Los Angeles (AFP)
The emergence of streaming would mark the decline of cinema? Very little for Disney. Thanks to the huge popular successes of the entertainment juggernaut, this industry broke a world box office record in 2019, with $ 42.5 billion in revenue.
Blockbuster blockbuster hits produced by Mickey's kingdom ("Avengers: Endgame", "The Lion King" and "Frozen 2") helped break last year's record, by 41, $ 7 billion (without taking inflation into account), the specialist firm Comscore said on Friday.
North America accounts for around a quarter of revenues with $ 11 billion, but this record was broken thanks to the development of developing markets (China, Japan, Brazil, Mexico ...).
"Avengers: Endgame", the new installment of Marvel superheroes (which was bought by Disney in 2009) became the most lucrative film in history last year, beating the record for "Avatar".
Two other Marvel / Disney films are in the Top 5 of 2019: "Captain Marvel" and "Spider-Man: Far From Home" (co-produced by Sony).
"The stars have aligned for Disney," which was also able to count on the success of the latest "Star Wars," said Paul Dergarabedian, media analysis specialist for Comscore.
"I don't know when we will see another year like 2019 (for Disney, note) for another studio in the future," he added.
And cultural hegemony should not stop there for the world leader in entertainment: Disney, which specializes in suites and remakes, will be able to count in 2020 on a new "Mulan" (in real shots) and on the solo adventures of "Black Widow", the Marvel heroine of the Avengers played by Scarlett Johansson.
© 2020 AFP