{"id":251028,"date":"2026-01-18T11:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T11:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/251028\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T11:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T11:10:08","slug":"4-2026-blockbusters-were-convinced-can-break-1-billion-in-the-box-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/251028\/","title":{"rendered":"4 2026 Blockbusters We&#8217;re Convinced Can Break $1 Billion in the Box Office"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Four movies crossed $1 billion worldwide in 2025. Ne Zha 2 made the majority of its money overseas, but the other three\u2014Lilo &amp; Stitch, Zootopia 2, and Avatar: Fire and Ash\u2014were hits both domestically and in other territories. As it turns out, four looks to be the magic number for 2026, as well. We\u2019re not saying no fifth movie has the chance of really breaking out. After all, Oppenheimer nearly made $1 billion and who\u2019s to say Christopher Nolan\u2019s follow-up, The Odyssey, won\u2019t do the same? But in terms of movies with a substantial likelihood of crossing that ten-digit figure, there are really only four.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s rank those four by said likelihood. Are any of them sure things beyond a shadow of a doubt? Let\u2019s find out.<\/p>\n<p>4) The Mandalorian &amp; Grogu<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"576\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Grogu-and-Din-Djarin-spying-over-hill-in-Mandalorian-and-Grogu.jpg\" alt=\"Grogu and Din Djarin spying over hill in Mandalorian and Grogu\" class=\"wp-image-1510156\"  \/>Image Courtesy of Lucasfilm<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re now eight years removed from the failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story, and it seems Disney is ready to once more spend a few hundred million on a theatrical Star Wars adventure. But they\u2019re also playing it somewhat safe, because The Mandalorian has a built in audience.<\/p>\n<p>However, The Mandalorian was at its most popular in its first season (2019) and its second (2020). Then there was a three-year gap and it came back with its final season, which wasn\u2019t as well-received. Will that drop continue with <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/tag\/star-wars-the-mandalorian-grogu\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Mandalorian &amp; Grogu<\/a>? It\u2019s possible, but doubtful. The trailer does a good job of building hype, even if it\u2019s more of a good-time-vibe than a this-is-an-event vibe.<\/p>\n<p>Chance it crosses $1 billion: 60%.<\/p>\n<p>3) Toy Story 5<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"576\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Buzz-Lightyear-and-Woody-in-Toy-Story-5.jpg\" alt=\"Buzz Lightyear and Woody in Toy Story 5\" class=\"wp-image-1528745\"  \/>Image Courtesy of Pixar<\/p>\n<p>Because of re-releases (especially when it comes to the first film), comparing the Toy Story films\u2019 worldwide box hauls adjusted for inflation isn\u2019t fully apples-to-apples, but it helps reveal a trend. And it only bodes semi-well for <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/tag\/toy-story-5\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Toy Story 5<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Adjust the first film\u2019s 1995 worldwide gross and you get about $767 million. Adjust Toy Story 2\u2018s and the result is $961 million. Do the same for Toy Story 3 and the total comes out to $1.576 billion. That was the summit, because then Toy Story 4\u2018s inflated gross is $1.352 billion. Still massive, sure, but the big question attached to Toy Story 4 at the time was true. The third film <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/movies\/list\/7-perfect-movie-series-with-no-bad-entries-that-are-longer-than-trilogies\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ended on the perfect note<\/a>, so why did we need a fourth? That feeling still applies to the fifth, so it\u2019s reasonable to expect another drop. The question is, will that drop be enough to take it below $1 billion? Likely not, but this won\u2019t be a Zootopia 2-sized smash.<\/p>\n<p>Chance it crosses $1 billion: 75%<\/p>\n<p>2) Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"576\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/spider-man-brand-new-day-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1550602\"  \/>image courtesy of sony pictures releasing<\/p>\n<p>The MCU is a far less financially sure property than it once was. Not even a (finally) solid Fantastic Four movie was a particularly large success. At this point, it takes a real event within the MCU to become a juggernaut. For instance, Deadpool &amp; Wolverine in Phase Five and Spider-Man: No Way Home in Phase Four.<\/p>\n<p>However, while the MCU as a whole isn\u2019t as sure a thing as it once was, Tom Holland\u2019s Spider-Man is still immensely popular. And even though <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/tag\/spider-man-brand-new-day\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/a> is intentionally a smaller-scale reset after No Way Home, there is still plenty of reason to believe <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/movies\/list\/every-2026-superhero-movie-ranked-by-excitement-level\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">this one will cross $1 billion<\/a>. It will be closer to Spider-Man: Far from Home\u2018s $1.133 billion than No Way Home\u2018s $1.921 billion, but the safe money is still on this one reaching ten digits.<\/p>\n<p>Chance it crosses $1 billion: 85%<\/p>\n<p>1) Avengers: Doomsday<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"576\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768734608_353_Cyclops-James-Marsden-using-his-powers-in-Avengers-Doomsday.jpg\" alt=\"Cyclops (James Marsden) using his powers in Avengers Doomsday\" class=\"wp-image-1571939\"  \/>Image courtesy of walt disney studios motion pictures<\/p>\n<p>Again, the MCU\u2019s financial viability isn\u2019t what it once was. But, come on, <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/tag\/avengers-doomsday\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Avengers: Doomsday<\/a>\u2018s going to cross $1 billion. <\/p>\n<p>Robert Downey Jr. returning, albeit in a different role, is alone enough to ensure this lucrative outcome. The bigger question is just how lucrative Doomsday is going to be. It supposedly has a price tag upwards of $600 million so, even if it hits $1 billion, that\u2019s not necessarily a success. All eyes are going to be on Doomsday, not just in terms of it being the <a href=\"https:\/\/comicbook.com\/movies\/list\/all-mcu-movies-tv-shows-coming-in-2026-ranked-by-hype\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">winter movie season\u2019s number one event film<\/a>, but also in terms of what it means for the future of the overarching universe.<\/p>\n<p>Chance it crosses $1 billion: 100%<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four movies crossed $1 billion worldwide in 2025. Ne Zha 2 made the majority of its money overseas,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[2561,93,61,60,58649,270,28303],"class_list":{"0":"post-251028","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-avengers-doomsday","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-list-feature","13":"tag-movies","14":"tag-the-mandalorian-and-grogu"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}