2027 Already Has 3 Animated Movies That Could Break $1 Billion

2027 is already teed up with at least three animated movies that stand a good chance of breaking the $1 billion milestone next year, and a range of other prospective candidates that also look like promising box office wins for this time period. 2026 and 2025 have seen the release of a considerable assortment of animated success stories, leaving a natural sense of curiosity around how 2027 might follow suit.

2025 had one of the biggest animated film successes in recent history thanks to Ne Zha 2 and its $2.2 billion box office results, and 2026 has mirrored the prior year thus far by having several of its biggest $1B+ films be animated releases, thanks to Toy Story 5 and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which are currently both in the year’s top 5 box office results (as per Box Office Mojo).

2027’s box office results are of course far less clear yet due to the year being on the ever-nearing horizon. However, what we do know about 2027 so far suggests multiple movies are promising potential box office hits for a variety of reasons, and thanks to a range of the most iconic and well-known series of today being due to have 2027 releases.

2027’s Animated Movie Lineup Has Some Clear Opportunities For Box Office Heavy Hitters

2027’s overarching film lineup looks strong by itself – with movies like Avengers: Secret Wars and Star Wars: Starfighter on the near horizon – but its animated movie offerings look especially strong for the year as well.

First and foremost, November 2027 is set to bring forth Frozen 3 after its delay from 2026, which is sure to be a major movie for the year given the $1 billion plus box office success of both previous installments of the series. Indeed, with Frozen 2 grossing $1.4 billion compared to Frozen’s $1.2 billion (via The Numbers), there’s potential for the third release to grow closer again to the $2 billion mark, which would be huge for the franchise and for 2027 more broadly speaking.

The year is also set to see another major animated franchise return, this time in the form of the newest installment in the Shrek series, a whole 17 years after the last mainline Shrek movie. With every movie from Shrek 2 onwards in the series having grossed dangerously close to $1 billion, it’s easy to see how nostalgia and the excitement around the series’ big screen return could be what it needs to tip the balance in its favor and also secure Shrek 5 $1 billion after a 26-year-long wait for this possibility.

Finally, the superhero genre will see an animated movie fans have been excited about for 9 years by the time of its release into the world, as Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse is set to debut in June 2027, bringing the trilogy to a close.

While Beyond The Spider-Verse hitting $1 billion might be a bigger task for the film, the fact the Spider-Verse sequel Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse was able to around double the box office total of the original with its own 2023 release for a $690 million gross (via The Numbers) suggests the climactic, much-hyped final chapter could make it big in this way as well, with audiences being likely to not want to wait to see how things end – and this could also be helped by the recent success of 2026’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day, too.

2027’s Animated Movie Roster Means There’s Plenty Of Potential For Some Surprise Box Office Hits, Too

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The wider release roster of 2027 also provides some other animated movie candidates that could conceivably become $1 billion hits based on the success of their wider franchise or studio, though there’s less evidence currently that this would be possible.

Throughout 2027, the animated movie world will be welcoming The Bluey Movie, Ice Age: Boiling Point, Gatto, The Haunting Of Hotel Transylvania, The Simpsons Movie 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and a sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, which all have immense potential that could well translate into box office results depending on how the newest releases are received by fans.

Altogether, this shows that the live-action sphere certainly isn’t the only one that holds promise or intrigue as we approach 2027, as there are plenty of different animated films that look fascinating to keep up with both in terms of their stories, and the real-world results they obtain after their debut.