34 Movies I Hope to See in 2026

Conor Marsh loves computers and video games almost as much as he loves his dog Sandy. But shortly after he starts playing a strange new game called OBEX, Sandy mysteriously disappears, sending Marsh on a strange quest that blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. Albert Birney’s OBEX looks like it’ll tap into a certain pre-internet nostalgia. I, for one, was hooked the moment I saw Marsh insert a 3.5″ floppy into his Macintosh computer. OBEX premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it was well-received by critics.

Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need Is Kill was previously adapted into 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow, a fun sci-fi thriller starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. But now it’s time for director Kenichiro Akimoto and Studio 4°C (Tekkon Kinkreet, Children of the Sea) to tackle the alien invasion story. When a mysterious alien structure appears in Japan, a young woman teams up with a taciturn young man to take on the impending alien threat after getting stuck in a time loop.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck star in this original Netflix thriller about some Miami cops who discover a huge stash of cash. Naturally, everything goes according to plan and everyone turns out to be totally trustworthy, right? The Rip also stars Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, and Kyle Chandler, and was written and directed by Joe Carnahan (Boss Level, The Grey, Narc).

When Detective Chris Raven is accused of killing his wife, he has just 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the AI judge presiding over his case. Director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch) is no stranger to stylish filmmaking, and his cast includes Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, and Annabelle Wallis.

Joe Keery is best known for playing Steve Harrington in Stranger Things, but he’s also appeared in such acclaimed films like Free Guy and Marmalade. With Cold Storage, he turns on his comedy chops as one of the employees at a storage facility that just so happens to be built on top of the site of an escaped government experiment. The film, which is based on David Koepp’s 2019 novel, also stars Georgina Campbell, Vanessa Redgrave, and Liam Neeson as a grizzled bioterrorism specialist. This looks like it could be a lot of fun so long as it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Nick Nolte, and Halle Berry star in this slick-looking thriller about a thief (Hemsworth) operating along California’s Route 101 who recruits a disillusioned insurance broker (Berry) to help him with one last heist before he retires. Unfortunately for them both, a dogged detective (Ruffalo) is intent on bringing them down. My wife and I are always up for a good heist film, especially one with a star-studded cast.

Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Ring) returns from a nearly decade-long hiatus with this madcap-looking sci-fi adventure about a man claiming to be from the future (Sam Rockwell) who recruits the customers of an L.A. diner to join his fight against artificial intelligence. Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, and Juno Temple also star. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die premiered at the 2025 Fantastic Fest, where it received near-unanimous praise from critics.

Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary is an excellent sci-fi novel filled with technical details, thrilling discoveries, and memorable characters. Naturally, I’m excited about this film adaptation, which stars Ryan Gosling as the lone survivor of a mission to the Tau Ceti star system, where he must find a solution to a disaster unfolding back here in our solar system. An earlier Weir novel, The Martian, was successfully adapted in 2015 by Ridley Scott, so I have high hopes for Project Hail Mary, especially since it’s directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie, the Spider-Verse movies).

Ridley Scott’s upcoming film is a post-apocalyptic survival story based on Peter Heller’s acclaimed 2012 novel. After a flu nearly wipes out the human race, a pair of survivors (Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin) eke out a rough existence while trying to avoid invaders. The film also stars Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, and Benedict Wong.

Bob Odenkirk (Nobody) continues his quest to be Hollywood’s most unlikely action hero. This time around, he plays the sheriff of a small town in the middle of nowhere — a town that just so happens to hide a criminal underground. Normal was written by Derek Kolstad, the creator of the John Wick franchise, and directed by Ben Wheatley (Free Fire, High-Rise, Kill List). The film, which also stars Henry Winkler and Lena Headey, had its premier at the “Midnight Madness” program of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

Shepherd George Hardy has an unusual habit: every night, he reads a murder mystery to his flock. Which means that when he turns up dead from an apparent murder, it’s up to — who else? — all of his sheep to solve the crime. That might just be the most intriguing premise of any 2026 movie. The Sheep Detectives is directed by Kyle Balda, who directed the first Minions movie, and stars Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson, Bryan Cranston, and Patrick Stewart.

Given that it was based on one of the most popular video games of all time, 2021’s Mortal Kombat was underwhelming, to say the least. I had no interest in watching the sequel. Until, that is, I saw that it starred Karl Urban as a washed up Johnny Cage. That, combined with the return of Tadanobu Asano, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Joe Taslim — as Raiden, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero/Noob Saibot, respectively — is enough to pique my curiosity.

