Image: Courtesy Walt Disney Pictures
That's never been done before. Not even close.
The most recent addition to Disney's billion-dollar club came last week with the announcement Pixar had started work on a fourth Toy Story movie, scheduled for release in June 2017.
The other contenders, based on past success, include Avengers: Age of Ultron in May, Star Wars: the Force Awakens in December 2015, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in May 2017 and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in July 2017.
And there's a good chance Captain America: Civil War, the third in Marvel film series, could reach $1 billion after it's released in May 2016, according to Phil Contrino, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
"It’s staggering the way Disney's brands will connect over the next five years," Contrino said in an interview. "With this slate, I just don’t see them missing. The super hero genre is showing no signs of slowing down."
A Disney spokesman declined to comment.
Image: Courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures
"Even in Warner Bros. best days, they didn't have that consistency," Contrino said. "Their billion-dollar movies were more spread out."
Rival studios, including Warner Bros., Universal and Fox, also have big titles during that time too. Warner Bros. is seeking to jump-start its own Justice League comic book franchises starting with Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice in March 2016.
Fox has X Men: Apocalypse in May 2016 and Avatar 2 possibly in December 2016. Universal plans to release Jurassic World, the fourth installment in its Jurassic Park series, in June 2015.
Image: Courtesy of Universal Pictures
That level of success doesn't come cheap. In the last eight years, Disney acquired Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm for a collective $15.4 billion. The strategy has been to create film franchises that would also resonate in the company's theme parks, television networks and consumer products businesses.
The Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm acquisitions also occurred under different studio chiefs at Disney. Dick Cook ran the studio when Disney bought Pixar in 2006, Rich Ross oversaw the Marvel acquisition in 2010 and current head Alan Horn, who oversaw Warner Bros. during its heyday, has been in charge before Lucasfilm was added in 2012.
"Alan Horn is the Phil Jackson of the studio chiefs," Contrino said. "He's coaching the Chicago Bulls and the Lakers in their prime right now. With this line-up, he can’t miss."
Image: Courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures
Disney is borrowing Marvel's successful strategy of releasing stand-alone films that connect to the Avengers storyline. For example, Iron Man 3 and Captain America: Winter Soldier each continued, and advanced, the plot in the Avengers. Similarly, Disney is planning stand-alone films in the Star Wars world that will feed off and contribute to the overall plot line.
"There is tons of material to pull from in Star Wars books, comics, video games and TV shows," Contrino said. "It's limitless what they can do with the Star Wars universe."
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