Disney dominates the UK’s highest grossing film chart in 2019 so far

We’re over halfway through the year and - perhaps predictably, Disney has seen astonishing box office success in UK and Ireland, according to the latest figures. The studio is responsible for the entire box office top five for 2019 so far.

At the time of writing, the highest grossing film of the year is Avengers: Endgame, which has earned a massive £88.6 million. It’s not expected to be beaten.

In second place is Toy Story 4, currently on £44.6 million, followed by Captain Marvel (£39.5 million), Aladdin (£35.4 million) and Dumbo (£25.1 million).

Aside from being Disney productions, the other element they all share is none of them are original stories - they’re all sequels, remakes or franchise entries - which is slightly bleak news for anyone looking for new narratives.

The first film in the chart that could be considered a standalone release is Rocketman, distributed by Paramount, and which is in sixth place on £22.9 million. And even that’s a biopic.

The only true original in the top 10 is The Favourite, which earned Olivia Colman the Best Actress Oscar earlier this year, and that’s is in 10th place on £17.0 million.

Which, in context, is a fairly astonishing achievement. It’s also the highest ranking UK independent production in the chart.

The figures, compiled by the British Film Institute, are based on box office takings up to July 18 and cover cinemas in UK and Ireland.

They show Disney releases earned 40% of the total box office revenue in UK and Ireland for this period. Avengers: Endgame alone was responsible for 15%.

Nearly 84 million cinema tickets were sold in the UK in the first half of 2019, down 2% on the same period in 2018.

But the success of Avengers: Endgame and Dumbo meant that admissions in April and May were the highest since comparable records began in 2002.

Here are the top 10 films released in the UK and Ireland so far in 2019:

1. Avengers: Endgame (Disney) £88.6m

2. Toy Story 4 (Disney) £44.6m

3. Captain Marvel (Disney) £39.5m

4. Aladdin (Disney) £35.4m

5. Dumbo (Disney) £25.1m

6. Rocketman (Paramount) £22.9m

7. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Universal) £19.8m

8. The LEGO Movie 2 (Warner Bros) £18.7m

9. The Secret Life of Pets 2 (Universal) £18.6m

10. The Favourite (20th Century Fox) £17.0m

Let’s see how the chart looks at the end of the year, but we’d expect the likes of Frozen 2 and Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker to knock a couple of titles out of the running.