Very little is known about this upcoming film, but any time Steven Spielberg drops a film, it’s an event worth noting. We know that it’s a UFO film, which obviously brings to mind 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, one of Spielberg’s most iconic works. And we also know that it boasts a solid cast that includes Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, and Colin Firth.

By now, any time Christopher Nolan announces a film, it’s a pretty big deal. This time, however, he’s revisiting one of the most famous epics of all time: Homer’s Odyssey. Not surprisingly, Nolan’s film is packed with talent, starting with Matt Damon as the legendary Odysseus, who undergoes a long and arduous journey home following his exploits in the Trojan War. The Odyssey also stars Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, and many more.

When last we saw the ol’ Webhead in 2021’s No Way Home, he managed to save the world, but only by erasing himself from the memories of everyone — including his friends and loved ones. But Spider-Man can’t help being Spider-Man, so he continues to fight crime in a world that’s forgotten all about him. Tom Holland returns as Spidey, as does Zendaya as his beloved MJ. Several other Marvel heroes are expected to show up, as well, including The Punisher, The Hulk, and Daredevil.

In 2014, writer/director David Robert Mitchell burst onto the scene with It Follows. He’s only released one film since then, 2018’s Under the Silver Lake. With next year’s Flowervale Street, he teams up with Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor to tell an ’80s-set story about a family that begins to experience strange phenomena in their suburban neighborhood.

Originally scheduled for a 2023 release, Coyote vs. Acme was shelved and destined for oblivion so that Warner Bros. could get a tax write-off. Thankfully, the film — which generated considerable buzz in the meantime — was eventually sold to Ketchup Entertainment, who also released 2024’s The Day the Earth Blew Up. Based on a 1990 article from The New Yorker, Coyote vs. Acme finds Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme Corporation after their products consistently fail to capture the Road Runner, and instead, keep blowing up in his face. Will Forte and John Cena star as the hapless coyote’s lawyer and Acme’s high-powered attorney, respectively.

David Leitch (The Fall Guy, John Wick) teams up with Nicholas Hoult, Anna Sawai, John C. Reilly, and Christian Slater in this film about a group of bank robbers who use social media to document their heists. Given Leitch’s previous films, it’s safe to say that How to Rob a Bank is going to feature some pretty crazy action sequences, though this one also promises some humor and social commentary.

We’re big fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender here at Opus HQ. The original Nickelodeon animated television series, of course, and none of the remakes. But an animated sequel set in the time period between the original Avatar series and The Legend of Korra? Consider me intrigued.

Video games don’t make for the best movies, and that’s doubly true for fighting video games — as anyone who saw 2021’s Mortal Kombat can attest to. But Kitao Sakurai’s upcoming adaptation of Street Fighter, which consumed many of my quarters back in high school, looks like it could be pretty entertaining based solely on the cast alone. Andrew Koji as Ryu. David Dastmalchian as M. Bison. Cody Rhodes as Guile. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog. Jason Momoa as Blanka. Orville Peck(!) as Vega. The mind boggles.

A new Aardman title is always cause for celebration here at Opus HQ. The stop-motion animation studio has released a number of delightful titles over the years, and for Halloween 2026, they’re returning to Mossy Bottom Farm. After the sheeps’ beloved pumpkin patch is destroyed, Shaun sets out to fix the problem. But before too long, a strange monster is threatening the sheep and their beloved farm. As with any Aardman title, expect loads of stop-motion hijinks and hilarity.

I’m sure it ruffled a few people’s feathers when it was announced that Greta Gerwig, hot off the success of 2023’s Barbie, would be venturing into the land of Narnia for Netflix. But Gerwig has established herself as a solid filmmaker thanks to acclaimed films like Lady Bird, Little Women, and yes, Barbie. Plus, I’m curious to see what she does with this, one of the stranger entries in C. S. Lewis’s beloved fantasy series, which chronicles the creation of Narnia and the origins of the White Witch.

The previous Jumanji films starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart were surprisingly enjoyable action/adventure comedies, with plenty of riffs on Indiana Jones and video games. The upcoming third film is being billed as the biggest one yet, though nothing’s been released concerning the story. Still, given how the last two films turned out, I’m looking forward to Jumanji 3 being another fun romp.

