That was especially true this weekend as
nothing new dented the top 10. Lionsgate’s
“Angel Has Fallen” came on top again with an
estimated $11.6 million.
The final numbers on Hollywood’s summer
didn’t add up to the box-office bonanza that
some predicted. Instead, the main storyline
on the summer came to be the yawning gap
between Disney and the rest of the industry.
Disney finalized its $71 billion acquisition of 20th
Century Fox in March, but it was the studio’s own
offerings that propelled its market dominance.
Five of Disney’s films crossed $1 billion this
summer, including the season’s biggest hit, “The
Lion King.” It currently ranks seventh all-time
globally with $1.56 billion in ticket sales. “Avengers:
Endgame” ($2.796 billion) opened in late April,
just before the summer began. “Toy Story 4” and
“Aladdin” both easily cleared $1 billion. The only
non-Disney film in the summer’s top four was
Sony’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” and that
film was produced by Disney’s Marvel Studios.
Disney has been the market leader for the
last four years in Hollywood as its high-
priced acquisitions — Lucasfilm, Pixar, Marvel,
and now Fox — have given the studio the
intellectual property firepower for a movie world
increasingly focused on franchises.
Only one original film this summer ranked
among the top 10, and it came in 10th. Quentin
Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood”
will have made an estimated $130.8 million
through Monday domestically, plus sizable ticket
sales abroad. It, along with “Spider-Man,” helped
lead Sony to its best summer since 2006 — but a
distant No. 2 to Disney.