2015 was a great year for UNIVERSAL.

(Baonghean)2015 appears to be a triumphant year for the renowned film studio Universal, as they currently own two of the highest-grossing films globally. In a short period of time, from being near the bottom of the six major film studios in Hollywood in previous years, Universal is on track to achieve record revenue this year and is currently in the leading position.

Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Universal Pictures is a subsidiary of NBC Universal, one of the six largest film studios in the world, and currently one of the oldest film studios in the United States. Universal Pictures' production studio is located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive, Universal City, California, USA. Distribution and other offices are located in New York City. Universal Pictures is the second oldest film studio in Hollywood, just one month behind Paramount Pictures of Viacom. Some of Universal's extremely successful film series include Jurassic Park, Iron Man, and Mamma Mia.

Speaking of a hugely successful 2015, Minions just entered the Top 10 highest-grossing films of 2015, raking in nearly $400 million in its opening week and $624.8 million after two weeks. Trainwreck also achieved considerable success last week with a $30.2 million opening weekend. These are two of the films Universal released this summer. With the success of titles like Fast & Furious 7, Minions, Pitch Perfect 2, Jurassic World, Trainwreck, etc., Universal is nearing the $5 billion mark in revenue for 2015. This success contrasts sharply with Universal's image five years ago, when they languished at the bottom of the six major Hollywood studios: Universal, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount, and Disney. The studio's big-budget films that year, such as The Wolfman and Scott Pilgrim vs. Disney, were among the biggest hits. The World and Little Fockers were both disastrous box office failures.

When predicting the box office success of film studios in 2015 earlier this year, most analysts pointed to Disney – which owns Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. Although Disney has had the expected success since the beginning of the year with Avengers: Age of Ultron, Cinderella, Inside Out..., Universal is still leading in 2015 as the fastest studio to reach the three billion dollar mark.

One of the secrets to Universal's success is its keen sense of genre selection. Having specialized in superhero films for many years, Universal quickly realized that superhero movies, at some point, were gradually declining, and audiences were always looking for something new. Too many superhero films released simultaneously, lacking originality and focusing solely on special effects, could bore audiences and lead them to switch to other genres. Besides focusing on successful series like Fast & Furious, Pitch Perfect, and Jurassic Park, the studio has also produced films in various genres, such as psychological dramas adapted from the popular novel Fifty Shades of Grey. Furthermore, Universal partnered with Illumination Entertainment to develop a standalone Minion film series from the two Despicable Me animated films, which are currently a box office hit worldwide.

Furthermore, another factor contributing to success is the timing of the film's release. Universal's major films avoid releasing during peak seasons, such as Fifty Shades of Grey and Fast & Furious 7, which were released in spring or late spring/early summer – a time with less competition than summer. Although both films generated appeal due to their content and actors, analysts suggest that while their box office revenue might have been high in mid-summer, it wouldn't have reached the same levels as Valentine's Day (Fifty Shades of Grey) or early April (Fast & Furious 7).

In the last six months of the year, Universal also has many other noteworthy films such as Everest, Steve Jobs, Crimson Peak, and By the Sea – a film marking the big-screen reunion of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. This is why many analysts believe the studio could grow at least 50% by the end of the year.

Nhat Minh

(According to IMDB)