Avatar: Fire and Ash has become the third film in the franchise to surpass $1 billion at the global box office, but questions remain on whether it will end up matching Avatar 1 or 2 by the end of its theatrical run — or convince Disney to green light Avatar 4 and 5.

On weekend three, James Cameron’s Fire and Ash made another $40 million domestically, marking a 37% drop week on week. It’s now up to $306 million domestically. Fire and Ash is proving a bigger hit internationally — particularly in China — with $777.1 million so far from theaters. That makes for a grand total of $1.083 billion. Disney said Fire and Ash pushes the Avatar franchise total past $6.35 billion globally.

The special effects-heavy Avatar films cost a huge amount of money to produce, but they have historically made billions of dollars at the box office. Avatar 1 remains the highest-grossing movie of all time (not adjusted for inflation), and has earned a staggering $2.9 billion across several theatrical runs. Avatar: The Way of Water has earned $2.3 billion, meanwhile, cementing it as the third-highest grossing film of all time — just ahead of Cameron's own Titanic.

Will Fire and Ash end up matching the box office hauls of its predecessors? Fire and Ash is slower to $1 billion than both Avatar 1 and 2, but not by much. The Way of Water, released in 2022, hit $1 billion 14 days after launch, and Avatar, released in 2009, reached $1 billion after 17 days. Fire and Ash managed $1 billion 18 days after release.

The Avatar films typically show impressive staying power at the global box office, particularly internationally, so the coming weeks will be crucial. Adding a helping hand, Disney is drip-feeding Avengers: Doomsday teaser trailers ahead of Fire and Ash in theaters in a bid to encourage repeat viewings (the X-Men trailer is set to be replaced by a fourth next week).

Perhaps the pertinent question is, will Avatar 3 end up making enough money theatrically to convince Disney to greenlight Avatar 4 and 5? Disney has given both sequels release dates already: Avatar 4 currently has a December 21, 2029 release date, with Avatar 5 due out December 19, 2031. Cameron, now 71, would be close to 80 years old by the time it all wraps up.

But will he get the chance? In the run up to Fire and Ash’s release, Cameron admitted he was feeling nervous about the film’s box office performance and expressed concern about the “forces” working against theatrical releases in 2025.

Speaking on The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast, Cameron said there was potential for “sequelitis.” He added: "people tend to dismiss sequels unless it’s the third Lord of the Rings film and you want to see what happens to everybody, which in my mind this is — this is the culmination of a story arc, but that may not be how the public sees it.” And there’s the “one-two punch” of streaming and Covid, which means fewer people are going to the movies — 75% of the number in 2019, Cameron suggested.

When pressed on how much Avatar: Fire and Ash cost to make, Cameron wouldn’t be drawn into divulging a figure, only suggesting it was a lot of money, and so the movie will have to make a lot of money to turn a profit.

“It is one metric f**k ton of money, which means we have to make two metric f**k tons of money to make a profit,” he said. “I have no doubt in my mind that this movie will make money. The question is, does it make enough money to justify doing it again?”

2025 finally saw the long-awaited arrival of Nintendo’s next console: the Switch 2. But now, it’s time to turn the page to 2026 and talk about what’s in store for Switch 2’s sophomore year. Nintendo already has a pretty fleshed out release calendar for both Switches, a blockbuster movie set to hit theaters, with plenty of surprises surely in store as well. Here’s what to expect from Nintendo in 2026.

Nintendo in 2026: What’s Already On the Books

Before we get into wild speculation, here’s a recap of what we already know is coming to Switch and Switch 2 in 2026. There’s already a lot to look forward to, as Nintendo remains very consistent in pushing something out pretty much every single month.

That pattern begins this month, as we’ll all return to our weed-infested islands and face the wrath of our neglected villagers when Animal Crossing: New Horizons gets a free update on the original Switch and a Nintendo Switch 2 edition on January 15. New Horizons 3.0 is available to players on both Switches, and it comes with a new hotel to customize, a bunch of Nintendo items, and tons of little quality of life updates like upgraded item storage. Meanwhile, if you buy the Switch 2 Edition or the $5 upgrade pack, you can access improved resolution, mouse controls, 12-player multiplayer, and more.