Originally, Kang the Conqueror was set up to be the big bad for the MCU’s “Multiverse Saga,” but following the abuse allegations leveled at Jonathan Majors, Marvel pivoted to another iconic villain. Indeed, perhaps the most iconic Marvel villain of all: Doctor Doom. Given how tepid the MCU’s recent phases have been, it’ll be interesting to see if this big tentpole manages to capture the same scope as Avengers: Infinity War. The cast is certainly big enough, including Chris Hemsworth, Vanessa Kirby, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Florence Pugh, and most interesting of all, Robert Downey Jr., who’s exchanging Iron Man’s suit of armor for that of Doom’s.

Denis Villeneuve’s two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune is, without a doubt, some of the best sci-fi cinema in recent history thanks to the incredible visuals, far future storyline, and Hans Zimmer’s otherworldly soundtrack. Villeneuve returns to the planet of Arrakis one more time to adapt Herbert’s Dune Messiah and complete Paul Atreides’ story, as the young noble-turned-revolutionary deals with the religious war he’s unleashed upon the universe. Timothée Chalamet returns as Paul alongside Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Jason Momoa, and Rebecca Ferguson as Paul’s mother, the Lady Jessica.

Back in 2022, Kane Parsons posted a series of short films on his YouTube channel about a bizarre space known as the Backrooms, which emerged out of internet meme culture. Despite their obvious low budget, Parsons’ films developed a cult following, and now he’s directing a feature length version starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mark Duplass. In it, a therapist must venture into a bizarre dimension that exists outside reality to save one of her patients.

While evacuating the 2025 Palisades fires, director Tamra Davis discovered a cache of videotapes that she shot back in 1995 at the Summersault music festival in Australia. The concert footage features some of the era’s biggest bands, including Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, and Foo Fighters, while punk icon Kathleen Hanna interviews figures like Kim Gordon and Dave Grohl. The ’90s music nostalgia will definitely be strong with this one, which is scheduled to have its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance festival.

“A brave girl and her friends must escape a kids television show.” That’s all that’s been released about Buddy to date. But given that it’s from the same guy who gave us Too Many Cooks, and its cast includes Cristin Milioti, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt, Buddy is certainly intriguing. I’ll be keeping an eye on any news and reviews that emerge from the 2026 Sundance festival, where Buddy will have its world premier.

Not to be confused with the 2025 Russian monster movie of the same name, Norway’s Kraken is set amongst the country’s beautiful fjords — which might just harbor a mythical sea creature. And it’s up to a marine biologist to figure out what’s going on and put a stop to it before the body count spirals out of control.

Jeremy Saulnier knocked it out of the park with 2024’s Rebel Ridge, so I’m amped to see his next, a horror action thriller starring Cory Michael Smith, Chase Sui Wonders, Sophie Wilde, and Imogen Poots. No plot details have been announced other than the film takes place on Halloween. But Saulnier has established himself as a solid genre filmmaker, so it’s a no-brainer to add his newest film to my list.

Keanu Reeves stars as a washed up Hollywood star named Reef Hawk who’s trying to outrun his past in this dark comedy by Jonah Hill, who also stars as Hawk’s lawyer. The fact that Reeves’ character is named Reef Hawk is reason enough to check this one out, but it doesn’t hurt that he’s also joined by Cameron Diaz, Matt Bomer, David Spade, and the one and only Martin Scorsese.

Brad Bird (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) first began working on his Ray Gunn project back in the ’90s, describing it as an noir detective film set in an alternate future, like a mashup between The Maltese Falcon and Buck Rogers. After several decades, Bird is finally getting a chance to make his long-gestating project via Netflix, even passing on writing and directing Incredibles 3 to do so. The animated film will feature the voices of Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, and John Ratzenberger.

A film about the life of Jesus by Terrence Malick? ‘Nuff said. But for the record, The Way of the Wind stars Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Kingsley, Mark Rylance, and Joseph Fiennes, and was filmed in Germany and Israel.

When crows kidnap her infant brother, young Prue McKeel and her classmate Curtis Mehlberg must venture into a magical forest near their Portland homes in order to save him. Wildwood is the latest title from Laika, whose previous films include the critically acclaimed Kubo and the Two Strings and Coraline. The film’s voice cast includes Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Jake Johnson, and Angela Bassett.