Disney is celebrating the most financially successful year in its history, after a 12 month period that saw its acquisitions of Marvel and LucasFilm bear considerable fruit. Owning two of the biggest, most passionately beloved film franchises ever created has a great deal of advantages – not least the privilege of announcing the earning of $55.6 billion in revenue.
It’s hardly surprising, when you consider the fact that 2016 saw the continued run of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in addition to the releases of Captain America: Civil War, Zootopia, Finding Dory, The Jungle Book, and Doctor Strange. Of course, there’s the small, upcoming matter of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but the studio does not anticipate seeing the kind of box office receipts for that film as it did for The Force Awakens, which was not only the first Star Wars film in a decade, but was also the first big screen reunion of the original cast in 30 years.
Still, Disney CEO and President Bob Iger is enjoying the moment:
“We’re very pleased with our performance for the year, delivering the highest revenue, net income and earnings per share in Disney’s history. We remain confident that Disney will continue to deliver strong growth over the long-term as we further strengthen our brands and franchises, our technological capabilities, and our international presence.”
It does the beg the question as to whether Disney is developing something of a stranglehold on theatrically released movies – not least because it’s continuing to schedule live-action remakes of its most classic fairy-tales. It will be interesting to compare this financial report from the studio with that of the next fiscal period – but with Star Wars and Marvel in its stable, it seems that Disney has nowhere to go, but up.
