Comcast’s revenue was up 1.7% to US$30.5 billion in Q2 compared to the year before, driven by the success of its theme park business and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The company’s biggest lift came from theme parks, which climbed 22% to US$2.2 billion. Higher revenue from its international parks, which were hit with pandemic-related restrictions in Q2 2022, contributed significantly to this spike. And Universal Studios Hollywood generated more revenue from a Super Nintendo World themed area that opened in Q1.

The company noted that the adjusted EBITDA of its theme parks in Q2, at US$833 million (up 32%), is its highest on record. And Universal Studios parks in Beijing, Japan and Hollywood did the heaviest lifting towards reaching this lofty result.

Looking forward, Universal is building a new Orlando theme park called Epic Universe that’s set to open in 2025, and Comcast is “really bullish” on the future success of its parks business in general, said CEO Brian Roberts in the Q2 earnings call, yesterday.

On the content side of things, studio revenue was mostly flat this quarter, dropping by just 0.9% to US$3 billion on the strength of higher theatrical revenue from recent releases including The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Healthy ticket sales for this pic and Fast X were offset by lower content licensing revenue (down almost 20% to US$1.8 billion).

Comcast’s Q2 ran from the beginning of April to June 30, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie premiered on April 5. The animated feature was a major box-office success and also a key driver for the company’s studio business this quarter; it has earned US$1.3 billion worldwide to date and is one of the highest-grossing animated films of all time.

Streaming platform Peacock has grown a lot in the last year and hit 24 million paid subscribers in Q2 2023 (up from 13 million in the same period last year). Its revenue similarly jumped by 85% to US$820 million, compared to a year ago.

Comcast’s media business revenue, derived from advertising, Peacock and its TV networks, was flat at around US$6.2 billion (a 0.1% increase). Lower earnings on the networks front were partially offset by Peacock’s growth, according to a release.

The company’s priorities for investment, which are also the areas where it sees the most growth potential, include theme parks, streaming and studio content.