The Most Anticipated Movies of 2026
The year is flush with the usual blockbuster franchise titles, but we've also got some thrilling genre fare and new projects from the likes of Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, and Jordan Peele, among others.
Based on what we know so far, 2026 is shaping up to be pretty great, with a healthy mix of the expected blockbuster franchise titles, enticing genre films, and new projects from the likes of Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, and Jordan Peele. With that in mind, here’s a handy calendar of some of the most noteworthy titles coming in 2026 so you can budget and plan accordingly.
- Recommended: The Best Movies of 2025
AUGUST
Release Date: August 14, 2026
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGreggor, Maisy Stella
From director David Robert Mitchell (It Follows) and producer J.J. Abrams comes a new sci-fi mystery starring Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Christian Convery, and Maisy Stella. The film was originally slated to release in 2025, but it was pushed back by almost a year after Final Destination: Bloodlines took over its original release date.
Release Date: August 14, 2026
Director: Cal Brunker
Starring: McKenna Grace, Fortune Feimster, Jennifer Hudson
The famous pups will be back for a third installment of Paw Patrol on the big screen. While the majority of the cast is not confirmed, McKenna Grace is reprising her role as Skye, and Joining her are Jennifer Hudson and Fortune Feimster, although their roles are currently undisclosed.
Release Date: August 14, 2026 (limited), August 21, 2026 (wide)
Director: Andrew Patterson
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Angelina LookingGlass, Kurt Russell, Cole Sprouse, Tony Revolori, Rob Morgan
This crime thriller stars Matthew McConaughey as the owner of a honey-making operation in rural Oklahoma who unexpectedly reunites with his estranged foster daughter Kateri (Dark Winds’ Angelina LookingGlass), takes her in, and teaches her the skills to survive. When Amziah’s rivals threaten his operation, he and Kateri must utilize those skills to protect themselves and the business. The film premiered at South by Southwest and earned strong reviews.
Release Date: August 21, 2026
Director: Jacob Chase
Starring: Brandon Perea, Lin Shaye
Insidious franchise mainstay Lin Shaye returns in this sequel to Insidious: The Red Door, starring alongside Nope and Twisters star Brandon Perea. We don’t quite know what the film is about yet, but it replaces the spin-off Thread: An Insidious Tale, which was originally slated to release on this date.
Release Date: August 21, 2026
Director: Jean-Francois Richet
Starring: Jason Statham, Annabelle Wallis
The latest Jason Statham flick is here, with the perennial action star playing a man who is framed for the murder of his boss and sets out on a path to clear his name and exact vengeance. When he boards a cargo ship to carry out his plan, he discovers there’s more the story than he anticipated.
Release Date: August 21, 2026
Director: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Starring: Anna Faris, Isla Fisher, Leslie Mann, Michelle Buteau
Anna Faris, Leslie Mann, and Michelle Buteau star in this comedy as a trio of best friends who travel to Palm Springs for some R&R at a luxury spa, only for their unpredictable friend (Isla Fisher) to show up and wreak hilarious havoc on what was supposed to be a low-key, relaxing vacation.
Release Date: August 28, 2026
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Starring: Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Kim Sin-rok
Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho returns to the zombie genre with this South Korean action-thriller centered on an unemployed former professor as she struggles to survive the outbreak of a mutating virus that is unleashed during a biotech conference. The film didn’t quite get the same critical response as Train to Busan when it premiered at Cannes earlier this year, but fans of that film and Yeon Sang-ho should find plenty to like.
Release Date: August 28, 2026
Director: Dave Green
Starring: Will Forte, John Cena, Lana Condor
Famously shelved by Warner Bros. as a tax write-off in the wake of the WB-Discovery merger, this live-action/animation hybrid sees the titular Looney Tunes character suing the Acme Corporation for all of the faulty products he has bought from them over the years to help him capture the Roadrunner. Will Forte plays Wile E. Coyote’s lawyer, while John Cena takes on the role of Acme’s attorney.
Release Date: August 28, 2026
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Allison Janney, Benedict Wong
Ridley Scott’s latest is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller based on the novel of the same name about a civilian pilot who teams up with a former marine to survive after a flu pandemic has wiped out most of the world’s population.
