Disney has officially been dethroned as the global box office leader, an achievement it has earned every year since 2015. Universal has officially beaten out the Mouse House.

One of the things that the Walt Disney Company has been known for over the last few decades is being a trendsetter and innovator when it comes to entertainment. While it’s certainly dominated the population’s hearts and minds when it comes to quality storytelling, there have been some companies that have proven to be worthy rivals of the Mouse House.

And one of those companies, Universal, has just proven its mettle by dethroning Disney.

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Universal Pictures Ranks as the Highest-Grossing Studio at the 2023 Box Office

Universal is one of the few studios that has the budget to even compete with Disney. Releasing 24 films this year, including the Super Mario Bros. Movie, M3GAN, and Oppenheimer, Universal Pictures has officially dethroned the Walt Disney Company as the global box office leader.

Not only is Universal’s defeat of Disney notable in and of itself, but this victory is particularly remarkable since it is the first time Disney hasn’t been crowned the global box office leader since 2015.

Related: Another Box Office Flop for Disney?

Disney Faces Innumerable Setbacks in 2023

Disney has had a year of almost constant misses. While some movies have done okay for Disney, none of them have had the impact one would expect from a Disney movie. Disney released 17 new films this year, including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and The Little Mermaid, and all raked in $4.827 billion globally.

Of course, as Variety reported, Disney partially attributed the $80 million difference in profits between them and Universal to the seven-movie difference in their number of productions.

Related: Competition or Not, Bob Iger Applauds ‘The Super Mario Bros.’

But it’s worth noting that for the first time in years, Disney didn’t have even one of the top three movie spots. Those were occupied by Warner Bros.’ Barbie ($1.4 billion), Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($1.3 billion), and Oppenheimer ($950 million)

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It might well be possible that Disney saw this coming. Bob Iger has addressed time and again the drop in quality of Disney films, and the steps that the company is taking to improve this production quality.

But whether the strategy change works in the Mouse House’s favor? Only time will tell.