Just a few weeks later we’ll see the first brand new Switch 2 exclusive of the year with Mario Tennis Fever’s launch on February 12. The big hook this time is the Fever Rackets that grant special abilities like freezing the court or duplicating yourself. Fever will also feature 38 playable characters, including Donkey Kong’s refreshed design and – for the first time ever – Baby Waluigi.

If you love collecting ridiculous Nintendo products like I do, you might be looking forward to Virtual Boy joining the Nintendo Switch Online library on February 17. You need one of two headsets to access this forgotten library from Nintendo’s biggest failure – either a plastic replica or a cheaper cardboard option. That’ll be available on both Switches.

Pokémon meets Minecraft (or more accurately, Dragon Quest Builders, but that’s not as catchy) in Pokémon Pokopia on March 5. This Switch 2 exclusive will task you with using Pokémon moves and materials to design your very own town. I expect Pokopia to be an enormous hit this year: Pokémon and Minecraft are two of the biggest things on the planet, and after everyone’s done poking around the new Animal Crossing update, this looks like the perfect game for that audience to shift to next. Amiibo are trudging on in 2026 as well, and March 5 will also see the launch of the Meta Knight and Shadow Star figure from Kirby Air Riders.

Pokopia is the last firm release date we have, but Nintendo has a few games slated for Spring. Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park is an enhanced port of the 2023 platformer, and one part of Nintendo’s ongoing celebration of Super Mario’s 40th anniversary. It adds cooperative and competitive multiplayer minigames, and we’ve seen a small glimpse of what appears to be a new side story in more traditional levels. I predict this will arrive on April 2, the same day as the new pair of Super Mario Galaxy amiibo and just a day before The Super Mario Galaxy Movie hits theaters, putting a new Mario game on store shelves at the exact moment Mario Mania kicks in.

The other pair of Spring releases is Yoshi and the Mysterious Book on Switch 2 and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream on Switch 1. Yoshi’s illustrated art style looks really nice, and Tomodachi Life is an exciting return for a 3DS cult classic with a hilarious out-of-left-field personality that you really have to see for yourself.

There’s even more coming later in 2026: Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave will mark the strategy RPG’s first outing on Switch 2, Nintendo and FromSoftware are teaming up for The Duskbloods as a Switch 2 action-RPG exclusive, while Switch 1 players can look forward to Rhythm Heaven: Groove, the return of Nintendo’s quirky rhythm minigame series for the first time in a decade. Finally, Pokémon Champions is a competitive battle-focused game coming to Switch and Mobile this year. We know it will be used at the Pokémon World Championships in 2026, meaning it should be out before that event kicks off in late August.

On the third-party front, Switch 2 is getting a lot of major games on day one, including huge support from Capcom with Resident Evil Requiem on February 27 (along with Resident Evil 7 and 8 on the same day), Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection on March 13, and Pragmata on April 24. Plus, all three of those games are getting their own amiibo figures. There’s a lot beyond Capcom, too, like Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, 007 First Light, and more. Hopefully we’ll see cleaned up versions of games delayed out of 2025 as well, like Elden Ring Tarnished Edition and Borderlands 4.

Pokémon’s 30th Birthday Bash

A huge element of Nintendo’s 2026 will no doubt be Pokémon, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. You can safely expect a Pokémon Presents around February 27, and – as we move firmly into the speculation part of this yearly preview – I think it’s going to be a big one. I predict Pokémon’s 10th Generation will be 2026’s November release for Switch 2, and that we’ll get our first look at them here. I don’t think there’s any chance Pokémon misses out on its 30th anniversary without a new pair of mainline games.

But that’s not all: I think 2026 is finally the year that Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow come to Switch. I don’t think they’ll join the Nintendo Switch Online subscription library – it’ll make you buy them separately – but similar to how the Gen One games were dropped on 3DS to celebrate the franchise’s 20th anniversary in 2016, I think Nintendo will run the same play here and shadowdrop them the day of the presentation. The Pokémon Company is also planning to open PokéPark Kanto in Tokyo, Japan, on February 5, the first-ever Pokémon theme park.

