Universal Crosses $5 Billion at the Global Box Office, First Studio to Reach Milestone in 2026

Universal‘s global box office has crossed $5 billion for the third time in the studio’s history. The studio is also the first to reach this milestone in 2026.

With this week’s grosses, Universal-distributed films have tallied $1.788 billion domestically and $3.218 billion internationally to date. That massive box office haul is fueled by global blockbusters from Universal Pictures, Illumination, DreamWorks Animation and Focus Features, including “The Odyssey,” “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” “Michael,” “Minions & Monsters,” plus surprise theatrical hits like “Obsession.” In a year when only five films topped $1 billion worldwide, Universal distributed three of them: “The Odyssey,” “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and “Michael.” (Sony/Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” round out the billion-dollar club.)

These films’ collective achievement is massive, but their individual success are notable, too. Earlier this month, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” became Universal’s biggest film in the studio’s history (grossing $1.7 billion worldwide) and is ranked the No. 10 MPA film of all time globally and internationally. Likewise, Curry Barker’s “Obsession” earned $519 million worldwide, becoming Focus Features’ highest-grossing film worldwide and Blumhouse Atomic Monster’s highest-grossing film. The relationship thriller was produced for less than $1 million and ranks as one of the year’s most profitable movies. “Michael,” about Michael Jackson’s rise to global icon status, has grossed $1.028 billion. The Lionsgate movie, distributed internationally by Universal, surpassed “Bohemian Rhapsody” as the highest-grossing music biopic and beat “Oppenheimer” to become the highest-grossing biopic overall.

Universal, which previously surpassed $5 billion at the global box office in 2017 and 2015, stands to make oodles more at the box office through the end of the year. The remaining films on the studio’s 2026 slate are DreamWorks Animation’s “Forgotten Island” (now playing in theaters), the Jessica Chastain-starrer “Other Mommy” from Blumhouse Atomic Monster (out Oct. 9), Focus Features’ “Sense & Sensibility” with Daisy Edgar-Jones (Oct. 16), Focus’ “Elsinore” (limited release starting Nov. 20), “Focker-In-Law,” starring Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Ariana Grande (Nov. 27), “Violent Night 2” (Dec. 4) and Focus’ “Werwulf” from Robert Eggers (Dec. 25).