(Image Credits: Marvel Studios)
Avengers: Doomsday has high expectations when it comes to box office success, but even though the film likely won’t be showing in IMAX theaters, Disney believes it can still hit the $1 billion mark.
How could Avengers: Doomsday still hit $1 billion at the box office?
Doomsday is set to release on December 18, 2026, the same day as Denis Villeneuve‘s highly anticipated Dune: Part Three. While Marvel movies have traditionally taken center stage on premium formats like IMAX, this won’t be the case this time. Dune: Part Three has secured IMAX exclusivity for its opening weekend, a major boost.
Discussion online continues as to whether or not both films will benefit from being out at the same time — a la Oppenheimer and Barbie in 2023 — or whether both films (which do have similar audiences) will take in less money as a result. In a recent report from TheWrap on the matter, one Disney insider notes that, even without having IMAX exclusivity, Doomsday should be able to make a lot of money.
An insider speaking to TheWrap points to films like Barbie and Lilo & Stitch’s live-action adaptation, both of which had no IMAX support but still managed to cross the $1 billion threshold, as prime examples. The insider also noted that the company plans to push other formats like Dolby, D-Box, and 4DX heavily. Of course, following in the footsteps of Avengers: Endgame, the second-highest-grossing film of all time, is a big act to follow.
So far, little is known about Avengers: Doomsday. However, the film is set to feature a huge cast, which includes Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby’s Invisible Woman/Sue Storm, Anthony Mackie’s Captain America, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Letitia Wright’s Shuri/Black Panther, and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man.
More names for the upcoming movie include Wyatt Russell’s U.S. Agent/John Walker, Tenoch Huerta’s Namor, Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s The Thing/Ben Grimm, Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Kelsey Grammer’s Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast, Lewis Pullman’s Bob/Sentry, Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres/Falcon, Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm/Human Torch, David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Winston Duke‘s M’Baku, Hannah John-Kamen‘s Ava Starr/Ghost, and Tom Hiddleston‘s Loki.
Several X-Men characters are also coming back for the upcoming movie, including Patrick Stewart‘s Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen‘s Magneto, Alan Cumming‘s Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn‘s Mystique, James Marsden‘s Cyclops, and Channing Tatum‘s Gambit.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to release on December 18, 2026. Avengers: Secret Wars is set to release a year later on December 17, 2027.
