Summer may be a little slow for sports betting, but things are heating up at the box office. This is the time of year when Hollywood rolls out its biggest releases, with studios hoping their latest blockbusters will have audiences lining up for popcorn.
That makes this a good time to look beyond the usual sports betting markets and see what the world of entertainment has to offer. Instead of picking a team to win or a player to score, you can bet on which movie will finish 2026 as the year’s biggest box-office hit.
This year’s race has plenty of star power, with huge franchises and blockbuster budgets behind it. The question is, which blockbuster will have the biggest payday when the final tickets are counted? Let’s take a closer look at the movies expected to contend for the top spot.
The 2026 Box Office Race So Far
This year’s box office has already produced some eye-catching numbers, with the summer movie season delivering several major hits. The overall race has been driven by a mix of established franchises and big-budget blockbusters, while one major release still has yet to reach theatres.
The current betting market has narrowed the race to a handful of leading contenders. Here’s a quick look at the four movies with the best chance of claiming the 2026 box-office crown:
- Toy Story 5: Woody, Buzz and the Pixar gang returned for another big-screen adventure, giving one of cinema’s most recognizable franchises a chance to add another billion-dollar chapter to its story.
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Tom Holland’s latest turn as Peter Parker has been a box-office monster, already soaring past the $2 billion mark worldwide and putting serious distance between itself and the competition.
- The Odyssey: Christopher Nolan’s Homer adaptation has turned an ancient Greek epic into a modern box-office event, crossing $1.3 billion globally and becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever.
- Avengers: Doomsday: The big one still waiting in the wings. Marvel’s December release brings together the Avengers, Fantastic Four and X-Men, making it the market’s obvious late-season wildcard.
With three of these films already making their mark at the box office and one still waiting for its big-screen debut, there’s plenty to unpack. Let’s take a closer look at each contender.
Toy Story 5 (+2000)
Released in June, Toy Story 5 got off to a flying start. The iconic movie franchise pulled in $312 million worldwide in its opening weekend, which was the biggest global debut of 2026 at the time, and has already surpassed the $1 billion mark worldwide.
More importantly, the Toy Story name still carries serious weight. Woody and Buzz are back, giving longtime fans a reason to return while introducing the franchise to a new generation of kids.
That cross-generational appeal is a big part of its box-office potential. Parents who grew up watching Woody and Buzz can now bring their own kids along, turning Toy Story 5 into the kind of family movie night that can translate nostalgia into more tickets sold.
The Odyssey (+1600)
Few directors can turn an ancient Greek epic into one of the year’s biggest movies, but Christopher Nolan is probably one of them. Based on Homer’s legendary tale and packed with stars including Matt Damon, Tom Holland and Zendaya, The Odyssey arrived with enormous expectations.
Those expectations have already translated into serious box-office numbers. The film opened to more than $260 million worldwide and has since sailed past the $1 billion mark globally. Shot entirely with IMAX film cameras, it also offered audiences a reason to experience the epic on the biggest screen possible.
For a story that has been around for nearly 3,000 years, The Odyssey has certainly found a modern audience at the box office.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (-1000)
If there’s one movie that has made a serious case for the 2026 box-office crown, it’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Tom Holland’s latest outing as Peter Parker opened to a massive $927 million worldwide and has since raced past $2 billion globally in just three weekends. It’s now the eighth movie ever to reach that milestone and the second-fastest to do it, behind only Avengers: Endgame.
The movie’s momentum has also translated directly into the betting market. Brand New Day is currently the clear favourite to finish 2026 as the highest-grossing film, and with its web-slinging star still pulling audiences into theatres, it has plenty of room to keep climbing.
Avengers: Doomsday (+500)
Avengers: Doomsday has one major advantage over the other contenders: there’s still time for the hype to build. The film doesn’t hit theatres until December 18, but Marvel has already unleashed trailers and fuelled plenty of speculation around its enormous crossover.
And the cast list is almost a movie in itself. Robert Downey Jr. returns to the MCU as Doctor Doom, while Chris Evans is back as Steve Rogers, with the Avengers, Fantastic Four and X-Men all part of the mix.
That gives Doomsday a huge built-in audience, but it also has a tricky task: it needs to make up ground quickly against movies that have had months to rack up ticket sales. Still, with advance ticket sales reportedly reaching around $100 million months before release, the appetite is already there.
Who Will Have the Highest-Grossing Movie of 2026?
The current market has Spider-Man: Brand New Day as the clear favourite, and its $2 billion-plus haul explains why. But Avengers: Doomsday is still waiting in the wings, with December offering Marvel one last chance to shake up the standings.
For anyone looking to put their movie knowledge to the test, there’s plenty of intrigue left. Will Spider-Man stay on top, or can the Avengers deliver a late blockbuster surprise?