"Back before Thanksgiving (remember then?), we started kicking around ideas for a bold predictions piece around what's to come in 2026. Among the ideas in play was the thought that a company other than Paramount would win the bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. Turns out, that prediction was not only correct but a few weeks early, though we're not so clairvoyant as to having guessed it would actually be Netflix."
"Early projections from analysts on the 2026 box office are pretty rosy. 2025 ended just slightly above 2024 (about $8.6 billion) with a handful of fewer movies released, but we were wrong thinking it would bounce back to pre-pandemic levels (above $11 billion). That hasn't curbed optimism for 2026. We count six movies that we think are near locks to surpass $1 billion worldwide: "Avengers: Doomsday," "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," the live-action "Moana," "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," "Toy Story 5," and "The Odyssey.""
Netflix acquired Warner Bros., and Paramount is mounting a hostile response. Analysts project optimistic 2026 box office expectations despite 2025 finishing around $8.6 billion and below pre-pandemic levels. Six films are considered near-locks to exceed $1 billion worldwide: "Avengers: Doomsday," "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," live-action "Moana," "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," "Toy Story 5," and "The Odyssey." In 2025, four films surpassed $1 billion. Venu has closed and Netflix is pursuing legacy-studio moves, while a Disney CEO successor, a Lionsgate sale, and Amazon MGM box office breakthrough remain unresolved.
Read at IndieWire
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