The most anticipated films of 2026
The box office is officially bouncing back – and it's time to start adding to your watchlist
SINCE THE COVID pandemic, there has been much speculation on the future of film and the supposed death of the theatre-going experience. The fact that box office returns have been dwindling is, by now, common knowledge. In 2019 alone, nine films crossed the billion dollar threshold. Over the next five calendar years (2020-2024) just eight films met that mark, at a rate of less than two per year – I’ll remind you that, even with the support of the dual box office phenomenon that was Barbenheimer, Oppenheimer did not cross $1 billion.
By commercial metrics, 2025 was the biggest year for the box office since the pandemic, with four films grossing more than $1 billion and a fifth (A Minecraft Movie) falling just short. This year projects to be an even bigger year, with an expected surge in box office numbers as movie-goers return to theatres in droves.
Looking ahead to the most anticipated films of 2026, many of the biggest film franchises in history are returning to screens, and a litany of high-profile spinoffs and sequels should make 2026 one of the biggest years in film to date. A few films are sure things to gross $1 billion: Avengers: Doomsday, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Toy Story 5. Others are projected to at least come close: The Mandalorian and Grogu, Michael, Minions 3, Moana, The Odyssey, Dune: Part Three, Jumanji 3. We’d pick seven of those to hit the mark. So, even taking into account Netflix’s takeover of Warner Bros., we’re fairly confident that a year from now, all that talk about the end of movie theatres will have died down.
Of course if you couldn’t care less about how much a film makes and all this commercial talk is making you nauseous, there will be more varied options. If it’s A-list directors you’re after, Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Emerald Fennell, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Joel Coen and Robert Eggers will all have new releases. And on the movie star front, Jacob Elordi, Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Tom Cruise, Tom Holland, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans all have leading roles.
Yes, there’ll be so much to watch that you likely won’t have time to watch it all. So, to help you start narrowing down your watchlist, these are the most anticipated films set to release in 2026.
The most anticipated film releases in 2026
‘Wuthering Heights’
Release date: February 12
Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s beloved novel is already controversial before it’s even been released. Starring a pair of Aussies in Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, the film has come under fire for seemingly being far more vulgar than the original, complete with a soundtrack that includes Charli XCX. Fennell herself has said that the film won’t be entirely faithful to its source material. “I can’t say I’m making Wuthering Heights,” she said. “What I can say is I’m making a version of it. There’s a version that I remembered reading that isn’t quite real. And there’s a version where I wanted stuff to happen that never happened. And so it is Wuthering Heights, and it isn’t.”
The Bride!
Release date: March 6
Drawing from The Bride of Frankenstein, The Bride! is Maggie Gyllenhaal’s reimagination of the titular character’s story set in 1930s Chicago. Featuring Christian Bale as the infamous monster and Jessie Buckley as his purpose-built bride, the monster asks his creator to make a companion for him and a romance blossoms, but draws interest from police. The film is certifiably star-studded, with Penelope Cruz, Jake Gyllenhaal, Annette Bening and Peter Sarsgaard also appearing.
Project Hail Mary
Release date: March 19
Based on a novel by Andy Weir (whose works also inspired 2015’s The Martian), Project Hail Mary stars Ryan Gosling as a man who awakens on an interstellar spacecraft with no recollection of how he got there. Slowly, he deduces that he is the lone survivor of a team sent to a distant solar system in search of a solution to a catastrophic event on Earth.
The Drama
Release date: April 1
Robert Pattinson and Zendaya playing an engaged couple in a comedy-drama? Yes please. The logline for the film reads as follows: A happily engaged couple is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails. We are seated.
Michael
Release date: April 23
Director Antoine Fuqua hopes to capture Michael Jackson’s life in all its “complexity”, spanning his childhood in the Jackson 5 to super stardom in adulthood as the King of Pop. The film won’t be shying away from Jackson’s darker moments. Producer Graham King told The Guardian: “As a filmmaker, I look to humanise but not sanitise and present the most compelling, unbiased story I can capture in a single feature film and let the audience decide how they feel after watching it.” Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson takes on the role as his own uncle in what has potential to be the first $1 billion dollar film of the year.
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Release date: April 30
While author Lauren Weisberger did write a sequel to the original Devil Wears Prada novel (Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns, which was released in 2013 and is set a decade after the events of the first book), it appears the plot of the film sequel will look different. The sequel reportedly focuses on an older Priestly staring down the barrel of the end of her career. In a world where traditional magazine publishing is declining, Priestly is “forced to go head-to-head with her former assistant, Blunt’s Emily Charlton, now a high-powered executive at a Kering or LVMH-style luxury group, whose advertising dollars Priestly desperately needs,” Puck reports.
The Mandalorian & Grogu
Release date: May 21
The Mandalorian & Grogu will be a good test of whether streaming success can translate to box office hits. The Mandalorian is easily Disney+’s biggest original series, but will people accustomed to seeing a pair of characters from their couch get out to see them in a theatre? Time will tell, and the results could decide whether we see more projects make the jump from streaming to theatrical releases. This is the first Star Wars film since 2019, but as it sits outside the primary Skywalker saga, we’re hesitant to guarantee it will make $1 billion.
