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TLL has updated our regular feature of upcoming films with licensing potential. This time around, we have our eye on 131 releases with announced dates through 2027. Note that we’ve left off many projects from the last list which haven’t committed to a date or otherwise moved along in production.
The most productive studios are Warner Bros. (28 titles), Sony Pictures (19), and Fox (17) with Disney trailing just behind the top three with 16 titles. Once we start crunching the numbers in the year of release, however, the picture will likely appear quite different. Disney has scheduled at least twice as many dates as we’ve included in the complete chart, but we haven’t listed earmarked dates with no title attached (only approximated best guesses for the most likely releases). In the same way, DreamWorks has committed to producing two flicks a year, but so far has only dated four in the coming years.
Roughly 60% of upcoming releases are sequels (59 titles, or 45% share of the list) and reboots (19 titles, 15% share).
Just 39 titles have a female lead (30% share) and 21 include a person of color in the top billing (16%). Six titles on the list check off both boxes, at just 5% share. Note that this isn’t a completely representative breakdown, as some dated titles have not announced casting yet.
Bucking trends observed in previous iterations of this chart, adaptations are not as popular with 42 titles, or 32% of the list, being original creations. But just 12 are completely new, with 25 “original” titles also designated as sequels and 5 as reboots.
Books and comics are tied for the distinction of being the most popular source material, with 30 titles (23% share) each. TV series have jumped in popularity as well, with 16 titles (12%). Traditional and video games tied with toys for the least-popular source material with 7 titles each (5%).
Most of the titles on the list are live action flicks (86 titles with 66% share), but a significant portion have significant CGI elements (46 titles, 35% share).