Release Date: August 28, 2026
Director: Macon Blair
Starring: Dave Franco, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Mason Thames, Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun
Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr. star in this comedy as a couple of deadbeats who take on a job to escort a wealthy but troubled teen (Mason Thames) to rehab, only for their journey to spiral quickly out of control.
SEPTEMBER
Release Date: September 2, 2026
Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Starring: Harriet Slater, Arsema Thomas
Reportedly set in the same world as 2022’s Fall, this sequel centers on a young woman mourning the death of her younger sister who travels to Thailand with her sister’s friend to conquer a perilous trail on the side of a sheer rock mountain, only for both of them to become trapped after a sudden rockslide.
Release Date: September 4, 2026
Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens, Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn
Adam Wingard (You’re Next, Godzilla x Kong) directs this high-octane thriller about an army sniper (Adria Arjona) living in a desert trailer park who fights to protect her young daughter when a squad of genetically engineered super soldiers break free from a nearby military facility.
Release Date: September 18, 2026
Director: Zach Cregger
Starring: Paul Walter Hauser, Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry
A new Resident Evil movie is on the way, with Barbarian director Zach Cregger at the helm. Set for release on September 18, 2026, the film will reboot the franchise with a darker approach that stays true to the survival-horror roots of the games.
The Love Hypothesis
Release Date: September 23, 2026
Director: Claire Scanlon
Starring: Tom Bateman, Lili Reinhart, Rachel Marsh, Jaboukie Young-White, Nicholas Duvernay, Arty Froushan
Adapted from the hit 2021 novel by Ali Hazelwood (and that, in itself, adapted from Star Wars fanfiction), this romantic comedy follows Stanford professor Dr. Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman) and PhD student Olive Smith (Lili Reinhart) as they enter a mutually beneficial fake relationship.
Forgotten Island
Release Date: September 25, 2026
Director: Joel Crawford, Januel Mercado
Starring: H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Manny Jacinto, Jenny Slate, Lea Salonga, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng
Set in the 1990s in the Philippines, Forgotten Island follows two childhood friends, Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano), who enter a mystical world that feeds on memories and must escape before they forget about each other.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
Release Date: September 25, 2026
Director: Bassam Tariq
Starring: Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, Abubakr Ali, Tramell Tillman, Tiffany Boone, Laith Nakli, Adia, Jahleel Kamara
Mahershala Ali stars as Latif, a deeply religious hitman who travels across Houston to protect his children. In a September 2026 interview, Ali says he used the sword training he received for the now-scrapped Blade project in the film, crediting Marvel Studios for effectively helping to fund the film’s action sequences.
Primetime
Release Date: September 25, 2026
Director: Lance Oppenheim
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers
Primetime stars Robert Pattinson as To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen. The film is set in 2006 as Hansen “sets out to make television history,” according to the logline, and Pattinson’s portrayal has already made history with chilling line deliveries in the trailer. Given the film’s timeframe, there’s a possibility that the film will cover the suicide of To Catch a Predator target Bill Conradt (played by Alex Winter in the film).
OCTOBER
Release Date: October 2, 2026
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Starring: Tom Cruise
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s hotly anticipated next film starring Tom Cruise has officially been titled Digger and is set for a fall release on Oct. 2. Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment unveiled a first look at the film, teasing the project with the tagline “a comedy of catastrophic proportions.” While much of the film is still under wraps, fans are excited to see Cruise step into a new leading role.
Verity
Release Date: October 2, 2026
Director: Michael Showalter
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett
Adapted from the 2018 Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, Verity stars Dakota Johnson as Lowen Ashleigh, a writer contacted to complete the book series of bestselling author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway). When working on the series, she discovers a hidden autobiographical manuscript from Verity that reveals deeper secrets about her and her husband (Josh Hartnett).
The Social Reckoning
Release Date: October 9, 2026
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Starring: Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Bill Burr, Wunmi Mosaku
This sequel to The Social Network dramatizes the 2021 Facebook leak by whistleblower Frances Haugen (played by Mikey Madison). Haugen and Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (played by Jeremy Allen White) leaked thousands of internal documents revealing Facebook was aware of the negative impacts of their products, such as Facebook activity contributing to violence in developing countries and Instagram pushing harmful content to teenage users. Jeremy Strong plays CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a role originated by Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network.
