Hollywood can be a risky business. Studios can spend hundreds of millions of dollars making and marketing a movie, only to watch it disappoint at the box office. Even successful films can be difficult for ordinary investors to capitalize on directly, since individual movies don’t trade on the stock market. But investors don’t necessarily have to bet on whether the next superhero movie, animated sequel or action franchise will become a hit. Some of the world’s largest publicly traded entertainment companies own movie studios along with streaming services, television businesses, theme parks and other assets. That can give investors exposure to Hollywood without tying their fortunes to a single film. Read: Forget Microsoft. You don’t need Big Tech to invest in the AI data center boom Here are three ways to invest in the movie business while spreading some of that risk around. Disney: Leveraging Movies Into Much More Than Box Office Revenue When it comes to movies and entertainment, few companies are as iconic as Disney. Beyond everything “Disney,” the company also owns some of the most well-known movie studios and entertainment brands in the world, including Pixar, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm. Disney can be attractive for investors because it can generate so much crossover revenue based on its immensely popular brands. Toy Story 5 offers a good example. The movie earned more than $1 billion at the global box office in 2026. But Disney said the franchise also generated value through Disney+, merchandise, attractions at its theme parks and its cruise ships. That kind of ecosystem can soften the impact of an individual movie that doesn’t perform as expected. Disney acknowledged in its latest earnings report that both Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu and its live-action Moana fell short of the company’s box-office expectations. But Disney said those franchises still created value elsewhere in the company. Beyond its movie business, Disney operates Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, theme parks, cruise ships and a large consumer-products business, and these divisions have been growing as well. In Disney’s fiscal third quarter of 2026, for example, its Entertainment segment operating income jumped 64%, to $1.68 billion. That doesn’t eliminate the risks of the movie business. Disney still spends heavily on content, and an expensive string of box-office disappointments can hurt results. However, the company’s fortunes are not tied to a single opening weekend. Even a movie that may underperform its specific projections could still pay off in the form of greater revenue in the company’s other divisions, often for years on end. Related: You Don’t Have to Be a Billionaire to Own a Pro Sports Team. Here’s How Comcast: The Cable Company That’s So Much More Comcast may not be the first company investors associate with Hollywood. Its very name is synonymous with cable television, and some investors may think that’s all the company has to offer. As with Disney, however, Comcast owns many of the premier entertainment brands in the world, from DreamWorks Animation to Illumination, Peacock, Focus Features, and NBCUniversal, the company that owns Universal Pictures and its namesake theme parks. That puts Comcast dead center in the entertainment universe, especially in terms of film production. In the second quarter of 2026, Comcast said the adjusted EBITDA in its Studios division increased by $141 million from the previous year, helped by theatrical releases including The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Obsession and the international distribution of Michael. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie generated more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office during the year, while Obsession became the highest-grossing film in Focus Features history. The structure of the company may soon change, however. Comcast has announced plans to separate NBCUniversal and Sky into a new publicly traded company, meaning the exact mix of Hollywood assets investors receive through Comcast is likely to change. Until that happens, though, Comcast remains an unusual combination of movie studios, streaming, theme parks and its much larger connectivity businesses. Sony: Hollywood Without Building Everything Around Streaming Sony offers another route into the movie business, but with a somewhat different strategy. Its Sony Pictures Entertainment operation includes motion pictures, television production and media networks. Some of the crown jewels in the Sony Pictures empire include franchises like Spider-Man and Jumanji. It also runs a large television-production operation. Sony is a bit different from Disney and Comcast in the sense that it hasn’t built a broad general-purpose streaming service around its movie studio. Instead, Sony has described itself as an independent supplier of film and television content. The company says its decision not to launch a general streaming platform allows it to negotiate licensing agreements with other distributors. Sony’s results do highlight how revenue for movie and television production companies can be lumpy. In the first quarter of Sony’s fiscal 2027, for example, its Pictures segment sales fell to ¥312.2 billion from ¥326.2 billion a year earlier. However, operating income actually increased, to ¥24.8 billion from ¥18.7 billion. Sony also provides far more diversification than its movie studio alone. The company has major businesses in gaming, music, electronics and image sensors. That can make Sony an indirect Hollywood investment, but it also means a blockbuster movie isn’t likely to determine the fate of the entire company. Which Hollywood Investment Makes the Most Sense? Disney, Comcast and Sony offer three ways for investors to participate in the entertainment business without risking direct investment in a specific film. However, they provide exposure to the industry in three different ways. Disney has the biggest brand-name recognition among the three companies. This helps Disney cross-market its successful characters and franchises into revenue across multiple avenues, from movies and streaming to merchandise, theme parks and cruises. Comcast is a bit of a wild card at the current moment, as its planned corporate separation could uncouple its cable company from its media assets, including Universal and Peacock. However, this could make it appealing to arbitrage investors hoping to capitalize on a spin-off. Sony’s approach to the industry is a bit different. Although it produces its own movies and television programming, it licenses much of its content to other platforms, rather than operating a broad streaming service of its own. As conglomerates, none of these companies is a pure bet on Hollywood. An investor buying Disney is also investing in theme parks, cruise ships and sports, for example. Comcast investors get exposure to broadband and wireless businesses. And Sony shareholders own pieces of businesses ranging from PlayStation to music and image sensors. But that may also be the attraction. Hollywood movie production is a famously boom-or-bust industry. Investing in diversified entertainment companies helps reduce the risk that one bad movie could cost you your whole investment. Owning Disney, Comcast or Sony allows you to participate when Hollywood produces a hit without requiring every movie to have a happy ending. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. This article written for TheStreet by Nifty 50+
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