For our MIPCOM 2026 issue, Semih Zaim takes a look at 2026’s box office trends.
The global theatrical market entered 2026 with a familiar question: could cinemas sustain the recovery that had gradually taken shape after several uneven post-pandemic years? By early September, the answer looks increasingly positive. The summer season in North America reached approximately $4.76 billion, setting a new nominal record for the May–Labor Day period, although comparisons with earlier records are affected by inflation and differences in the length of the season. Year-to-date domestic revenues also stood more than 20% above the same point in 2025.
The strongest films of the year reveal several overlapping trends. Established franchises remain major box office drivers, but filmmaker-led event cinema, animation, gaming adaptations and digitally native intellectual property have all demonstrated substantial theatrical potential. At the same time, local-language films continue to play an important role in major territories, reinforcing the increasingly multipolar nature of the global box office.
BLOCKBUSTERS RETURN TO BILLION DOLLAR SCALE
By early September, five films released in 2026 had passed the $1 billion mark worldwide, a level of billion-dollar activity not seen since before the pandemic. Spider-Man: Brand New Day leads the global chart with approximately $2.41 billion, followed by Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey with around $1.64 billion. Toy Story 5, Michael and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie have also crossed $1 billion globally.
The scale of Spider-Man: Brand New Day is particularly striking. The film surpassed $1 billion after only six days and reached $2 billion within three weekends. By September, around 62% of its worldwide gross had come from international markets, underlining the enduring global reach of the Spider-Man brand.
Yet the year’s other major phenomenon shows that franchise recognition is not the only route to event status. The Odyssey has become the highest-grossing film of Christopher Nolan’s career and has generated close to two-thirds of its box office outside North America. Its performance reinforces the commercial value of filmmaker-driven spectacles that are designed and marketed specifically as theatrical experiences.
FRANCHISES STILL MATTER BUT FAMILIARITY IS NOT ENOUGH
Sequels and familiar properties remain highly visible across the 2026 chart. Alongside Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Toy Story 5, The Devil Wears Prada 2 has grossed approximately $693 million worldwide, while Minions & Monsters has passed $519 million. Their performance confirms that recognisable brands remain valuable in an increasingly competitive entertainment market.
But 2026 has also demonstrated the limits of franchise recognition. Variety noted that several high-profile releases, including the live-action Moana, Supergirl and Masters of the Universe, failed to match expectations during an otherwise record-breaking summer.
The distinction is therefore becoming more important: established IP can provide awareness, but audiences are not responding uniformly to every reboot, sequel or adaptation. The theatrical market increasingly rewards films that can establish themselves as events rather than simply extensions of existing brands.
ANIMATION AND FAMILY FILMS REMAIN GLOBAL ANCHORS
Animation continues to be one of the most internationally resilient segments of theatrical cinema. Pixar’s Toy Story 5 has earned approximately $1.14 billion worldwide, while The Super Mario Galaxy Movie stands at just over $1.01 billion. Minions & Monsters, another Universal-backed animated release, has surpassed $500 million.
These films illustrate the advantages of family-oriented entertainment in the global marketplace. Their appeal crosses age groups and borders, while major animated properties can also extend into consumer products, streaming, gaming and licensing. In that respect, animation is becoming increasingly intertwined with broader franchise ecosystems. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, produced by Nintendo and Illumination and distributed globally by Universal, is a particularly clear example of how a property can move successfully between gaming and cinema while maintaining its identity across multiple entertainment sectors.
GAME ADAPTATIONS ARE NOW A CORE STUDIO STRATEGY
The success of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie further confirms the growing importance of gaming IP to the film business. Omdia identified top-tier games properties as one of the central competitive areas for studios in 2026, alongside changes in theatrical windowing and the genres dominating the top end of the box office.
The shift is significant because the film industry’s traditional franchise pipeline has historically been built around earlier films, comics, novels and television. Gaming now provides another source of globally recognised characters, stories and fan communities. When adapted effectively, those audiences can translate into theatrical demand while also supporting a broader transmedia strategy.
Rather than representing an occasional trend, game-to-screen adaptation is increasingly becoming part of long-term studio portfolio planning.
DIGITAL NATIVE IP FINDS A THEATRICAL AUDIENCE
One of 2026’s more unexpected box office stories has come from titles whose cultural momentum originated outside traditional film franchises.
Obsession has grossed more than $500 million worldwide, while Backrooms has approached $400 million. Omdia has pointed to both films as examples of creator-led and digitally native properties attracting Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences to cinemas.
Obsession is especially notable because of the scale of its return. The film was reportedly produced for under $1 million before becoming a breakout theatrical hit and surpassing $500 million worldwide.
This suggests that the next generation of valuable theatrical IP may not necessarily originate in the conventional studio development system. Online communities, creator ecosystems and digitally native storytelling can build substantial audience awareness before a property reaches cinemas.
For distributors, the challenge will be determining which online phenomena have enough sustained engagement to translate into ticket sales rather than short-lived visibility.
LOCAL PRODUCTIONS CONTINUE TO CHALLENGE HOLLYWOOD
The global chart also reflects the strength of non-US cinema. Chinese comedy Pegasus 3 has grossed approximately $656 million worldwide, with virtually all of that revenue generated outside North America. It currently ranks among the ten highest-grossing films of the year.
Several other Chinese titles, including Kung Fu Soccer and Dear You, have also generated substantial international grosses with virtually all of the revenue generated outside North America.
This points to a broader shift in the global theatrical landscape. A film no longer needs extensive US penetration to achieve significant worldwide revenue. Large domestic markets can increasingly sustain commercially important films of their own, particularly when local-language productions are closely aligned with regional audience preferences.
THEATRICAL CINEMA BECOMES MORE EVENT DRIVEN
Perhaps the most important takeaway from 2026 is not simply that box office revenues have increased. It is that the theatrical market is becoming more concentrated around films that provide audiences with a clear reason to go to cinemas.
The record North American summer was built from very different kinds of successes: superhero spectacle in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, filmmaker-driven epic cinema in The Odyssey, long-running family franchises such as Toy Story 5, gaming IP such as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and unexpected Gen Z-driven breakouts including Obsession and Backrooms.
The result is a theatrical landscape that looks less uniform than it did during the era when a relatively predictable slate of studio tentpoles could dominate the year.
Franchise power remains crucial. But in 2026, cultural urgency, audience community and the promise of a distinctive big-screen experience appear increasingly important alongside brand recognition.
For an industry still redefining the relationship between theatrical releases and home viewing, that may be the year’s clearest message: the cinema audience has not disappeared. It has become more selective.
