‘The Odyssey’, ‘Avengers’, and ‘Dune’: Top box office contenders for 2026

The film industry’s unsteady regard for the future of physical cinemas has been provided some reprieve in a newly released report based on the top predictions for the global box office in 2026.

While the consequences of major media mergers — most famously the ongoing one between Warner Bros. and Netflix — continue to ominously loom over the sanctity of the cinematic experience, Variety’s latest report evaluates the potential box office performance of several big budget films lined up to hit the big screen next year.

Citing Gower Street Analytics’ findings, a platform expert in film industry analysis, the publication’s report revealed a box office projection of up to “$35 billion in 2026” — which would mark “a second consecutive year of growth with a 5% increase over current estimates for 2025.”

“The forecast would make 2026 the highest-grossing year worldwide since 2019’s $42.3 billion haul, surpassing 2023’s $33.9 billion,” the report added.

‘The highest grossing global year since 2019’

Gower Street has predicted 2026 to be “the highest grossing global year since 2019,” set to specifically dominate “the markets driven by Hollywood products”.

‘Incredibly strong franchise-led release calendar’

Rob Mitchell, the analytics platform’s director of theatrical insights, further shared that “there is an incredibly strong franchise-led release calendar for 2026 with new instalments in massively popular film series”.

On the other hand, his judgement also included a nod towards the “many potentially huge hits among non-sequels”.

Films

The franchises which are expected to soar at the 2026 box office internationally include the highly anticipated Marvel projects Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

While new instalments in film series like Toy Story, Dune, Star Wars, Super Mario Bros, Minions, Jumanji, Scream, The Fockers, and Hunger Games are also projected to rake in the big bucks.

Original films which made the cut include Michael Jackson’s musical biopic titled Michael, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, and the live action Moana film.