Disclosure Day
Release date: June 11
Steven Spielberg’s first sci-fi film since 2018 is, as you’d expect, highly anticipated. Disclosure Day asks the following question: what would humanity do when confronted with irrefutable proof of alien life? The focus is less on the aliens themselves than it is on the chaos their discovery causes in society. Emily Blunt stars with Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth and Colman Domingo supporting.
Supergirl
Release date: June 25
We got our first glimpse of Milly Alcock’s Supergirl at the end of Superman. As opposed to her cousin, Clark Kent, who was raised by loving parents on earth, Supergirl was raised on a floating chunk of Krypton and was forced to watch her loved ones die. This means she’s far more jaded than the ever-optimistic Superman. In Supergirl, the titular character makes her way across the galaxy to celebrate her birthday, but when she encounters a tragedy she ditches her plan to embark on a quest for revenge.
The Odyssey
Release date: July 16
The Odyssey is perhaps the most anticipated film of 2026. Anything Christopher Nolan touches is bound to be a success, but it likely won’t have the boon of a Barbenheimer double feature this time around. That said, The Odyssey does carry broader appeal than Oppenheimer. After all, a swords and sandals historical epic about one of the most popular pieces of mythology ever is a bigger draw than a biopic about a physicist. Expect a box office smash and an awards contender.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Release date: July 30
We’ve reached the stage of this article where we have films that don’t have trailers yet, so plot details are more scarce. Although, we can infer a great deal about Brand New Day based on what occurred in previous films. For example, we know that Peter Parker will be starting anew after the world has forgotten him and that he’ll need to work his way back into his loved one’s lives. Marvel films had a down year in 2025, but Spider-Man is the franchise’s biggest surviving star, so grossing $1 billion+ is likely.
Digger
Release date: October 1
From Academy Award-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Digger is described as “a comedy of catastrophic proportions”. It follows the most powerful man in the world, who is on a mission to prove he’s humanity’s saviour. Who, of all people, will play this man? Why it’s Tom Cruise, of course.
The Social Reckoning
Release date: October 8
Was anyone asking for a sequel to The Social Network? Probably not. Nevertheless, Aaron Sorkin – who co-wrote the first film – is making one. The Social Reckoning is based on the events surrounding the 2021 Facebook leak by whistleblower Frances Haugen and stars Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Bill Burr and Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Release date: November 20
A prequel to the original but a sequel to the most recent entry to the franchise, Sunrise on the Reaping reveals the backstory of Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch Abernathy and how he survived the 50th Hunger Games, which included 48 tributes rather than the usual 24. The source material is a gripping, emotional, page-turning affair. With an Australian (Joseph Zada) in the leading role, there’s a good chance this becomes our favourite Hunger Games yet.
Avengers: Doomsday
Release date: December 17
Guaranteed to be 2026’s highest grossing film, Avengers: Doomsday is the first Avengers film since 2019 and perhaps the most important for the future of the franchise. Much of the original Avengers team is now gone, with a new cast of heroes assuming the mantle (truly, the term ‘ensemble cast’ has never been more relevant), but there will be some familiar faces. Notably, Robert Downey Jr is returning to play the villain, Doctor Doom, and Chris Evans is reprising his role as Steve Rogers despite giving up the title of Captain America in Avengers: Endgame.
Dune: Part Three
Release date: December 17
The second half of what is already being called Dunesday (by no less than Robert Downey Jr, mind you), Dune: Part Three is currently scheduled to release on the same day as Avengers: Doomsday, in what could be the biggest day in box office history. While the first two Dune films adapted Frank Herbert’s original Dune novel, Dune: Part Three will bring the sequel novel Dune: Messiah to the big screen. Director Denis Villeneuve has said this will be his last addition to the franchise. Here’s hoping he goes out with a bang.
Werwulf
Release date: January 1 (2027)
We’re sneaking Werwulf in here even though it releases on the first day of 2027 because it’s too highly anticipated to leave out. Robert Eggers is the standard bearer of the high horror emergence, with previous hits like Nosferatu and The Lighthouse, so Werwulf has the potential to be the biggest horror film of the year. Set in 13th-century England, we pick up with a mysterious creature stalking a foggy countryside as local folklore becomes a terrifying reality for the villagers. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe all feature, reuniting after Nosferatu.
Cry to Heaven
Release date: TBC (expected October-December)
For his third directorial outing, American fashion designer Tom Ford will be adapting Anne Rice’s 1982 novel, Cry to Heaven. Written by the same author as Interview with a Vampire, Cry to Heaven is set in 18th-century Italy and follows a Venetian noble and a castrated singer from Calabria. Their paths cross as they both try to succeed in the competitive world of opera. The cast include Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nicholas Hoult, Colin Firth, George MacKay and, in her acting debut, Adele.
Jack of Spades
Release date: TBC (expected November-December)
Written and directed by Joel Coen, Jack of Spades stars Josh O’Connor and Frances McDormand. Details on the plot are hard to come by, but reports suggest it’s a gothic mystery set in Victorian Scotland. Sounds intriguing.
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