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Los Angeles — Who would win if Captain America fought Luke Skywalker? Why Disney, of course, which stands to bring in astronomical amounts of money this year from two big installments of two of the most popular film franchises ever.
With its Marvel movie Avengers: Age of Ultron just having notched the second-biggest domestic opening weekend of all time and a new Star Wars movie coming this winter, analysts expect the company to post not only great movie studio results but a big uptick in merchandise revenue and profits this year. Everything from Captain America mugs to doggy Darth Vader Halloween costumes will likely get a lift.
Avengers has hauled in $664m at theatres globally since its staggered release began two weeks ago, and buzz is already building for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, set for release on 18 December
One indicator of the craze surrounding Star Wars is that a second teaser trailer for the film released two weeks ago has been viewed over 200 million times.
"The excitement around this movie is unlike anything we have ever seen before," CEO Bob Iger told analysts Tuesday.
Iger also told CNBC Tuesday morning that Star Wars is already the No 1 franchise in the world for consumer products. The Walt Disney Co. plans a massive release of new merchandise surrounding the movie on 4 September, what it's calling "Force Friday."
"I think you can expect that the No 1 franchise in the world is only going to strengthen," Iger told CNBC.
