Avatar: The Way of Water’s $2 billion box office haul continues to grow, though six upcoming movies could rival its incredible performance. Not only has Avatar 2 been fighting for the position of third-highest-grossing film of all time, but James Cameron’s sci-fi epic is also the first movie to make over $2 billion since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. After Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick triumphantly revitalized theatrical movie-going, this enthusiastic wave of massive box office hits is expected to continue with the slate of upcoming releases. From newly-rebooted film adaptations to major franchise sequels arriving over the next few years, the future of the box office looks bright as studios work to parallel Avatar 2’s success.
The biggest new blockbuster releases in 2023 like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will doubtlessly be box office hits and near the $1 billion mark, but a $2 billion haul for any movie this year would be shocking. In order to reach the unparalleled pandemic-era success of Avatar 2 at the box office, upcoming movies will likely need to be major event pieces within established franchises. Unsurprisingly, the only six upcoming movies that are expected to rival the box office success of Avatar: The Way of Water come from Disney, with each being new installments in massive superhero, animated, or sci-fi franchises.
Avatar 3, 4 & 5
If any upcoming films are almost guaranteed to rival Avatar: The Way of Water’s success, they're the ones from the 2022 movie’s own franchise. James Cameron has dominated the box office throughout his career, with three of the four highest-grossing movies of all time being directed by the visionary filmmaker. Considering Avatar 2 arrived 13 years after the box office record-breaking 2009 film Avatar, which still holds the title of the highest-grossing movie of all time at over $2.9 billion, expectations were still somewhat low for the sequel’s performance. However, Cameron certainly proved the doubters wrong and set up his franchise to continue being one of the greatest box office powerhouses of all time.
Avatar: The Way of Water’s success is most likely to face big competition from Cameron’s upcoming sequels in the franchise: Avatar 3, Avatar 4, and Avatar 5, which have yet to be given official titles. Even before Avatar 2’s success, the sequels were scheduled on Disney’s upcoming theatrical release slate, demonstrating how much faith the studio has in James Cameron. Avatar 3 is set to release in December 2024, Avatar 4 in December 2026, and Avatar 5 in December 2028. Since Avatar 3 is expected to have far more action and story development after Avatar: The Way of Water’s ending, the film could be big enough to earn more than Avatar 2’s projected $2.5 billion box office haul.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
The MCU is back with major superhero team-ups, marking the first time the Avengers have fully reunited since Avengers: Endgame in 2019. The Avengers movies have reliably done well at the box office, but with Steve Rogers/Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Widow dead or gone, the upcoming film won’t have the nostalgia of many of the original heroes to increase its box office draw. While the film will doubtlessly give a heightened focus to the newer heroes from the Disney+ era, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will still have numerous long-beloved heroes on its roster to entice audiences.
Regardlessly, the upcoming fifth Avengers movie will be a smash hit at the box office as the newer heroes finally team up, and is expected to be the MCU’s biggest money-maker since Endgame. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’s scheduled release date is May 2, 2025, which already sets it up for success by aligning closely with the premieres of box office hits Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. While numerous MCU movies such as Blade, Captain America: New World Order, and Fantastic Four are premiering before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, the latter film is expected to be the only one to reach box office heights rivaling James Cameron’s Avatar 2.
Avengers: Secret Wars
Unsurprisingly, the next upcoming movie that could perform nearly as well as Avatar: The Way of Water is the MCU’s sixth Avengers movie, subtitled Secret Wars. Arriving only one year after The Kang Dynasty, Disney’s Avengers: Secret Wars is expected to see the major heroes unite again to end the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. Depending on how well Avengers: The Kang Dynasty performs at the box office and what the film’s ending sets up for the franchise’s future, Secret Wars could be an even bigger box office hit than the May 2025 installment.
After originally being given a November 2025 premiere, Avengers: Secret Wars’ release date was delayed to May 1, 2026. The other biggest upcoming movie of 2026 is Avatar 4, so that year’s box office battle is apt to be between the MCU and Avatar franchises. Still, since Avengers: Secret Wars is set to premiere seven months before Avatar 4, the MCU movie has a high chance of succeeding at the box office without significant competition. Avengers: Secret Wars arriving so soon after The Kang Dynasty suggests the 2026 will have massive twists and surprises for the franchise, which also indicates that it could be popular enough to near a $2 billion box office gross.
Frozen III
Over three years after the release of the box office smash Frozen II, Disney finally announced that a third installment in the animated franchise is forthcoming. Shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread failures in the film industry with historically low box office numbers, Frozen II (2019) managed to earn over $1.45 billion worldwide, with the film now holding the title of 13th-highest-grossing film of all time. Frozen (2013) also earned greater than $1.29 billion upon its release, which briefly peaked to become the fifth-highest-grossing movie of all time before being surpassed by subsequent releases. As one of Disney’s most popular and commercially successful franchises, Frozen III is expected to follow suit at the box office.
While the Frozen franchise has yet to near Avatar: The Way of Water’s $2 billion box office haul, the upcoming sequel could bring the animated film series to such heights. Since the film is only in the development stage, Frozen III has not been given an official release date by Disney. However, it’s predicted to arrive in late 2024 or early 2025, which could potentially conflict with the theatrical releases of Avatar 3 or Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Nevertheless, Frozen III is the most likely upcoming animated movie to rival Avatar: The Way of Water’s box office success.
