US release: 3rd July 1996
£6.2 Million
$104.6 Million
$152 MillionBeing held in Anaheim California August 23rd - 25th the Ultimate Disney Fan Event is held by the company on a bi-annual basis and gives the fans news on the latest movies, TV shows and theme parks.
What can we expect for this years event? With a new Star Wars movie around the corner, the end of the phase 3 Marvel Cinematic Universe, a new Frozen movie on the horizons and an area of the Disney theme parks dedicated to Star Wars!
There may not be a new trailer coming out of the D23 expo for Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker but we can expect a behind the scenes reel, as we did with the last 2 films, with new footage and most likely, and just maybe we'll get an official movie poster.
There may also be some news on the new trilogy of films that are set for release every other year from December 2023.
There has been a feeling that we have had too much Star Wars in recent years so after this years movie expect the whole franchise to go quiet until the promotion starts for he 2023 movie.
Disney are releasing their own streaming service this year, Disney+, and the Star Wars Universe ig going to feed into this a lot over the years between The Rise Of Skywalker and the next cinematic adventure including the much anticipated The Mandalorian for which there will likely be a trailer.
Lets not also forget that other Lucasfilms franchise, Indianan Jones. The next movie has already been delayed but is going ahead with Harrison Ford, little is known but with a whole area dedicated to the film studio there could well be some mention of the original tomb raider.
The MCU phase 3 went out with a massive bang and Avengers: Engame became the top grossing movie of all time and Spider-Man: Far from home grossed over a Billion at the box office, so the phase 4 has a lot to live up to.
The first spanner in the works is the breakdown of the Disney and Sony (who own Spider-Man) partnership so don't expect to hear anything from the Spidey franchise, but with the acquisition of Fox by Disney every other Marvel character can now be used by Disney so expect to see the likes of X-Men and Fantastic 4 cropping up, not that we'll hear anything at D23.
There should be more news on the confirmed project like Shang-Chi, Black Widow and Thor: Love And Thunder, maybe there will even be a trailer for the Scarlett Johansson starring movie which is the first of these movie out the door next March.
Again the Disney+ streaming service, due for launch this year, will be a major part of the MCU going forward with the prospect of TV series adding to the Universe as well as movies.
One of the properties that Disney aquired when it bought Fox was James Camerons former highest grossing movie Avatar and all planed sequels.
They have been a long time coming but with the opening of the Pandora area (the planet in the movie) in Animal Kingdom in Orlando Disney are keen to get the sequels made and have announced they will be released bi-yearly fron 2022.
There will be an Avatar area as the expo and the possibility of more information of the sequels which are being made back to back.
Lets not forget the animated Disney Movies! On the horizon is Frozen II, which is kind of a big deal, the original film is still the true highest grossing animated movie of all time (not counting the new The Lion King movie) and became a cultural phenomenon back in 2013.
The trailers have promised much and we could see more footage from the film which is set for release at the end of 2019.
It has been announced that there will be a Moana area coming to Epcot in the revamp of the Walt Disney World park, this could be a sign that there is a sequel to the 2016 animated movie.
Pixar will also be showing off its future movies Onwards and Soul at a presentation during the weekend.
Little has beed seen from these movies from the digital animated arm of the company except for a trailer for Onwards, so fans are excited to see more and this is the perfect platform.
There is of course much more that will come out of the Expo so come back regularly to get all the latest news.
Animation aimed at a more adult audience lands at the top of the box office chart this week as Sausage Party makes its UK debut at number 1.
With lead vocals from Seth Rogan the innuendoes fly fas in this 15 rated comedy as its grosses a good, but not great, £2.6 million.
Finding Dory has had a fantastic run at the box office, 2 spells at the top but this week falls down to number 3.
Its not a sad story thought and an excellent 6th week gross of £1.5 million brongs the films total gross in the UK to a fantastic £38 million, it has not out grossed Finding Nemo in the UK.
Also making their debut on the box office chart this week are Brotherhood at number 2 with £1.9 million and Cafe Society at number 9 with £0.5 million.
Highest grossing film on the box office this week is Finding Dory and longest run is The BFG which has spent 7 weeks on the top 10.
Next week sees the release of Ben-Hur (a remake) and Captain Fantastic as well as Don't Breathe the current American number 1.
Historical Charts
A year ago - Straight Outta Compton kept its grip at the top of the UK box office with No Escape the highest new film at 3.
Five years ago - The Inbetweeners Movie remained at the top and with a strong top 4 the highest new film was the Indian film Bodyguard at number 5.
Ten years ago - You, Me and Dupree remained at the top and with 3 new releases in the top 5 Little Man was the highest of them.
Fifteen years ago - Heath Ledger starred in A Knights Tale which made its debut at the top while Planet of The Apes fell to number 2 on its 3rd week.
Twenty years ago - There was no moving for Independence Day which kept its vice grip on the top while top new film Phenomenon landed at number 2.
Twenty five years ago - Mega hit Terminator 2: Judgment Day was still at the top of the box office while top new film Dying Young landed at number 3.
Wicked comes to the big screen in 2019.
The musical phenomenon WICKED comes to the big screen. In theatres 12.20.19. pic.twitter.com/rFojgh56oH
— Universal Pictures (@UniversalPics) June 16, 2016
There was only ever going to be one winner on this week video chart and that is the massive phenomenon that is Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The seventh film in the Star Wars saga was a world wide smash when it was released in December of 2016, we knew it would be big but not how big.
On its release in the UK The Force Awaken became the second highest opening gross of all time in the UK, beaten by Spectre which had a 5 day opening compared to The Force Awakens 4 day.
A four week spell at the top of the box office saw the film take over £60 million in that time, a total of 11 weeks on the box office saw the film become the biggest grossing film in the UK ever with over £122 million.
The film is still on release and has to date grossed nearly £123 million.
Across the globe the film did amazingly well and was the fast film to gross $500 million, then $1 billion and even $1.5 billion.
Bets were on that is might become the top grossing film of all time and take over Avatar but it didn't have the legs and is currently the second highest grossing film ever with $2.07 million.
In its fourth week of release The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 falls from the top into second place.
One other new film this week in the shape of The Survivalist which enters the video chart at number 17.
The UK weekend box office had a small surprise this last weekend, a home grown TV phenomenon has tuned into a genuine box office hit. The Inbetweeners Movie, a tale of 4 obnoxious school kids of their first "lads" holiday together has become grabbed the crown as the highest grossing debut comedy, beating this years The Hangover Part 2.
The Inbetweeners Movie took just over £13 million from it's debit weekend (including Wednesday and Thursday previews) beating the likes of Bridget Jones and Wallace and Gromit and American blockbusters like Sex and the City. Very good for a little comedy from Channel 4.
Time will tell if the momentum will continue during its run at the box office and it still needs to go world wide, the US audience may not get the very British humour and crudeness of the central characters.
A great first weekend for the boys and beating James Bond and Indiana Jones in a movie together will be something to tell the grandchildren about.