Universal Picture has become the first Hollywood studio to record box-office revenue in excess of USD $3 billion world wide and a calendar year since 2019. The strong figures came on the back of back-to-back success this summer with “Jurassic World: Dominion” and “Minions: the Rise of Gru” and demonstrates the gradual recovery of the cinema market since the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to The Wrap, the respective takings were USD $976 million for “Jurassic World: Dominion” and USD $790 million for “Miniona: the Rise of Gru”, with both films still in general release. Together they account for over half of the studio’s total takings. Other Universal titles this year include “Nope” (USD $113 million worldwide) and “The Black Phone” (USD $152 million worldwide), with 11 releases in total, including two re-releases (“E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” 40th anniversary re-issue and the holiday release of “Sing 2”). Upcoming releases include “Halloween Ends,” DreamWorks’ “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and “She Said.”

The strong box-office showing of multiple Universal titles should go some way to mend relations between the studio and the exhibition community, which were frayed by the decision early in the pandemic to release “Trolls World Tour” straight to PVoD and bypass cinemas completely. Even so, a USD $3 billion haul in a year used to be considered standard for a major Hollywood studio prior to the pandemic and the industry is fretting at the lack of major titles in the third quarter of this year.