Summary
Disney is trying to replicate its 2019 success with the 2026 lineup but faces challenges due to market saturation and changing audience preferences.
The 2026 movie slate includes familiar franchises like Avengers and Star Wars, aiming to recapture past box office success from 2019.
Despite a promising lineup, there are doubts about whether Disney’s 2026 plans will achieve the same level of box office success as in the past.
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After years of low performances at the box office, Disney seems to be trying to recapture its 2019 success with its 2026 lineup, but it’s unlikely to work as well this time around. The House of Mouse is no stranger to blockbusters, but since 2020, the company has had difficulty finding them again. 2023 was an especially rough year for Disney, with several projects failing to impress at the box office or with critics. This seems to have inspired the home of Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and more to put together a throwback lineup for the coming years, but will it work?
Leading up to the 2020s, Disney got used to turning everything it touched into gold. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the legendary company has struggled to regain its footing. 2023 saw a series of frustrating box office bombs from the House of Mouse. Franchises like Indiana Jones and the MCU, which are typically shoo-ins for Disney, failed to turn things around, and the original animated film Wish was an even more considerable disappointment, bringing in an abysmal $247 million at the global box office (via Box Office Mojo). However, Disney’s 2026 lineup shows they mean business.
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Disney’s 2026 Movie Slate Explained
2026 is still a couple of years away, so Disney doesn’t have a complete movie slate set in stone yet. Several dates are reserved for significant projects that have yet to be announced, and these are bound to be a variety of brand-new movies from Pixar, Disney’s animated studio, and Marvel. Additionally, Disney has several live-action remakes in the works, and a few, perhaps The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, or The Aristocats, are sure to find their theatrical release in 2026. However, Disney has provided some definitive movies and release dates for that year:
Movie
Release Date
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
May 1, 2026
The Mandalorian & Grogu
May 22, 2026
Toy Story 5
June 19, 2026
Frozen 3
November 25, 2026
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order
December 18, 2026
Disney’s 2026 movie slate currently contains several movies audiences have been looking forward to for years. Coming early in the year is Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which will be the first Avengers movie since the highly successful Avengers: Endgame. Then, considering the success of the Mandalorian series on Disney+, the company no doubt hopes that the Mandalorian & Grogu movie will be instrumental in turning things around. Combine these with the Toy Story, Frozen, and Star Wars sequels, and the lineup for 2026 looks promising.
Disney’s 2026 Franchise Plans Are Repeating Its Massive 2019 Slate
Disney seems to be holding out the big dogs for 2026, with many of the movies on the slate being continuations or callbacks to the massive successes of the company’s last big year. 2019 was when Disney was at its very best, making close to $13 billion at the global box office. In 2023, only two movies made over $1 billion, and neither came from Disney (Barbie and The Super Mario Bros Movie). However, in 2019, the House of Mouse had eight movies in the billion-dollar club, with Avengers: Endgame being the crowning jewel at nearly $3 billion.
2019 Movie Title
Worldwide Box Office Gross
Avengers: Endgame
$2,799,439,100
The Lion King
$1,663,075,401
Frozen 2
$1,453,683,476
Spider-Man: Far From Home
$1,131,927,996
Captain Marvel
$1,131,416,446
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker
$1,077,022,372
Toy Story 4
$1,073,841,394
Aladdin
$1,054,304,000
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
$491,730,089
Dumbo
$353,284,621
Dark Phoenix
$252,442,974
When reflecting on Disney’s 2019 slate and comparing it to what the company has started for 2026, it certainly seems that they are attempting to repeat this golden year of movie-making. With Frozen and Toy Story having made over $1 billion with their 2019 installments, the House of Mouse is most certainly hoping the same will happen with Toy Story 5 and Frozen 3. Then, with another Star Wars sequel lined up for 2026 and the first Avengers movie since 2019, Disney’s 2026 slate is starting to look familiar.
Eight out of the top 10 movies at the global box office in 2019 came from Disney.
Why Disney Is Attempting To Repeat Its 2019 Success
Though Disney stood at the top of the world in 2019, everything quickly went downhill. 2020 was a rough year for every production company, with not a single film managing to join the billion-dollar club thanks to the COVID-19-related shutdowns. However, even when theaters were back in full swing, people weren’t buying tickets to see Disney movies like they were before.
In 2021, Disney managed to produce the only movie to make over $1 billion (Spider-Man: No Way Home), but its other movies were nowhere near the top spot. 2022 saw Marvel movies begin to decline, and though movies like Thor: Love and Thunder and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness crept close to $1 billion, this was nothing compared to what Disney had grown used to. Then, as far as Pixar, things had never seemed bleaker. 2023 seemed to be the final straw—Disney has to make some major moves to stay on top, and duplicating 2019’s lineup is certainly an option.
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Why Disney’s 2026 Plans Won’t Work As Well As 2019
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Disney’s 2026 slate is undoubtedly promising, and audiences will certainly turn up to see movies like Frozen3 and The Mandalorian & Grogu. However, it’s unlikely that the company’s box office success will come anywhere near 2019. Though Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker made over $1 billion at the global box office, it was a critical flop, only earning a 51% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Therefore, there’s no guarantee that audiences will hand over their money to watch another installment in theaters.
There have already been significant warning signs that Marvel movies—even another
Avengers
film—won’t have the kind of turnout at theaters that Disney had grown used to.
Additionally, there have already been significant warning signs that Marvel movies—even another Avengers film—won’t have the kind of turnout at theaters that Disney had grown used to. “Superhero fatigue” is real, and the market has become so oversaturated that many are content to see these movies from the comfort of their own homes rather than head to the theaters. In all, it’s certainly possible that the House of Mouse’s 2026 slate will see some significant successes, but another year like 2019 is a wish that even Disney’s magical star isn’t guaranteed to grant.