Only 4 Movies in 2026 Could Still Hit $1 Billion — And One of Them Is a Sure Bet

2026 Is Already a Record-Breaking Year for Movies — But the Biggest Hits Might Still Be Ahead

The box office is having a moment. With five billion-dollar movies already in the books this year — Michael, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Toy Story 5, The Odyssey, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day — 2026 is on track to be the highest-grossing year since 2019. But the big question is: can any upcoming releases join the billion-dollar club?

According to Collider, only four movies left on the 2026 calendar have a realistic shot at crossing the $1 billion mark worldwide. And honestly? The lineup is stacked.

The Four Contenders — From Likely to Long Shot

1. Avengers: Doomsday (December 18) — The Sure Bet

Let's get the obvious one out of the way. Avengers: Doomsday is the most anticipated movie of the year, period. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (the same duo behind Avengers: Endgame), the film features Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU — but not as Iron Man. He's playing Doctor Doom, and the internet has been losing its mind ever since the reveal.

The cast reads like a Hollywood phone book: Chris Hemsworth, Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal, and basically every hero from the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men. If any movie in 2026 is a lock for a billion, it's this one. Avengers: Endgame made $2.8 billion. Even a fraction of that energy puts Doomsday over the line.

2. Dune: Part Three (December 18) — The Hopeful Finale

Denis Villeneuve's Dune saga has been nothing short of a miracle. The first film grossed $410 million during a pandemic, and Dune: Part Two climbed to $714 million. Now, Part Three arrives with Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, and Anya Taylor-Joy — all at peak cultural relevance.

It's the conclusion to one of the most ambitious sci-fi trilogies in modern cinema. The goodwill from audiences is massive, and there's real talk about a "Barbenheimer" effect when it opens the same day as Avengers: Doomsday. Could two blockbusters cannibalize each other, or could they both thrive? That's the billion-dollar question — literally.

3. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (November 20) — The Dark Horse

Nobody expected The Hunger Games franchise to still be alive in 2026, but here we are. Sunrise on the Reaping is a prequel focusing on Haymitch Abernathy's brutal 50th Hunger Games, and the cast is absurd: Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin, Elle Fanning, and Jesse Plemons. Oh, and Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are reportedly reprising their roles as Katniss and Peeta.

No Hunger Games film has ever crossed $1 billion (the highest was Catching Fire at $865M), but with an ensemble this loaded and minimal competition in November, this could finally be the one. The franchise sits at $3.3 billion total — one more blockbuster could push it into the record books.

4. Jumanji: Open World (December 25) — The Wildcard

Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart are back for another round of Jumanji, and this time the game breaks free of its console and unleashes chaos into the real world. Directed by Jake Kasdan and also starring Karen Gillan and Bebe Neuwirth, Jumanji: Open World drops on Christmas Day — historically one of the biggest release dates of the year.

The previous Jumanji films have been reliable earners ($962M for Welcome to the Jungle, $800M for The Next Level), so crossing a billion isn't out of the question. But with Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three already in theaters by then, it'll need serious holiday legs to pull it off.

The Bottom Line

2026 has already proven that audiences are showing up in record numbers. With Avengers: Doomsday, Dune: Part Three, Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, and Jumanji: Open World still on the calendar, the year's biggest moments might be yet to come. Whether all four hit the billion-dollar mark remains to be seen — but with casts, franchises, and directors this stacked, the conversation isn't about if at least one will. It's about how many.