I haven't really put together a proper "Most Anticipated" list in several years, but this year it has served as something of a much needed reprieve from everything else going on in life. Typically, I would feel rushed to post something like this immediately after the new year, but being able to comb through the 2026 calendar, discover projects I had no idea about prior, and contemplate what many of these titles might turn out like has made me really hopeful about what I can look forward to at the theater this year. Sure, movie-going is in a bigger state of flux than it's ever been in my lifetime and as much as the future of not just cinema but moreso - the cinemas - is unknown, it feels deeply difficult not to celebrate movies in the moment and be excited about where the trends and turns of the industry might take us next.
That all to say, it was quite difficult whiddling this list down to only ten titles given some of the huge releases slated for this year. The hardest cut was undoubtedly Avengers: Doomsday given I'm naturally excited to see what that film turns out to be, but after seven years of what has become an on/off and at times oversaturated relationship with the MCU, there is more anxiety around the latest Marvel Studios release than there is necessarily excitement. Other tough cuts include new films from Gore Verbinski, Andrew Stanton, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Robert Eggers, Sam Raimi, Emerald Fennell, Ruben Östlund, David Lowery, Ridley Scott, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Boots Riley, Nicolas Winding Refn, Olivia Wilde, Zach Cregger, and Greta Gerwig. That's a wide range of types of filmmakers, many who are attempting something different than what they've done in the past - whether that be in genre, budget, or adaptation - but the truth of the matter is that each of their styles and/or past films have given whatever they touch going forward an immediate air of intrigue.
On the topic of sequels, I'm personally excited for some of the horror sequels like Scream 7, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Evil Dead Burn, Thread: An Insidious Tale, and Scary Movie 6 (does that count?) as well as some original horror like The Backrooms, Victorian Psycho, Other Mommy, Hokum, Lee Cronin's The Mummy, Obsession, They Will Kill You and next month's Psycho Killer. Other major releases that are intriguing include Street Fighter (the casting!) and Masters of the Universe (the casting?), David O. Russell's Madden, Takashi Yamazaki's follow-up to his 2023 breakout hit in Godzilla Minus Zero, a Cliffhanger remake from Jaume Collet-Serra, David Leitch's How to Rob a Bank, Netflix's Here Comes the Flood starring Denzel Washington, Daisy Edgar Jones, and Robert Pattinson, a new Guy Ritchie flick titled Wife and Dog, and the Daniel Kraus adaptation Whalefall starring Josh Brolin, Austin Abrams, Jane Levy, and Elisabeth Shue. There are even a few major studio comedies being released this year which is always refreshing and hopefully a sign the world will begin to heal sooner rather than later. Nate Bargatze's The Breadwinner, the Sacha Baron Cohen-produced Ladies First, the high-concept One Night Only from director Will Gluck (Easy A, Friends with Benefits, Anyone But You), I Want Your Sex starring Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, and Johnny Knoxville certainly sounds intriguing though I don't really have a relationship with director Gregg Araki's previous work. Amanda Peet returns in the seemingly small indie Fantasy Life, Hairspray's Adam Shankman and RuPaul team up for Stop! That! Train!, and Jonah Hill's sophomore effort in Cut Off co-starring Kristen Wiig drops this summer while Maude Apatow makes her directorial debut with Poetic License. Finally, closing things out the way this paragraph began, some anticipated comedy sequels coming out this year see The Broken Lizard guys returning once more with Super Troopers 3, Johnny Knoxville and the gang surprising us with Jackass 5, and Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller returning alongside Ariana Grande and Skyler Gisondo sixteen years after the last installment (twenty-six years after the original) for Focker In-Law.
