Paramount-Warner Bros. movie slate needs animation to rival Disney, Universal

Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros. When combined with the film studio, it will have a wide range of franchises and long-established prestige. What the power duo will be missing out on is a slate of animated films that could rival the Hollywood giants. Disney And Universal.

The combined entity, which is currently awaiting regulatory approval, has a stacked tentpole, including DC superhero fare, a Minecraft sequel, another Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and new entrants from the Lord of the Rings universe. Not to mention, Warner Bros. Earlier this month, it broke the record for most Academy Award wins for a single studio.

But it’s kid-friendly animated content that’s increasingly drawing families to theaters, and neither studio has been successful in that arena over the past decade.

Since 2016, Paramount and Warner Bros. released eight animated films on the big screen; According to Comscore’s data, Paramount generated a total of $1.1 billion in global ticket sales from this category, while Warner Bros. It also earned $1.3 billion.

Only one Paramount animated film has grossed more than $200 million worldwide during that span — 2023’s “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie” — and only one Warner Bros. animated movie grossed more than $300 million worldwide — 2017’s “Lego Batman.”

By comparison, over the last decade Disney released 21 theatrically animated films, raking in $14.1 billion from movies; Universal has released 23 animated films worth $10.7 billion; and Sony released 16 of them, generating $4.6 billion in ticket sales.

Disney saw seven animated films make more than $1 billion worldwide during this time, and Universal saw two of them.

These figures do not include live-action films with animated elements, such as Paramount’s Sonic series, Universal’s “Gabby’s Dollhouse” or Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which the studio considers a live-action film. This list also excludes animated films that were released during the pandemic and later brought to theaters, such as Disney’s “Soul,” “Luca” and “Turning Red.”

“While the movie world is operating at or near peak efficiency, this is mostly due to diverse release slates featuring one or more movies aimed at kids and families,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “Animation, in many cases, serves the audience directly while providing a foothold that studios and theater owners can rely on.”

Paramount and Warner Bros. together they accounted for 27% of the domestic box office in 2025; this was only slightly below the 28% market share held by Disney.

“As Paramount and Warner Bros. merge, it becomes even more important that their collective resources be strategically directed towards developing a robust portfolio of animated films,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of market trends at Comscore.

“Releasing animated films is crucial for any film studio; projects require a well-thought-out strategy, whether they are original works, extensions of existing intellectual property, or reboots of beloved old franchises,” he added.

Comscore data shows that PG-rated family-friendly fare has outperformed PG-13 and R-rated movies at the box office for the past two years.

“This rating is important because it allows these films to appeal to a broader audience, making them true four-quarter releases with the highest box office potential of almost any genre in today’s film market,” Dergarabedian said. he said.

Additionally, Robbins noted that animated features are generally not front-loaded at the box office, which means they spread by word of mouth, generating ticket sales steadily throughout their run in theaters.

A typical Hollywood movie’s sales will see a 50% to 70% drop in sales from its opening weekend to its second weekend after theater attendance declines. Animated features don’t always experience the same gap.

For example, for Disney’s “Hoppers,” the opening-week drop was less than 37% and the second-week drop was less than 38%.

“Not all animated productions are as successful as others, but they can be incredibly valuable for their long-term gross sales potential as well as ancillary revenue through merchandising, under-the-window rentals and buyouts, and other non-theatrical financial opportunities,” Robbins added.

They work in Paramount and Warner Bros.’ favor: They already own the lucrative animated intellectual property. The combined library includes SpongeBob SquarePants, The Smurfs, Paw Patrol, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and DC superheroes.

Disney and Universal have had success balancing new productions and sequels over the past decade. For Disney, he introduced “Frozen II,” “Toy Story 4” and “Inside Out 2,” as well as stories like “Coco,” “Zootopia” and “Encanto.” At Universal, new releases like “Sing,” “The Secret Life of Pets” and “Migration” hit the box office, and favorites like “Kung Fu Panda 4,” “Despicable Me 4” and “The Bad Guys 2” returned.

“It will be important for a newly formed Paramount/WBD combination to not only expand these brands but also develop new animated features to have the best chance of capturing a share of the enormous potential box office of this highly popular and competitive film category,” Dergarabedian said.

Disclosure: Versant is the parent company of CNBC and Fandango.