What Else Could Nintendo Have In Store?

We’re in an interesting spot where Nintendo has already shown a lot of its cards for 2026, but I still think there are a few things we don’t know about. There is Splatoon Raiders, the single-player Switch 2 spinoff announced last year, but Nintendo hasn’t committed to that launching in 2026 at all, and it feels more fitting as an early 2027 release to me at this point.

With November likely taken up by Pokémon, that leaves October open for a Nintendo franchise fitting for spooky season: Luigi’s Mansion. Next Level Games has been quiet since 2022’s Mario Strikers: Battle League (except for a small assisting role on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond), and given its usual three-year turnaround time on Nintendo games, I think it’s time for Luigi’s Mansion 4. The last in the series was a huge sales success, so a sequel is a no-brainer. Just for fun, I’ll guess that the setting will be a haunted cruise ship Luigi has inherited for some strange reason.

2026 also marks the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. With a movie on the way in 2027, and Nintendo’s general pattern of launching at least one Zelda game every year, it’s a safe bet to say something Zelda-related will come out this year. I don’t think a new 2D or 3D Zelda game is close to being ready, so it’s probably time for another remake or remaster. I’ll guess fans will finally get the Ocarina of Time HD remake they want, but it won’t be perfect: it’ll be a touched up HD remaster of the 3DS remake that comes to both the original Switch and Switch 2, rather than the gorgeous 4K reimagining we all dream about.

On the smaller side, I have to imagine Nintendo is prepping DLC for Mario Kart World, and all signs point to it centering around Donkey Kong. DK and Pauline strangely only have one costume apiece in World, there are no Jungle-themed DK tracks, and Nintendo’s wider push for DK would lend itself to a DLC pack themed around him. And, I’d like 2026 to be the year we finally get answers surrounding Nintendo’s mysterious Switch Online Playtest program that's been running since 2024.

I think that’s about all the room we have for 2026’s calendar, but Nintendo will announce a few games this year we won’t see until 2027. Xenoblade developer Monolith Soft hasn’t released a brand new game since 2022, and I have a feeling we might get a quick tease at what they’re working on in the September Nintendo Direct.

And, my boldest call of them all is that we’ll get a tease this year for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition to launch sometime in 2027. I believe Ultimate could get the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe treatment this generation, with an enhanced port that carries us through the next several years rather than an entirely new entry. Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai wrapped up Kirby Air Riders a few months ago, and it’s entirely possible he’s already hard at work bringing Ultimate over to Switch 2 with a few new characters. Ultimate noticeably hasn’t received a Switch 2 performance patch like Super Mario Odyssey, the open-world Zeldas, and plenty of other best-selling Switch 1 games, and combined with the fact that a new Smash game almost always hits within the first two years of a new Nintendo console, it feels like a prime candidate for a Switch 2 Edition.

Nintendo Will Continue Expanding Beyond Games

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will hit theaters on April 3, three years after the original made over a billion dollars at the global box office. I think Nintendo will waste no time in announcing its next animated partnership with Illumination, given they’re likely very confident this movie will perform extremely well like the first one did. I’m expecting a formal announcement of an animated Donkey Kong movie sometime before the end of 2026. You should also expect to see the first trailer for The Legend of Zelda movie before the year is over.

Finally, in a bit of a bummer prediction to end on, I’m expecting a Switch 2 price increase sometime after March. Nintendo has essentially committed to keeping the price where it is through the end of its fiscal year – which concludes March 31 – but there are no guarantees after that. We’ve already seen increases on the original Switch, as well as Switch 2 accessories, so it feels like it’s only a matter of time before Switch 2 follows suit.

And that’s everything we expect from Nintendo in 2026. What game are you most excited for? Have you picked up a Switch 2, or are you still happy with the original? Let us know in the comments.

Logan Plant is the host of Nintendo Voice Chat and IGN's Database Manager & Playlist Editor. The Legend of Zelda is his favorite video game franchise of all time, and he is patiently awaiting the day Nintendo announces a brand new F-Zero. You can find him online @LoganJPlant.

