UNIVERSAL CITY, September 26 — Universal’s global box office has crossed $5 billion for the third time in the studio’s history, and it is the first studio to reach that milestone in 2026. By the numbers: with that week’s grosses, Universal-distributed films had tallied $1.788 billion domestically and $3.218 billion internationally to date, Variety reported Friday, September 25, at 11:00 a.m. PT. The bottom line is that the studio got there on the strength of three billion-dollar titles in a year when only five films topped $1 billion worldwide.
Universal distributed three of those five: ‘The Odyssey,’ ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ and ‘Michael.’ Sony/Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ and Disney/Pixar’s ‘Toy Story 5’ rounded out the billion-dollar club.
The haul was fueled by global blockbusters from Universal Pictures, Illumination, DreamWorks Animation and Focus Features, including ‘The Odyssey,’ ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,’ ‘Michael,’ ‘Minions & Monsters,’ plus surprise theatrical hits such as ‘Obsession.’ Earlier in September 2026, Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ became Universal’s biggest film in the studio’s history, grossing $1.7 billion worldwide, and ranked as the No. 10 MPA film of all time globally and internationally. Curry Barker’s ‘Obsession’ earned $519 million worldwide, becoming Focus Features’ highest-grossing film worldwide and Blumhouse Atomic Monster’s highest-grossing film.
The relationship thriller was produced for less than $1 million and ranked as one of the year’s most profitable movies. ‘Michael,’ about Michael Jackson’s rise to global icon status, grossed $1.028 billion. The Lionsgate movie, distributed internationally by Universal, surpassed ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as the highest-grossing music biopic and beat ‘Oppenheimer’ to become the highest-grossing biopic overall.
Universal previously surpassed $5 billion at the global box office in 2017 and 2015. The $5 billion figure reflects cumulative worldwide theatrical grosses for films the studio distributes, including titles from its animation units Illumination and DreamWorks Animation and its specialty label Focus Features, and covers the calendar year to date as of late September 2026.
What’s left on the slate
Remaining films on the studio’s 2026 slate include DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Forgotten Island’ (in theaters at the time of the report), the Jessica Chastain-starrer ‘Other Mommy’ from Blumhouse Atomic Monster (out October 9), Focus Features’ ‘Sense & Sensibility’ with Daisy Edgar-Jones (October 16), Focus’s ‘Elsinore’ (limited release starting November 20), and ‘Focker-In-Law,’ starring Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Ariana Grande. Investors will note that the milestone lands with a quarter of the release calendar still to run.
Watch whether Universal can stretch its lead over the other studios before the year closes.