Some titles that almost made the list but fell just short inlcude Luca Guadagnino's Artificial, John Patton Ford's (Emily the Criminal) How to Make a Killing and J.J. Abrams' The Great Beyond both starring Glenn Powell. Austin Butler and Jeremy Allen White team-up in Enemies about a solitary hitman and a detective who discover unexpected similarities between one another. I'm also hoping Jeremy Saulnier's October lands a release date soon as Rebel Ridge was one of my favorites of 2024. Jane Schoenbrun follows-up I Saw the TV Glow with the plainly descriptive Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma whereas writer/director Tony Gilroy finally returns to directing movies for the first time since 2012 with Behemoth! James Gray also returns with Paper Tiger starring Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller, and Adam Driver while Zendaya and Robert Pattinson star in The Drama. Maybe more out of curiosity than excitement, after being acquired by Ketchup Entertainment from Warner Bros. who had previously shelved the live-action/animated Coyote vs. Acme despite its completion, making it a global theatrical release on August 28th rather than a streaming project. And of course there are always those that remain undated that we have to wonder whether we'll end up seeing this year or not. This year's batch includes Joel Coen's Jack of Spades, Danny Boyle's Ink, Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine, Sam Esmail's Panic Carefully, Andrew Haigh's A Long Winter, Tom Ford's Cry to Heaven, Anthony Maras' Pressure, Lance Oppenheim's Primetime, Paul Schrader's The Basics of Philosophy, Brad Bird's Ray Gunn, and Werner Herzog's Bucking Fastard. With all of that, let's get into the nitty-gritty...
10. Power Ballad - Sing Street was one of my favorite films not just of 2016 but easily of the last decade so any time John Carney has a new project in the works I'm eager to see what he's been up to. Premiering at SXSW this March and starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas, Power Balled is billed as an uplifting, music-driven story (duh) about a wedding singer, a rock star, and the song that comes between them. Rudd plays Rick who is a washed-up wedding singer while Jonas plays Danny, a fading boy band star who bond with one another over music and a late-night jam session. When Danny turns Rick's song into a hit, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves. While 2023's Flora and Son didn't necessarily set the world ablaze there is something about the mix at play here that seems like it could make the film a surprise, feel-good flick of the spring/summer - especially if the titular song in question is a hit outside the film itself. It will be interesting to see how many hallmarks of Carney's work this carries - Irish setting, romantic angle, complicated family dynamics - while seeming as if it could play a little more to the mainstream crowds. Whatever the case may be, Jack Reynor is back so we'll at least get a few gems from their second collaboration. The film is currently set for a June 5, 2026 release via Lionsgate.
8. Remain - In what is probably the oddest title but maybe the one I'm most fascinated by on this list, Remain is a film adaptation of a novel co-authored by M. Night Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks (yes, that Nicholas Sparks) and directed by Shyamalan for the screen. The idea originated from a brainstorming session between the two storytellers in 2023, with Shyamalan's supernatural concept forming the basis though it does sound like Sparks largely authored the novel while Shyamalan penned the screenplay. The story focuses on a New York architect hilariously named Tate Donovan (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is dealing with the loss of his sister...who could see spirits. The narrative will obviously combine romance and paranormal elements - each of the collaborator's specialties - as it follows Tate to Cape Cod where he is set to design his best friend's summer home. Naturally, after taking up residence at a historic bed-and-breakfast on the Cape, Tate encounters a beautiful young woman named Wren (Phoebe Dynevor) who challenges every assumption he has about his logical and controlled world leading him to confront his sister's...abilities. Tracy Ifeachor, Maria Dizzia, Jay O. Sanders, Julie Hagerty, and Ashley Walters of Adolesence also star. The film is set to be released on October 23, 2026 via Warner Brothers.
6. Digger - Tom Cruise and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu team up to tell the story of the most powerful man in the world who embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is actually humanity's savior before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything. Branded as a "comedy of catastrophic proportions" there is really no way of knowing what else to expect from Digger other than what the poster and teaser have given us: a title, a vibe, and a Gorillaz track. What makes this latest character study from Iñárritu beyond engaging is the fact it will be Cruise's first non-franchise film since American Made in 2017 and I'm assuming his first film not centered around action and/or him doing some type of stunt work since 2012's Rock of Ages (though one could argue there was plenty of stunt work going on there). If this is the beginning of Cruise's late career phase where he does in fact focus on more character-centric stories while working with auteur filmmakers then consider me both psyched and hopeful this is a great first step in that direction. Digger is set to be released on October 2, 2026 via Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros.
