Universal-distributed movies have passed $5 billion globally in 2026, powered by hits including The Odyssey, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Michael.
Universal has become the first studio to surpass US$5 billion at the worldwide box office in 2026, driven by major releases including The Odyssey, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Michael. The company announced the milestone on September 25, marking its third calendar year above the threshold, following 2015 and 2017.
At the announcement, Universal reported US$ 1.788 billion in domestic ticket sales and US$ 3.218 billion internationally, bringing its combined total to approximately US$5.006 billion. International markets accounted for roughly 64% of that amount, underlining their importance to the studio’s theatrical performance.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey was the largest contributor among the headline releases. By September 25, the epic had earned approximately US$1.73 billion worldwide, extending its position as Universal’s highest-grossing film ever. The same report placed Michael at around US$1.03 billion globally and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie at approximately US$1.01 billion.
Together, those titles represented three of the five films that had crossed US$1 billion worldwide in 2026 at the time of the announcement. Universal’s involvement in Michael is through international distribution, an important distinction when comparing the film’s full worldwide earnings with the studio’s own box-office total.
The results also extended beyond billion-dollar releases. Illumination’s Minions & Monsters had generated approximately US$523 million worldwide, while Obsession had collected around US$519 million, TheWrap reported. The latter became Focus Features’ highest-grossing film worldwide, adding a substantial horror success to a slate led by large-scale entertainment and animation.
Universal International and Focus Features titles occupied five places in the year’s worldwide top 10 at the reported milestone. The company also said its releases had led the global weekend box office on 11 occasions during 2026. Those results show how several successful films, across different audiences and genres, contributed to the cumulative total.
The US$5 billion figure measures theatrical ticket sales, rather than money retained by Universal or studio profit. Cinemas receive a share of box-office receipts, while production, marketing and distribution arrangements affect the financial returns from each release.
With the final quarter still ahead, Universal had additional opportunities to increase its annual total. Its announced remaining slate included Other Mommy, Sense & Sensibility, Focker-in-Law, Violent Night 2 and Werwulf. Their performance will help determine where the studio finishes a year that has already delivered one of its largest worldwide box-office totals.
