kept the industry ticking over,” Yahoo! Entertainment reported. “Released in March, the long-awaited fourth movie in the franchise managed a global haul of $549m, showing that the 16-year-old franchise still has relevance for young audiences.”

“Meanwhile, Universal and Illumination’s DESPICABLE ME 4 got pretty close to the billion-dollar club, earning $969 million, and Warner Bros. and Legendary’s DUNE: PART TWO notably outgrossed its predecessor, 2021’s DUNE: PART ONE, with $714 million in sales. Those movies also accounted for a greater percentage of the overall box office,” Variety reported. “In 2024, at this point, the five biggest movies accounted for 32% of the marketplace. A decade ago, in 2014, the year’s top five releases made up 15% of total revenues.”

The majority of these movies had themes that families could enjoy together; they didn’t contain excessive content or push anti-family agendas. This is a key reason for their success.

Then, there’s movies that did not hit home with audiences, like JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX, which cost $200 million to make and made only $206 million worldwide. HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA – PART ONE cost $100 million to make yet only made $38 million. Even bigger a flop is BORDERLANDS, which cost $110 million to make and only made just under $33 million.

Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. says there’s a moderately successful class of movies missing. In Hollywood’s current scene, movies are either huge successes or huge flops.

“You used to be able to have a middle class that made up the bulk of films,” he said. “That has shrunk.”

Variety notes that recent forays into superherodom have also been met with little enthusiasm. Some examples are MADAME WEB and less family-friendly flicks, VENOM: THE LAST DANCE and KRAVEN THE HUNTER.

“This trend could reverse next year with the three Marvel sequels on deck, CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD, THUNDERBOLTS and THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, as well as James Gunn’sSUPERMAN reboot, which hopes to ignite a new chapter for DC Comics. However, if these films fail to bring back fanboys or fangirls, it might signal that tastes are changing in fundamental ways,” Variety reported.