Universal Crosses the $5 Billion Box Office Mark in 2026: First Studio to Do It This Year

Universal Pictures made history this week: the studio crossed the $5 billion global box office mark for the first time in 2026, officially winning the “race” among Hollywood’s major studios, as The Wrap reports. The announcement came Friday and confirmed the figures: $1.788 billion collected domestically in the United States and $3.218 billion in international markets. It is the first time Universal has touched that figure since 2017, and only the third time in the studio’s history — after the record years of 2015 and 2017.

The result proves audiences are returning to cinemas en masse for big films. The main drivers of the success were three films that each crossed $1 billion: Christopher Nolan’s epic “The Odyssey” with around $1.73 billion — the second-highest-grossing film of the year worldwide and the biggest film in Universal Pictures history; Antoine Fuqua’s musical biography “Michael” with around $1.03 billion; and the animation “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” with around $1.01 billion. Important contributions also came from “Minions & Monsters” with $523 million, and Curry Barker’s “Obsession” with $519 million — the latter making history as the most expensive festival acquisition ever and the highest-grossing film in history with a budget under $1 million.

Universal’s dominance also showed on weekends: the studio led the global box office in a full 11 weekends this year, more than any other studio. And the success is not expected to stop. This weekend brings “Forgotten Island,” while ahead the studio has ready “Other Mommy,” “Sense & Sensibility,” the comedy “Focker-in-Law” with Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Ariana Grande, as well as Robert Eggers’ “Werwulf” for the year-end holidays.