For the better part of a decade, Disney stood tallest and presumably proudest as the highest earning studio in Hollywood, and kept that financially impressive streak going from 2016 through 2022. Now that the final box office tallies have been logged for 2023, however, it looks like no amount of Marvel superheroes, fabled princesses, or grizzled explorers were able to bring the company back to the mountaintop, with one of its biggest rivals stepping up to take the crown. And no, neither Miles Morales nor the Spider-Verse were responsible.

Wait, it’s not a crown at all, but rather a big red plumber’s hat, because it’s "The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s" home of Universal Pictures that pulled off the somewhat surprising upset by pulling ahead of Disney as the highest-grossing studio of 2023. Which is a mighty feat for a year in which the total U.S. box office blew past $9 billion (via CNN), which eclipsed the past few pandemic-affected years, though didn’t reach where the totals were at in pre-COVID days.