The Biggest Box Office Movies Coming to Theaters This Decade

License Global compiles an adaptive list of the biggest movies, we believe, which will impact licensed consumer products across 2023 and beyond.

Ben Roberts

April 25, 2023

License Global

Character and entertainment make up for 41% of the brand-licensing activity at retail. That’s precisely $129.4 billion of the worldwide total for FY2021 ($315.5 billion) according to Licensing International. One core driver is the blockbuster, the major movie moment that brings fans and families together.

With the gradual return and proven

success of the blockbuster movement

after a trying period for cinema (e.g.,

“Super Mario Bros. Movie” becoming the world’s biggest video game adaptation on record

), we’re taking a deep dive into what franchise editions, new launches and tentpole pictures will impact the brand-licensing calendar over the next five years.

2023 Box Office Movie Releases

“
Guardians of the Galaxy
Vol. 3” – Marvel Entertainment (May)
“Fast X” – Universal (May)
“The Little Mermaid” – Disney (May)
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider
-Verse" – Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures, Marvel Entertainment (June)

“
Transformers
: Rise of the Beasts” – Paramount, Entertainment One (June)
“The Flash” – Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios (June)
“Elemental” – Disney Pixar (June)
“
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
” – Lucasfilm (June)
“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” – Universal Pictures, Dreamworks Animation (June)

“Harold and the Purple Crayon” – Columbia Pictures (June)
“Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One” – Paramount Pictures (July)
“Oppenheimer” – Universal Pictures (July)
“
Barbie
” – Warner Bros. Pictures, Mattel Entertainment (July)
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” – Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies (August)

“Gran Turismo” – Columbia Pictures, PlayStation Productions (August)
“Blue Beetle” – Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios (August)
“The Expendables 4” – Lionsgate (August)
“
PAW Patro
l: The Mighty Movie – Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Spin Master Entertainment (August)
“Kraven the Hunter” – Sony Pictures (October)

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” – Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions (October)
“Saw X” – Lionsgate, Twisted Pictures (October)
“Dune: Part Two” – Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Entertainment (November)
“The Marvels” – Marvel Studios (November)
“Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” – Netflix, Aardman Animations, StudioCanal, Pathé (November)

“
Hunger Games
: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” – Lionsgate (November)
“
Trolls
Band Together” – Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation (November)
“Wonka” – Warner Bros. Pictures (December)
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” – Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios (December)
Untitled “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” Movie – Columbia Pictures (December)

2024 Box Office Movie Releases

“Lilo & Stitch” – Disney (TBD)
“Twisters” – Universal Pictures (TBD)
“Inside Out 2” – Disney (TBD)
“Masters of the Universe” – Mattel Entertainment (TBD)

“Madame Web” – Sony Pictures (February)
“Kung Fu Panda 4” – Universal (March)
“A Quiet Place: Day One” – Paramount Pictures (March)
“
Godzilla
vs. Kong 2” – Warner Bros. Pictures (March)
“Disney’s Snow White” – Disney (March)

“Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse" – Sony Pictures (March)
“The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” – Warner Bros. Pictures (April)
“
Captain America
: New World Order” – Marvel Entertainment (May)
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” – 20th Century Studios (June)
“Ballerina” – Lionsgate, Summit Entertainment, Thunder Road, 87Eleven Productions (June)

“Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part Two” – Paramount Pictures (June)
“
Despicable Me
4” – Universal Pictures (July)
Untitled Marvel Universe Movie – Sony (July)
“Thunderbolts” – Marvel Entertainment (July)
“Blade” – Marvel Entertainment (September)

Untitled Monkeypaw Movie – (September)
“Joker: Folie à Deux” – Warner Bros. Pictures (October)
Untitled “
Deadpool
” Movie – 20th Century Studios (November)
“Wicked: Part One” – Universal – (November)
“
Avatar
3” – 20th Century Studios (December)

“
Sonic the Hedgehog
3” – Paramount Pictures (December)
“Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat” – Warner Bros. Pictures (December)

2025 Box Office Movie Releases

Untitled
Smurfs
Movie – Sony Pictures (TBD)
Tron 3 – Disney (TBD)

“A Quiet Place: Part III” – Paramount Pictures (TBD)
M3GAN 2.0 – Universal Pictures (January)
“Fantastic Four” – Marvel Entertainment (February)
“How to Train Your Dragon” – Universal Pictures (March)
“
Minecraft
” – Warner Bros. Animation (April)

“Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” – Marvel Entertainment (April)
Untitled SpongeBob SquarePants Movie – Nickelodeon Movies (May)
“
Superman
Legacy” – Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios (July)
Untitled Marvel Movie – Marvel Entertainment (July)
“The Batman: Part II” – Warner Bros. Pictures (October)

Untitled
Marvel
Movie – Marvel Entertainment (November)
Untitled Star Wars Movie – Disney (December)
“Wicked: Part Two” – Universal (December)

2026 Box Office Movie Releases

“Friday the 13th" (TBD)

“Thing One and Thing Two” (TBD)
Untitled Marvel Movie – Marvel Entertainment (TBD)
“
Avengers
: Secret Wars” – Marvel Entertainment (TBD)
Untitled Marvel Movie – Marvel Entertainment (TBD)
Untitled Marvel Movie – Marvel Entertainment (TBD)

“Avatar 4” – 20th Century Studios (December)

2027 Box Office Movie Releases

Untitled
Star Wars
Project (TBD)
“Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” – Warner Bros. Pictures (TBD)

This is an adaptive list of selected movies that are forecast to make an impact at retail, compiled by License Global from direct and indirect sources (

The Numbers

IMDB

). If we’re missing something, tell us! Get in touch with Ben Roberts (EMEA content director, License Global) at

[email protected]

to suggest a title coming that

should be on licensor, licensee and marketer’s radars.