It's Only 2016 And Disney Has Already Won The 2019 Box Office

In 2015, Disney enjoyed a worldwide box office haul of $6.149 billion off strong performances from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Inside Out.  However, that was only good for second place as Universal Pictures had a very strong year thanks to Jurassic World, Furious 7, Minions and Fifty Shades of Grey.

This year, 20th Century Fox is actually out to an early lead, thanks to the surprising box office performance of Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool.  However, their current lead doesn't figure to hold.  Warner Bros. will soon unleash its first of two comic book movies releasing this year, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.  That film will quickly be followed by Disney's Captain America: Civil War, Paramount's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and Fox's second comic book movie, X-Men: Apocalypse.  Other box office contenders include Star Trek Beyond, Doctor Strange, Suicide Squad and Rogue One: A Star Wars story.  

This year figures to be another record-setting year at the box office but it's 2019 that (on paper) looks to be a year that will destroy box office records.  Particularly, the slate from Disney is especially strong, with at least 6 films holding the potential to gross $1 billion or more at the box office.

CAPTAIN MARVEL

RELEASE DATE: March 08, 2019

The arrival of Spider-Man in the MCU means that Carol Danvers' solo feature will now be released in Disney's 2019 slate.  The film is currently without a director but  Nicole Perlman and Meg LeFauve are writing the script.  Perlman wrote a draft of the Guardians of the Galaxy script which gave Marvel the confidence to greenlight the film.  However, when James Gunn was hired, he largely rewrote Perlman's script though she retaining a story credit on the film.  LeFauve is mostly known for writing the animated features Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur.  Perlman and LeFauve are undeniably talented but Captain Marvel could be another Guardians of the Galaxy situation, where the director comes in and rewrites the entire script.  

There's also the question of when will we be introduced to Carol Danvers.  Will her solo feature be the first time that audiences meet the Air Force pilot or will she be introduced in an earlier MCU film?  Danvers could be introduced as early as May's Civil War or in 2018's Infinity War Pt I.

Chances for $1 billion gross: STRONG

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Pt II

RELEASE DATE: May 03, 2019

The second-part of Marvel's third gathering of Earth's Mightiest Heroes has a good chance of being the year's biggest box office winner.  Joe and Anthony Russo crafted something special with The Winter Soldier and if they can prove that was not a fluke when Civil War is released in just a few months time, Infinity War could prove to be a cinematic event that's talked about for decades to come.  The script is also being handled by a duo,  Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, who also wrote The Winter Soldier and Civil War.  

 Kevin Feige previously confirmed that Infinity War will explore the visions Iron Man received from Scarlet Witch in Age of Ultron.  "Is that kind of like your worst fears being projected at you? Is that a prediction of the future? Or is that a sense of an ending doom that haunts you and keeps you awake at night? I think that'll be something we have to explore in Infinity War to kind of figure out how literal or not those are."

The first Avengers film grossed $1.52 billion worldwide from a production budget of $220 million.  Age of Ultron grossed $1.405 billion from a production budget of $280 million.  

Chances for $1 billion gross: STRONG

THE INCREDIBLES 2

RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2019

For many, it's not Superman, The Dark Knight or Iron Man that's the number one superhero film of all-time.  That honor would go to Brad Bird's animated, family tale, The Incredibles.  Fifteen years after its 2004 release, The Incredibles will return with a sequel.  Bird is currently writing the script and will also direct the sequel.  While little (nothing) is known about the plot, Bird has stated that he's not interested in any sort of scathing critique on where superhero movies have gone in the last 10+ years since the release of the first Incredibles film.  "I don't think that kind of idea stays interesting for very long. For me, the interesting thing was never the superhero part of it. It was more the family dynamic, and how do superhero things play into that."

The first film grossed $631.4 million worldwide from a production budget of $92 million.

Chances for $1 billion gross: MODERATE

INHUMANS

RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2019
[UPDATE: Since publishing this article, Disney has pulled Inhumans from this release date.]

This is probably the trickiest film currently on Disney's 2019 film slate.  With yesterday's announcement that Indiana Jones 5 would be released just a week after the current release date for Inhumans, it stands to reason that Inhumans will shift dates.  The question is how far?  Will Inhumans move to November - a month that Marvel has previously shown to be unafraid to release a tentpole? Some circles around the internet are actually speculating that Inhumans might actually be shelved indefinitely.  There's been virtually zero chatter on the project from anyone at Marvel besides the occasional release date change.  There was a previous draft of the film written by Joe Robert Cole but that screenplay has reportedly been abandonded by Marvel as Cole was hired to pen the first draft for the Black Panther movie.

There's a strong chance that this film gets pushed to 2020 but until Marvel gives official word, consider it part of the 2019 slate.

Chances for $1 billion gross: LOW

INDIANA JONES V

RELEASE DATE: July 19, 2019

Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg will reteam for one more film starring the eccentric archaeologist and childhood hero.  Will it be the last?  First Star Wars, then Blade Runner and now Indiana Jones.  Is Ford on some personal crusade to kill off all his iconic film roles? Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall are confirmed as executive producers while rumors swirl that George Lucas is out.  With the announcement coming just yesterday, there's obviously not  alot of details on the story.  One thing everyone wants to know is whether Shia LaBeouf will be back as Mutt?

The last film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, earned $787 million worldwide from a budget of $185 million. 

Chances for $1 billion gross: STRONG

STAR WARS: EPISODE IX

RELEASE DATE: December 2019

Currently without a set release date, Lucasfilm and Disney appear set on a formula of a Star Wars film every two  years in December, with Episode VII (12.18.15)  and Episode VIII (12.15.17) establishing the trend.  The other part of the release formula calls for a standalone Star Wars anthology film to be released in the off years - Rogue One (12.16.16) and Han Solo prequel (5.25.18). With a Star Wars film set for release every year, for the next 5 year, will audiences have Star Wars fatigue by the time Episode IX is released?  With IX serving as the finale of the new trilogy, it likely won't matter.  The question isn't whether the film will gross $1 billion but whether it will double that figure.  Rian Johnson is currently directing Episode VIII and will write the script for IX, with Colin Trevorrow directing.  

Episode VII is still in theaters but currently sits at $2.056 billion from a $200 million production budget.  

With such a strong 2019 slate, it's entirely possible that Disney may have as many as 6 films grossing at least $1 billion at the box office.  

Chances for $1 billion gross: GUARANTEED