Disney fourth installment of the “Toy Story” franchise hit over $1 billion in global box office sales, the company announced this week. The film is Disney’s fifth billion dollar release this year.
“It is almost comical,” Sean O'Connell, the managing director of Cinemablend, said of Disney’s success.
“Toy Story 4” was made by Pixar, a Disney ($DIS) subsidiary, and released domestically on June 20, boasting over $120 million in its debut weekend. To date, the film has grossed over $421 million in the U.S. and nearly $580 million internationally.
Disney’s other films that hit $1 billion in sales this year include “Captain Marvel,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
In total, Disney has so far had four animated films reach the $1 billion milestone: “Incredibles 2,” “Finding Doy,” and “Toy Story 3,” which was in 2010.
“I want some other studios to step up and put out movies that break through the culture zeitgeist,” O’Connell said. “And it is not happening right now.”
O’Connell added that Disney’s success this year is significant, especially since the studio does not have any expected hits for release in 2020. Yet with four months left in the year, Disney still has a strong lineup coming with the release of “Frozen 2” in November and "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" in December.
Disney's stock has been up roughly 23 percent year-to-date.
A new mobile app has launched just in time for Valentine's Day. Our.Love bills itself as an A.I.-powered, gamified, relationship wellness app for couples. The app is set in what the company calls the Coupleverse, a virtual world where each couple can build a virtual relationship home as they also build their real-world relationship. Founder and CEO Tal Zlotnitsky joined Cheddar to discuss how the app works. "The concept behind Our.Love is to give people the opportunity to understand where they stand in their relationship through very simple metrics that we provide within the app that will help them in real-time, see where they stand, see where their partner is, and be able to get closer together," he said.
The Super Bowl is just 48 hours away and things are definitely heating up in the social media space, especially on Twitter. Fans across the country are quickly engaging in color commentary as they call it, and actively sharing their views on who's expected to take the big win, which players they are looking forward to seeing. Senior Sports Partner Manager at Twitter, David Herman, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Director and producer Ivan Reitman passed away over the weekend at the age of 75. The filmmaker was the mastermind behind some of America's favorite films such as "Ghostbusters". Reitman’s family released a statement explaining how they are comforted by the lives he has touched through his films.
The 21st Annual Food Network and Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF), is returning to Miami on February 24 with proceeds to benefit the future leaders of the hospitality industry. Lee Schrager, the founder and director of the festival, and Food Network star Jeff Mauro joined Cheddar News to discuss what ticket holders can expect, how the festival benefits students, and how Mauro will be paying tribute to fellow food celebrity, Guy Fieri, by hosting a charity auction dinner. "I mean there's nobody bigger, nobody more magnetic right now in the food space than Guy," Maura said. "I mean the guy had a Super Bowl commercial on last night. That's a dream of mine, so I'm one step closer there just by doing a tight 20 minutes at his tribute dinner."