Release Date: October 16, 2026
Director: Kitao Sakurai
Starring: Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Callina Liang, David Dastmalchian, Jason Momoa, Cody Rhodes, Eric André, 50 Cent, Roman Reigns
This 2026 adaptation of the iconic video game had a director switch from Danny and Michael Philippou (Talk to Me) to Kitao Sakurai (Bad Trip), and for a long time we didn’t know what the story would be. The details still aren’t super clear, but we know from the trailer that it will be pretty faithful to the games, right down the character looks and signature moves.
Sense and Sensibility
Release Date: October 16, 2026
Director: Georgia Oakley
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esmé Creed-Miles, Caitríona Balfe, Frank Dillane, Herbert Nordrum, George MacKay, Fiona Shaw
Adapted from Jane Austen’s 1811 debut novel, Sense and Sensibility follows the Dashwood sisters Elinor (Daisy Edgar-Jones), Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles), and Margaret (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) as they are forced to move from Sussex to Devon following the death of their father. They later find marriages to escape poverty.
You Can See Everything
Release Date: October 16, 2026
Director: Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim
Starring: Elizabeth Holmes, Nathan Fielder, Billy Evans
Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the dissolved health-tech startup Theranos, invites a film crew to document her and her partner Billy Evans in the weeks leading up to her incarceration. Audiences are already intrigued at the dynamic of truth and rehearsed fiction between Fielder and Holmes–the most rewatched moment in the trailer is a tense stand-off between Holmes and Fielder, where the former asks “why would I deceive you?” Hopefully the documentary, kept entirely a secret for three years until its Telluride secret screening on September 6, answers the question.
Release Date: October 23, 2026
Director: James Watkins
Starring: Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella
After making an appearance in the animated Harley Quinn and Creature Commandos series, the iconic Batman villain Clayface returns to screens in his own live-action film. The film has been classified as a horror-thriller tragedy by producers Matt Reeves and Lynn Harris. While plot and cast details have not been revealed yet, it will be directed by James Watkins, whose experience in dark thrillers like Eden Lake and Speak No Evil (2024) should serve him well here.
Klara and the Sun
Release Date: October 23, 2026
Director: Taika Waititi
Starring: Jenna Ortega, Amy Adams, Mia Tharia, Aran Murphy, Steve Buscemi, Natasha Lyonne
Adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 book of the same name, Klara and the Sun stars Jenna Ortega as the Artificial Friend Klara who wants to find a human friend to take her home. When she meets the sick teenager Josie (Mia Tharia), the two bond as Klara uncovers deeper secrets about Josie’s family in hopes of bringing them together.
Wicker
Release Date: October 23, 2026
Director: Alex Huston Fischer, Eleanor Wilson
Starring: Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Elizabeth Debicki, Marli Siu, Nabhaan Rizwan, Richard E. Grant, Peter Dinklage
Based on Ursula Wills’s short story “The Wicker Husband,” Wicker stars Olivia Colman as a fisherwoman fed up with snide comments about her being unmarried. She commissions a husband made out of wicker (Alexander Skarsgård), and the two enter a romance that shocks the fisherwoman’s small farming town. The trailer for this raunchy comedy made waves online shortly after its release, partly for hinting that the Wicker Husband’s carpet does seem to match his drapes.
NOVEMBER
Release Date: November 6, 2026
Director: Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni
Starring: Bill Hader, Quinta Brunson, Bowen Yang
The Cat in the Hat is an upcoming 2026 American 3D animated musical film produced by Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Based on the 1957 Dr. Seuss book of the same name, it is the third screen adaptation of the story.
Release Date: November 6, 2026
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Yuki Yamada, Sakura Ando
The Oscar-winning surprise 2023 hit returns to theaters with a direct sequel, with Takashi Yamazaki coming back to take the helm. The story takes place two years after the events of the first film, following up on the Shikishima family as they face another catastrophic event.
