Cillian Murphy and Chris Pratt carried Universal Studios across the finish line in 2023!

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Cillian Murphy and Chris Pratt haven’t starred in a single frame together (yet), but the two actors have already been making Universal Studios proud. With 2023 finally over, the new year brings some memories from the past and some impressive box-office collection numbers!

With two movies grossing more than a billion dollars worldwide, it seems that Cillian Murphy and Chris Pratt are two of the finest actors in Universal Studios. The studio finally managed to win the #1 spot by defeating Disney after several years!

Cillian Murphy in and as OppenheimerChris Pratt And Cillian Murphy Made Universal Studios Proud!

The year 2023 has been very fruitful for Universal Studios. With veteran director Christopher Nolan joining their side and Chris Pratt lending his voice to a classic franchise, the studio was essentially carried by two movies.

Chris Pratt as Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Ever since 2015, Disney has been the reigning champion of the highest-grossing studio. With the MCU under its wings, Disney indeed has had a lead all these years. In 2023, however, Universal Studios changed the way things work with Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer alongside Chris Pratt’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Universal Pictures is the highest grossing studio at the 2023 box office.

First time since 2015 that Disney has not been #1. pic.twitter.com/ifq22kv00H

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 2, 2024

The Super Mario Bros. Movie earned a whopping $1.3 billion at the global box office, while Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer earned $952 million worldwide. Alongside these two movies, Universal Studios also had M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to further their box office totals. This marks the first time Disney was defeated ever since 2015 for being the highest-grossing studio.

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Cillian Murphy Praised Oppenheimer And Barbie For Being Great!

Cillian Murphy and Margot Robbie on Variety’s Actors on Actors series (credits: Variety)

2023 will be remembered as the Barbenheimer year. With Oppenheimer and Barbie colliding on the same release date, the world watched in awe and shock as to who might win. In Variety’s Actors on Actors, Cillian Murphy and Margot Robbie sat down to chat, and the duo discussed Barbenheimer.

“People are so clever. People kept asking me, “So is each marketing department talking to each other?” And I was like, “No, this is the world doing this! This is not a part of the marketing campaign,” said Margot Robbie.

Cillian Murphy, on the other hand, replied,

“And I think it happened because both movies were good. In fact, that summer, there was a huge diversity of stuff in the cinema, and I think it just connected in a way that you or I or the studios or anybody could never have predicted.”

With Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer and Chris Pratt’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie earning it big for Universal Studios, fans can only hope that the theater experience will be back soon. Both movies are available to rent on Apple TV+ in the U.S.