Universal Pictures Has Highest-Grossing Year in Studio's 103-Year History

Fueled by successful franchise hits such as Fifty Shades of Gray, Furious 7, Pitch Perfect 2, and Jurassic World, Universal Pictures announced today that it hit $3.819 billion in global box office grosses for the year, surpassing 2013's previously established record of $3.691 billion and making 2015 the highest grossing year in the studio's 103-year history. 

"This has been a fantastic year for our studio, as we've had the privilege of releasing some of the most highly- anticipated films of 2015," said Shell. "Together with my partners Ron Meyer and Donna Langley, I'm incredibly proud to lead a team of people at Universal who are the truly best in the business."

"We are fortunate to be in business with some of the most talented filmmakers in the industry today," said Langley. "Together with our Universal team, we're thrilled to celebrate a slate of fantastic films that audiences have embraced all over the globe. From production to marketing and publicity, music, and the front lines of distribution, it is that passion, commitment and hard work that makes an achievement like this possible."

Some of the worldwide highlights so far this year include:

Fastest a studio has ever reached $2 billion at the international box office and $3 billion at the worldwide box office.

Highest opening ever at the international ($316.8 million) and worldwide ($525.6 million) box offices with Jurassic World, marking the only time a film has ever opened to $500 million or more in history. 

The biggest second-weekend hold internationally ($163.4 million) for a day-and-date release with Jurassic World.

Furious 7 is the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, ranking with Avatar, Titanic and Marvel's The Avengers. It is the third-highest-grossing film internationally, behind only Avatar and Titanic. 

Universal Pictures' films held the No. 1 position at the worldwide box office for eight weeks-more than any other studio in 2015.

Jurassic World had the quickest climb to $1 billion in history-reaching that milestone in 13 days.

What makes this record year even more remarkable is that the studio still has six months to go and a summer slate with more for audiences to look forward to, including Ted 2, the follow-up to the highest-grossing original "R"-rated comedy of all time, from writer, director and voice star Seth MacFarlane and Minions, Illumination Entertainment and Universal's comedy adventure that stars the voices of Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm. In July, Universal will release Trainwreck, the latest film from director Judd Apatow, written by and starring breakout comedy star Amy Schumer, and Straight Outta Compton, the astonishing story of the meteoric rise and fall of N.W.A., which is directed by F. Gary Gray.

Later this year; Universal releases writer, director, producer M. Night Shyamalan's return to the genre that launched his career in a new original thriller, The Visit, produced by Jason Blum; Everest, an epic adventure from Universal, Cross Creek and Working Title, inspired by the incredible events surrounding an attempt to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain that is directed by Baltasar Kormákur; the drama Steve Jobs, from the brilliant minds of director Danny Boyle and writer Aaron Sorkin, produced by Mark Gordon, Guymon Casady, Scott Rudin and Christian Colson; the haunting gothic horror story from Legendary directed by Guillermo del Toro, Crimson Peak; the musical-adventure Jem and the Holograms, from director Jon M. Chu; the drama, By The Sea, the new film from writer/director Angelina Jolie Pitt, starring Brad Pitt and Jolie Pitt; Legendary's horror-comedy, Krampus; and the eagerly-awaited comedy Sisters, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and directed by Jason Moore.