It’s great time to be Disney

By: Soraya Herbert

SAN MARCOS- It’s the most wonderful time of the year, for the box office. Disney has done it again! Dr. Strange and Moana are breaking box office records left and right.

If you wish to escape to a colorful and lush island wonderland with crystal blue waters and brilliant carpets of exotic flowers? Or if you’re craving a bit a peril with a supernatural friends and foes? When you consider a coconut in King Soopers produce department, do you ever daydream it is a fearsome killing machine? Then Disney’s Moana should be on your holiday to do list.

Three years ago, Disney’s Frozen climbed to the box office and started an uproar throughout the movie industry, collecting over $67.4 million over the premier weekend and $93.6 million spanning the full five-day Thanksgiving span. The latter mark was an all-time record, incidentally, and hinted at the box office behemoth that Frozen would become.

Fast forward to 2016, Disney is expanding their reach to every last forgotten corner of the globe, Disney finally incorporates a Polynesian princess into the mix. Moana grossed an estimated $81.1 million for the five-day holiday, which ranks as the second-highest Thanksgiving debut ever behind Frozen

Emily Garcia the box office concierge at Alamo Drafthouse give us some insight on just how the theater is during this time of the year.

“The holiday’s is always a busy time for us, all times of the day, everyday we are busy,” Garcia said. Last year when Frozen came out, I would see the same people coming to watch Frozen more than twice.”

Besides venturing off to a mystical island, you can also transport yourself through time with(Disney owned) Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange, is just shy of $616 million worldwide, after adding to its total over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Domestically, the movie has already grossed more than $200 million, after adding another $13 million over this past weekend. As for the overseas numbers, it’s expectedly huge. Dr. Strange has currently made $44.4 million in China over its Fri-Sun debut, well above the likes of Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Marvel may be taking risks more often in the future, because they are really starting to pay off. According to the Heavy.com, this means that Doctor Strange has surpassed the lifetime box office of The Incredible Hulk ($263M), Captain America: The First Avenger ($371M), Thor ($449M), Ant-Man ($520M), and Iron Man ($585), which means it has set the record for the largest box office for any single-character superhero launch from Marvel Studios. It has also surpassed the domestic totals for all of those films except for Iron Man.

“I have literally seen Dr. Strange, 5 times and I am in love each time. Doctor Strange, just from the cinematography is like nothing that I have seen, it’s so different, so far out and so creatively stimulating that it blows my mind each time I’ve seen it,” Jordan Patton, 24, movie fanatic said.

Disney is on a hot streak this year at the box office. The company has fielded a number of hits this year — a collection of blockbusters that includes “The Jungle Book,” “Zootopia,” and “Finding Dory.”

What’s next for Disney?

2017 Movie lineup