Disney was, for a time, the undisputed ruler of the box office. In 2019 alone, Disney earned more than $10 billion globallybecoming the first studio to do so. Then 2020 came along and upended the movie business in a big, bad way. The pandemic has shut down theaters for months, with the recovery coming much slower than expected. Still, thanks to the massive success of "Moana 2," Disney has now accomplished something no studio has since 2019, as three of its 2024 films have crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide.

With another surprisingly strong weekend in the books, "Moana 2" has now earned $1.01 billion worldwide. passing Jurassic World Dominion ($1 billion) as the eighth biggest film in the era of the pandemic. More importantly, it now joins its 2024 Disney counterparts Inside Out 2 ($1.69 billion) and Deadpool & Wolverine ($1.33 billion) as members of the $1 billion club. No other studio had a film cross that milestone last year, though Despicable Me 4 ($969.1 million) came pretty close.

There are some key takeaways here. First, the only other year after 2020 to have three $1 billion movies in theaters was 2022 thanks to Avatar: The Last Airbender ($2.3 billion) and Top Gun: Maverick ($1.49 billion dollars) that joined Dominion. In that case, three different studios split the fortune. However, in 2024, Disney ruled the market with three high-profile sequels. In case of "Moana 2", we're talking about a movie that was originally supposed to be a Disney+ series.

Disney choosing not to send Moana 2 to theaters was A) a great decision and B) a turning point in the ongoing streaming wars. Investing so much money in A-list, direct-to-stream content may be a thing of the past. With this, Disney could reclaim its seat on the throne and give the industry a much-needed boost after a rough start to the year brought on by the SAG and WGA strikes in 2023.

All told, Disney earned $5.46 billion globally in 2024, which was the highest total posted by any studio. Of course, it is still far from the $10 billion recorded in 2019, when Avengers: Endgame grossed $2.8 billion and briefly became the biggest film of all time. In total, nine films topped the $1 billion mark that year, including Aladdin ($1 billion), Toy Story 4 ($1.073 billion), Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker ( $1.074 billion), Joker ($1.078 billion), Captain Marvel ($1.12 billion), Spider-Man: Far From Home from home ($1.13 billion), Frozen II ($1.45 billion) and The Lion King ($1.65 billion), seven of which come directly from Disney.

On the one hand, this illustrates how far the Treasury has to go before we even reach pre-pandemic levels. On the other hand, Disney has shown that with the right movies, people will still happily leave the house and head to the theater. Inside Out 2, in particular, became the biggest animated film ever and helped prove that the Pixar name still meant something. The jury's still out on whether studio originals like Elio can deliver the goods, but it's still nice to see.

To that end, it's easy to view the dominance of sequels like Deadpool & Wolverine as a glass half-empty. The biggest original film of 2024 was "IF" ($190 million), and its budget kept it from being a complete success. However, everything is relative. If the success of these sequels can allow films like Longlegs or Anora to exist by taking the pressure off them and helping theaters keep the lights on, so be it.

Either way, Disney demonstrates an ability to be a direct force in the pop culture landscape. With a slate that includes "Captain America: Brave New World," "Lilo & Stitch," "Zootopia 2" and "Avatar: Fire and Ash," don't be surprised to see the House of Mouse on top again in 2025 .

Moana 2 is in theaters now.