Fired up by the antics of Thor 2, Walt Disney Studios top brass said the company was on course to break its previous global box office record of $3.791bn set in 2010.

Last July Disney became the first studio to reach $1bn, the eighth consecutive year it has reached the milestone.

One month later the studio crossed $2bn at the international box office for the fourth year in a row. By early November it had overtaken its previous best mark of $2.302bn, also set in 2010.

Marvel Studios’ Thor: The Dark World opened in North America on November 8 at $85.7m and has grossed $348.5m worldwide to date.

Box office superheroes for the year-to-date include Marvel’s Iron Man 3, the top film of 2013 so far and the fifth biggest in history, which has grossed more than $1.21bn worldwide.

Pixar’s Monsters University has taken more than $744m globally to become the year’s fourth highest-grossing film and Pixar’s third highest-grossing film of all time. Disney’s Oz The Great And Powerful finished on $493m worldwide.

Still to come in 2013 are DreamWorks Studios’ Delivery Man on November 22, Disney animation Frozen on November 27 and Saving Mr Banks on December 13.

“With incredible results from our Marvel, Disney and Pixar brands, this is a phenomenal achievement and we still have seven weeks and three exciting films to go this year,” said The Walt Disney Studios president Alan Bergman. “What all of our films have in common is not only quality but great characters and universal stories that connect with people around the world, which is so important to us.”

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