2016 was a record breaking year for Disney which earned over $7 billion dollars in worldwide box office ticket sales.  Disney had blockbuster movies like Captain America: Civil War, Zootopia, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the number 1 movie of the year Finding Dory that helped it be the number one movie production company in the world.  While there is currently one movie in the top ten that is in theaters right now it is safe that its spot won’t change now.  The overall consensus looking at the top ten from 2016 is children movies and comic book movies reign supreme.  Even comic book films that were critically trashed by a majority did significantly well at the box office.  Here is a look at the top ten films gross domestic  for 2016.

 

10. Doctor Strange: Domestic $229,697,310

Disney/Marvel’s first movie on the top 10 list. Overall this was a success for the Marvel Studios to finish tenth.  For a character that has never really been at the center of major Marvel stories it was a pleasant surprise to see how well this movie did.  It may not have gotten non-comic fans to the theaters but marketing did well enough to get the casual fan to the theaters.

9. Suicide Squad: Domestic $325,100,054

Probably a disappointment with the potential this movie had. Some experts predicted around summer time that this movie would finish in the top five, but after lackluster reviews the second movie to come out of the WB/DC studios failed to keep fans for coming back for more.

8. Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice: Domestic $330,360,194

The biggest disappointment of 2016 was this movie.  After a three year campaign and heavy marketing Batman vs Superman saw a record breaking opening weekend at the box office.  Unfortunately it made another record in the biggest drop off from opening weekend to the second weekend.  Batman vs Superman was flawed by heavy editing and left viewers confused leaving the theaters.

7. Zootopia: Domestic $341,268,248

The second Disney movie on the list.  This movie’s success wasn’t really a shock with the formula that Disney continues to use.  The only surprise about this movie was how long it took to announce that there would be a sequel.

6. Deadpool: Domestic $363,070,709

After years of campaigning and hardcore press from Ryan Reynolds all of that hard work paid off.  We got the first successful R-Rated comic book movie to hit the box office.  Opening on Valentines Day weekend this movie was a smash hit at the box office.  This gave Fox a much needed win and showed they can expand out of the traditional X-Men universe.

5. The Jungle Book: Domestic $364,001,123

Another Disney movie, shocking.  This was a surprise hit for a lot of people because there wasn’t a good history of live action story book films.  Directed by the talented Jon Favreau he took this classic story and turned it into a hit with families.

4. The Secret Life of Pets: Domestic $368,384,330

Most people thought this was another Disney film but were mistaken.  This was the lone gross hit for Universal Studios.  Animated talking animals is a success but make them about the pets we take care of and it is a major hit.

3. Captain America: Civil War: Domestic $408,084,349

Disney’s most successful Marvel movie since The Avengers.  Cap vs Iron Man withsome new characters was always made to be  a success.  The inclusion of Spider-man and Black Panther took this movie over the top.  Even though this movie wasn’t faithful to the comics the story that was created allowed the new Marvel characters to step up and lead the Marvel Universe.

2. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: Domestic $425,554,705

After a year of speculation of turmoil and re-shoots everyone was hesitant about this movie but after its opening premiere there was little to be worried about.  This movie secured that Star Wars will be around for another 40 years.  

1. Finding Dory: Domestic $486,295,561 

The movie that topped the Domestic Box Office of 2016 was a sequel.  Although a majority of kids that went and saw this movie weren’t alive for the first it was still a success.  The combination of Disney and Ellen Degeneres created a juggernaut that couldn’t be topped by Marvel, DC, or Star Wars.

Disney swept the top three spots with its different franchises.  While it doesn’t look like Disney will slip in 2017 with plenty of movies coming out there is a lot of competition this year.