One of the lingering questions Stranger Things fans having coming out of the Season 5 finale relates to the series’ famous monsters, the demogorgons. Or, perhaps put more accurately, the lack of them.

In the final battle (Season 5 Episode 8, The Rightside Up), which Stranger Things has built up to for nine years and five seasons, our heroes battle against Vecna and the Mind Flayer, but not the demogorgons, the demodogs, or the bats we’ve seen previously. Where were they? Surely Vecna and the Mind Flayer would have had a better time of things if they’d had their pals help them out against Eleven, Steve, and the others. Were they sleeping on the job? A revolt, perhaps?

In an interview with TheWrap, Stranger Things co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer offered a detailed explanation, which involves a few factors. One, Vecna was caught unawares. He did not expect a sneak attack in The Abyss, so was not prepared for what was coming. Related, he had the Mind Flayer helping him out, so why would he need any more help? (This was, obviously, a bad decision.)

Meanwhile, all those demo monsters aren’t just hanging around Vecna at any given moment, the Duffer brothers said. There are not a lot of them in The Abyss.

And then we get to what I think is probably the most important reason, which has to do with what Stranger Things had done earlier in the season. The Duffers were mindful of what they called “demo fatigue,” having had a dramatic fight against the demogorgons at the end of Season 5, Volume 1, when Will’s powers awaken and he kills a handful of the things with his mind.

“Mainly it’s just that Vecna was not expecting this sneak attack on his home turf,” Matt Duffer explained. “Never in a million years could he even imagine that. They’re there somewhere. We obviously discussed having a demo battle on top of the Mind Flayer battle, but it felt more right to us that why does he need the demos when the Mind Flayer is this giant thing and can attack them? He doesn’t need his little ant army to attack, he’s going to take care of this himself.

“It’s a giant, desolate planet. If you recall, you see Henry wandering the planet back in Season 4 and at some point in his journey, he does see a demo far in the distance, but it’s not like they’re hanging out in little huts. There’s not like a giant civilization of demos up there.”

Matt Duffer continued: “one of the other things we talked about was just demo fatigue. I felt like we did everything we wanted to do with them in Sorcerer, and wanting to keep the focus on Vecna and the Mind Flayer, who’s been absent this season.”

So there you have it. Vecna’s confidence was his undoing, it seems — and a touch of “demo fatigue.”

According to Matt Duffer, there was an idea to have the heroes encounter a giant field of demo eggs in The Abyss in a scene reminiscent of Aliens, “but you can’t get all your ideas in there.” Apparently the demos were going to come out of the eggs and everything.

Some fans have suggested the fight against the Mind Flayer would have been made all the more epic by the addition of demogorgons. Having Will control them and turn them against the Mind Flayer and Vecna is a popular fan suggestion, too. But there’s no going back now. With the Upside Down destroyed, the demogorgons are stranded in The Abyss — hopefully forever.

We've got plenty more on Stranger Things, including the Duffer brothers explaining what they were going for with the Season 5 finale and Eleven's ending, and first details on the live-action spinoff.

Image credit: Netflix.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios has confirmed one of the community’s biggest questions since the game came out: it does indeed feature ‘aggression-based matchmaking.’

This means that if you’re big into PvP, you’ll be matched up with players who are like-minded. Similarly, if you prefer PvE, you’ll be matchmade with players who tend to avoid conflict with other players.

Arc Raiders’ player versus environment versus player gameplay has resulted in a number of viral clips showing how friendly encounters can quickly devolve into a fight to the last. Yes, you can play solo or in parties up to three, working as a team to progress through the game. However, other players are a constant threat. This has sparked a vociferous debate within the community about the etiquette that has formed in-game, with a retired pro gamer going viral for relentlessly killing casual Arc Raiders players.

It turns out that Arc Raiders will lean on your playstyle when it comes to matchmaking. This ‘aggression-based matchmaking,’ however, is not an exact science, Patrick Söderlund, CEO of Embark Studios told Games Beat in a recent interview / video playthrough of the game.