I Play Rocky
Release Date: November 6, 2026
Director: Peter Farrelly
Starring: Anthony Ippolito, AnnaSophia Robb, Toby Kebbell, P. J. Byrne, Stephan James, Jay Duplass, Robert Morgan, Tracy Letts, Matt Dillon
Rocky is iconic in film history for portraying boxer Rocky Balboa’s underdog journey to boxing fame, but it turns out the production of Rocky was its own tumultuous underdog story. Anthony Ippolito stars in I Play Rocky as Rocky screenwriter and star Sylvester Stallone.
Madden
Release Date: November 18, 2026
Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Christian Bale, Kathryn Hahn, John Mulaney, Sienna Miller, Shane Gillis
Nicolas Cage stars as John Madden, former Oakland Raiders coach and NFL color commentator, in this new Prime Video biopic about his life. Madden touches on both Madden’s life and career in the NFL and his involvement with the iconic Madden NFL video game franchise, with John Mulaney playing EA founder Trip Hawkins.
Release Date: November 20, 2026
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Mckenna Grace, Jesse Plemmons, Ralph Fiennes
24 years before Katniss volunteered herself as tribute, Haymitch Abernathy found himself the victor of the 50th Hunger Games, making him the second victor from district 12 (after Lucy Gray Baird). This film sandwiches itself between The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and the first Hunger Games film, centering on a younger version of the fan favorite Haymitch and his journey to victory alongside the aftermath of the murder of his family by President Snow.
Steps
Release Date: November 20, 2026
Director: Alyce Tzue, John Ripa
Starring: Ali Wong, Amanda Seyfried, Stephanie Hsu, Nikki Glaser, Daniel Radcliffe, Young Mazino, Peter Dinklage, Bette Midler
Who says a villain can’t get a happily ever after? Cinderella (Amanda Seyfried) and her misunderstood stepsister Lilith (Ali Wong) join forces with a troll to save their other stepsister Margot (Stephanie Hsu) after being accidentally turned into a frog. With the fate of the kingdom at stake, Lillith must become the hero of her own story.
Focker-in-Law
Release Date: November 25, 2026
Director: John Hamburg
Starring: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Ariana Grande, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Skyler Gisondo, Beanie Feldstein, Eduardo Franco
The Fockers return! Ariana Grande joins as Olivia Jones, fiancée to Henry Focker (Skyler Gisondo, replacing Colin Baiocchi) and former FBI hostage negotiator. Tensions run high between her and Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) as patriarch Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) immediately takes a liking to her. Beanie Feldstein replaces Daisy Tahan as Samantha Focker.
Hexed
Release Date: November 25, 2026
Director: Fawn Veerasunthorn, Jason Hand
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Rashida Jones, Jodie Foster, Walton Goggins, Tracey Ullman, Stephen Fry
In the latest original Disney animated film, eccentric teenager Billie (Hailee Steinfeld) discovers she has magical powers and enters the world of Hexe, a realm for witches like her. With her mother Alice (Rashida Jones), they team up and discover family secrets that could change Hexe forever.
DECEMBER
The Man With The Bag
Release Date: December 2, 2026
Director: Adam Shankman
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alan Ritchson, Awkwafina, Liza Koshy, Kyle Mooney, Jane Krakowski, Ken Jeong
He’s back! Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Santa Claus (the titular “man with the bag”) in this new Christmas action comedy from Prime Video. After an elf (Awkwafina) steals his sack of presents, Santa consults the ‘Naughty List’ to enlist the help of a criminal (Alan Ritchson) and get his presents back. Part holiday family film, part gripping heist, any fan of Schwarznegger’s action (or comedy) endeavors needs to add this to their own holiday list–the watchlist, that is.
Release Date: December 4, 2026
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Starring: David Harbour, Jared Harris, Kristen Bell, Joe Pantoliano, Daniela Melchior
This sequel to the 2022 action flick sees David Harbour return to the role of Santa Claus, who is put on the “Naughty List” and stripped of his powers but takes on a ruthless gangster played by Jared Harris. This time around Kristen Bell joins the cast as Mrs. Claus.
