• Finding Dory the runaway smash with $48.5m
• Walt Disney the hottest studio with five of top 10
As the year comes to a close in cinemas the animated Walt Disney release Finding Dory will go down as the biggest box office attraction of 2016 in Australia.
Since its release on June 16 the film has taken $48.51m, over $5m ahead of the second placed film and $14m clear of the release in third place.
If Finding Dory had done this much business last year however, it would have finished at #3 on the 2015 chart where it would have been out-grossed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens on $62.78m and Jurassic World at #2 with $52.93m.
Deadpool finished 2016 at #2 with $43.26m.
Rogue One: A Star Wars story sits at #5 for the year at the time of writing with $31.66m as of December 28. However with three days of 2016 ticket sales to be counted it may improve its ranking to finish ahead of Captain America: Civil War on $33.71m or maybe even Suicide Squad on $34.26m.
Walt Disney was the home of the hits in 2016 with five of the top 10 releases.
Warner Bros had three of the top 10 releases with both Fox and Universal claiming one spot each in the top 10.
Source: MPDAA. Amounts are for ticket sales in respective calendar years only.