In a rare achievement, Universal’s creative dominance has coincided with commercial supremacy: The studio was No. 1 at the worldwide box office in 2023, selling nearly $5 billion in tickets and ending an eight-year reign by Disney. Moreover, Universal reached audiences the old-fashioned way — by serving up movies from a mix of genres, with nary a superhero to be found. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($1.4 billion) led the way, followed by “Oppenheimer” ($958 million), “Fast X” ($705 million), “Five Nights at Freddy’s” ($291 million) and “Migration” ($279 million).
Other Universal successes included Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” the comedy “Cocaine Bear” and the horror comedy “M3gan.” Over the weekend, “Kung Fu Panda 4” arrived to a stout $58.3 million in the United States and Canada. (There have, of course, been misfires, including “The Exorcist: Believer,” which bombed in the fall, imperiling a planned trilogy.)
Sometimes your luck runs hot in the casino called Hollywood. But Universal’s strength is also a testament to Langley, 56, who has doggedly sought to make her studio the favored home for Hollywood’s top filmmakers and producers. With ticket buyers starting to push back on superhero spectacles and cookie-cutter franchise sequels, Universal’s first-look deals and partnerships with talents like Jason Blum, James Wan, Jordan Peele, Elizabeth Banks, Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow, Phil Lord and Chris Miller position the studio for continued prosperity.
“Donna is a spectacular studio boss,” Steven Spielberg, who returned to Universal in 2015 after a period on his own, said in a phone interview. “The relationship between directors and studios has historically been them versus us. There are exceptions and Donna is one of them. She is with us.”
Kaynak: briturkish.com