Ray Gunn
Release Date: December 4, 2026
Director: Brad Bird
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Waits, Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Alan Tudyk, Kathryn Hunter
Sam Rockwell stars as private detective Raymond Gunn, the last human private detective in the futuristic city Metropia, in a new neo-noir animated feature from director Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille). Gunn is tasked with looking after superstar Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson) in a case involving murder and aliens.
Release Date: December 11, 2026
Director: Jake Kasdan
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Alex Wolff, Danny DeVito, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, Ser’Darius Blain, Nick Jonas
The whole gang is back for another adventure, as the four original friends discover their in-game avatars — and all the creatures of Jumanji — have somehow ported into the real world. As the group attempts to contain the chaos, four new unfortunate souls are swallowed by the game.
The Debut
Release Date: December 11, 2026
Director: Jesse Eisenberg
Starring: Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Colton Ryan, Jesse Eisenberg, Bonnie Milligan, Lilli Cooper, Maulik Pancholy, Bernadette Peters
In Jesse Eisenberg’s third directorial feature, shy housewife Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore) is unexpectedly cast in a supporting role for a local community theater production of the musical Nosy Neighbors. Under intense director Jerry Blankenbuehler (Paul Giamatti), Friedman devotes herself to playing her role, which threatens to throw her personal life into chaos.
Release Date: December 18, 2026
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Pedro Pascal, Paul Rudd, Anthony Mackie, Florence Pugh, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Wyatt Russell, Channing Tatum, Simu Liu, Ian McKellen, Hayley Atwell, Tom Hiddleston, James Marsden, Patrick Stewart, Joseph Quinn, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Letitia Wright, Lewis Pullman, Kelsey Grammer, Kathryn Newton, Danny Ramirez, Winston Duke, Alan Cumming, Hannah John-Kamen, Rebecca Romijn, Mabel Cadena, Tenoch Huerta Mejía
The MCU may be trying to recapture its past glory by bringing in the Russo brothers to direct Avengers: Doomsday, as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes face off against the titular villain, played by none other than Robert Downey Jr. Expect lots of twists and turns, fun cameos, and plenty of crossover drama.
The Angry Birds Movie 3
Release Date: December 23, 2026
Director: John Rice
Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Emma Myers, Rachel Bloom, Walker Scobell, Danny McBride, Marcello Hernández, Tim Robinson, Anna Cathcart, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Nikki Glaser, MrBeast, Salish Matter, Psalm West, Sam Richardson, James Austin Johnson, Lily James, Keke Palmer, Anthony Padilla, Ian Hecox
Red (Jason Sudeikis) is now a father to three (Emma Myers, Walker Scobell, Psalm West) in this sequel to The Angry Birds Movie 2. Little is known about the plot, but a clip from the trailer shows Red’s friends Chuck (Josh Gad), and Bomb (Danny McBride) babysitting Red’s youngest—to mixed results.
Release Date: December 25, 2026
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Anya Taylor-Joy, Florence Pugh
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Messiah will follow Paul Atreides as the Padishah Emperor and the effects of his rule on his people. The book by Frank Herbert is set 12 years after Dune, and it can be assumed that the film will also involve a fast forward from its predecessor. While the cast has not been confirmed yet, we can reasonably assume Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya will reprise their roles, along with Anya Taylor-Joy and Florence Pugh.
Mr. Irrelevant
Release Date: December 25, 2026
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: David Corenswet, Isabel May, Michael Shannon
Since 1976, the title of “Mr. Irrelevant” has celebrated the final draft pick of each NFL season. David Corenswet (momentarily!) hangs up the cape to play John Tuggle, New York Giants running back and 1983’s “Mr. Irrelevant”, in a new biopic based on the true and inspiring story of how he fought the odds, even when they were always stacked against him.
Artificial
Release Date: December 25, 2026
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Yura Borisov, Monica Barbaro, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Chris O’Dowd, Ike Barinholtz, Mark Rylance
Andrew Garfield plays OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a new biopic. Artificial focuses on the period in November 2023 when, following mounting tensions between Altman and the OpenAI board, Altman was temporarily fired and reinstated five days later. Ike Barinholtz plays OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk.
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