“Obviously first it's skill-based of course,” Söderlund said of Arc Raiders matchmaking. “Then you have solos, duos, and trios. And then we also, since a week ago or so, we introduced a system where we also matchmake based on how prone you are to PvP or PvE. So if your preference is to do PvE and you have less conflict with players… you'll get more matched up [with similar players]. Obviously it's not a full science.”

Söderlund said the term ‘aggression-based matchmaking’ is “exactly” the system Arc Raiders currently uses. That puts to bed high-level questions about how Arc Raiders matchmaking works for the community, which had wondered about it in recent months. “I can finally stop arguing on Reddit, thank you for the vindication,” said one player.

However, it’s worth noting that Söderlund confirmed Arc Raiders prioritizes "skill" when it comes to matchmaking, then groupings. Aggression-based matchmaking is a factor, but we don’t know how much influence it has on your lobbies compared to other factors. And even Söderlund admitted it doesn’t always works as you’d think.

And how, exactly, does Arc Raiders determine if you’re “prone” to PvE or PvP? If you’re a kill on sight player, sure, you’re probably prone to PvP. But what if you only shoot back at those who shoot at you first? Does that make your lobbies more aggressive? If so, is that fair?

So, one big question answered, but many more remain. As for Embark Studios, it always hoped Arc Raiders would have a tension between both playstyles. Arc Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure in which players scavenge the remnants of a devastated world, but the main threats are Arc’s machines and, as Embark Studios puts it, “the unpredictable choices of fellow survivors.”

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The future of cinemagoing is top of mind as 2026 kicks off, with Netflix, which is buying Warner Bros. for $72 billion, reportedly interested in a 17-day window for theatrical releases before they hit the streaming platform. Meanwhile, box office revenue is struggling, with even Marvel movies — previously guaranteed hits — having trouble getting fans into theaters. The big question right now is, are we witnessing the beginning of the end of going to the cinema?

Hollywood legend Leonardo DiCaprio has expressed concern about the future of cinemagoing, wondering whether it will become a niche pursuit. In an interview with The Sunday Times, the Titanic, Inception, and The Wolf of Wall Street star wondered whether “people still have the appetite” for theaters, and, if not, whether they might “become silos — like jazz bars.”

“It’s changing at a lightning speed,” DiCaprio said. “We’re looking at a huge transition. First, documentaries disappeared from cinemas. Now, dramas only get finite time and people wait to see it on streamers. I don’t know.”

Then: "Do people still have the appetite? Or will cinemas become silos — like jazz bars?" While expressing this concern, DiCaprio said he hoped “real visionaries” continue to make unique movies that are seen in theaters, "But that remains to be seen.”

DiCaprio, who starred in 2025’s critically acclaimed One Battle After Another, isn’t alone in worrying for the future of cinemagoing. But some have gone even further. Last year, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the theatrical experience is “an outmoded idea for most people,” and claimed Netflix is “saving Hollywood.”

One Battle After Another ended its theatrical run making $205 million globally. According to Variety, Warner Bros. needed it to make roughly $300 million to break even on the film, which means it’s looking at a $100 million loss, give or take.

And while James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash has crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office, it’s not going to get anywhere near the money the previous two Avatar movies made in theaters. In the run up to Fire and Ash’s release, Cameron admitted he was feeling nervous about the film’s box office performance and expressed concern about the “forces” working against theatrical releases in 2025.

Speaking on The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast, Cameron said there was potential for “sequelitis.” He added: "people tend to dismiss sequels unless it’s the third Lord of the Rings film and you want to see what happens to everybody, which in my mind this is — this is the culmination of a story arc, but that may not be how the public sees it.” And there’s the “one-two punch” of streaming and Covid, which means fewer people are going to the movies — 75% of the number in 2019, Cameron suggested. In the same interview, Cameron said Netflix buying Warner Bros. would be a “disaster.”

One report has claimed Netflix is particularly keen to obtain Warner Bros.' vast content library as the streamer ramps up its potential to offer AI-generation tools and content in the future.

Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for Warner Bros.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.