2026 Is In A Secret $4.8 Billion Box Office Battle With 2025

Published Aug 15, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT

2025 was a major year for the world of movies financially, with four films managing to net themselves a box office of $1 billion or more, and plenty of other films coming impressively close to this milestone. Of course, it was also stocked full of critical darlings and films that rightfully cemented themselves with reputations that are in many ways worth more than any box office total could be, as films like Sinners, Weapons, and KPop Demon Hunters earned themselves glowing reputations with viewers, and no doubt some fans for life.

With 2026 now coming into its final quarter, the bigger picture for the year is starting to become clearer, in no small part because of the recent $1 billion plus success stories of The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. However, there are some matters that likely won't be resolved until the very final day of 2026 is behind us, including the matter of whether the current year will manage to best 2025 when it comes to one major box office competition.

2025's Staggering $4.8 Billion Animated Movie Success Sets A High Bar For 2026

©CMC Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Over the course of the year's theatrical run, 2025 amassed a more than healthy range of animated movie successes, with Ne Zha 2 serving as the top-grossing film of the year with its $2.2B box office gross, Zootopia 2 coming in second with its own $1.8B results, and 2025's top 10 highest-grossing movies carrying one more animated film in the form of the anime movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle, which itself garnered $793 million worldwide (as per Box Office Mojo).

While this impressive $4.8 billion assorted success from 2025's top 10 movie list seems almost unbeatable, 2026 is already in a position where it seems this might be possible for the year were another major hit or two to be unveiled.

The year hasn't experienced any animated success stories on the level of Ne Zha 2, but the collective results of 2026's third highest-grossing movie, Toy Story 5 ($1.095 billion), it's fifth highest-grossing movie The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($1.012 billion), and its current 10th highest grossing movie Minions & Monsters ($474 million) still equal out to an impressive $2.5 billion overall, meaning 2026 would effectively only need one or two animated movies to hit major box office numbers in order to give 2025 real competition (via Box Office Mojo).

How 2026 Could Still Match Or Beat 2025's Animated Box Office Record

Image via DreamWorks

Though much of 2026's release roster has been unveiled thus far, there are still a fair few movies that could allow 2026 to match up more closely with 2025's animated movie empire fiscally, or even best it if the stars align correctly and we have another $1 billion hit later in the year, which is by no means unheard of.

Helpfully, 2026 does seem to have some strong animated outings impending in the final leg of the year, which means the matter of which year had the most successful animated movies in its top grossing roster isn't a matter that's necessarily concluded quite yet.

For example, DreamWorks' Forgotten Island is set to release just over a month from now on September 25. The animated fantasy movie looks as though it could be a major hit with audiences thanks to DreamWorks' track record of having plenty of animated box office wins, and thanks to the larger-than-life world and stunning visuals we've seen in the Forgotten Island trailer, which mirrors the immense praise leveled at DreamWorks' Puss In Boots: The Last Wish and its own visual stylings back in 2022, which could encourage more viewers here.

Similarly, Disney's next animated fantasy movie, Hexed, is scheduled to release on November 25, providing another installment that could potentially prove to be a major critical and commercial hit with audiences. While Hexed's trailer did receive some divided reception due to concerns the movie might be overly optimized for social media and platforms like TikTok, this wouldn't be the first time a film's trailer faced controversy only to do well afterward, especially if these trailer reactions help influence the final film, as was the case with the now $1B+ Sonic film franchise.