5. Dune: Part Three - When it comes to Frank Herbert's series of books surrounding Paul Atreides I had no point of reference prior to Denis Villeneuve's two part adaptation of the landmark 1965 science fiction novel. Those adaptations were among some of the best films released in their respective years and undoubtedly some of the best big-budget, sci-fi moviemaking we've seen this century. For all of the build-up and hubbub around Atreides AKA "Muad'dib" in the last film as well as around Timothée Chalamet in everything since, all that I've heard or read about where Herbert took the narrative in his follow-up tells me this isn't going to be a trilogy in the vein of the traditional hero's journey many will expect. The Dune series, or at least the films, have thus far managed to maintain a good balance of heady ideas and bizarre details that add unexpected but engaging levels of intrigue and though it may not be the introduction to the genre Star Wars was for so many generations, those who are lucky enough to receive said introduction via Villeneuve's series will certainly be more critical in their approach to traditional archetypes. Personally, regardless of expectation, I'm excited to join Paul and the gang as he brings to fruition the ancient scheme to create a superbeing ruler among men. Currently, the film is set to open on December 18, 2026 opposite Avengers: Doomsday though I suspect Dune: Part Three will be the one to budge and that release date will change - hopefully being moved up rather than being delayed.
4. Disclosure Day - Steven Spielberg returns. That could be the whole of the reasoning for why Disclosure Day is high on anyones list, but what makes Spielberg's first film since '22 even more notable is that it not only marks the filmmaker's return to moviemaking but moviemaking of a certain type, in a certain area of interest, which is - of course - a science fiction story dealing in life beyond the stars. The logline for the film presents viewers with a question intended to bring the most basic of reasonings to what is literally an out of this world scenario. If you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? It's an alluring prompt phrased as such to invoke mystery and wonder which are two things Spielberg has always balanced exceptionally. The teaser tailer that premiered just over a month ago gave away very little of what might be happening in the film (if anything, it probably muddied the water even more) but what it did do was whet the appetitie for those that either grew up on Spielberg's sci-fi epics of the '70's and '80's or came to know them through the generational love for what is widely considered the auteur's golden era. Spielberg will turn 80 before the end of this calendar year and while The Fabelmans would have been a fitting finale for his illustrious career it makes sense that the man who invented the summer blockbuster would bring things full circle and attempt to revitalize the good ole days when the name Steven Spielberg was synonymous with the cinematic event of the summer. In other words, bring on the popcorn! Universal Pictures is set to release the film on June 12, 2026.
No real plot details have been released other than it is excpected to take place a few years after OUATIH and Fincher’s go-to cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt took over for Robert Richardson who served as director of photography on Tarantino's film. Outside of Pitt returning, the film also stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Elizabeth Debicki, Carla Gugino, Timothy Olyphant, Holt McCallany, Peter Weller, Scott Caan, and Corey Fogelmanis though it has also been speculated Leo DiCaprio's Rick Dalton will appear in some capacity. We're not seeing the forest for the trees here though, which is to say this is a new David Fincher movie and a Fincher movie I wouldn't have necessarily thought he'd pick to add to his filmography that was written by Quentin Tarantino, an auteur who has teased us about his tenth and final film so many different times at this point that it's simply refreshing something of his has actually been made, and will (hopefully) become available to be seen sooner rather than later. While it may still be a mystery as to when we'll be able to see the film there is no uncertainty around when I will have tickets to (again, hopefully) see The Adventures of Cliff Booth in a movie theater: day one.
Which is also why there has been such fever-like anticipation for how this film would portray everyone involved, how it would look and characterize the events of the different time periods of Jackson's life, and how it would streamline the man's story given it was always going to be a cradle to grave biopic. Both the teaser and full trailers have been reassuring in the way they both remix, utilize, and edit to Jackson's extensive catalogue of music and the casting seems to have made all the best choices in an effort to make what could have come off as cartoonish as credible as can be. Beginning with hiring Jackson's own nephew, 29 year-old Jaafar who is the son of Jermaine, who seems to have captured not only the voice and style of his late uncle but most critically, his essence. Colman Domingo as the patriarchal Joe and Kendrick Sampson as Quincy Jones also seem to be spot-on. While there has been much discussion around the production and release of the film as it has been delayed multiple times due to disagreements over both content and length (apparently there was a first cut in excess of 3½ hours) among countless rumors about this being the first part of a two-part film, the second film's rumored title simply being Jackson. As cool as that would be and as much as the trailers thus far seem to solely focus on Jackson's life only up to a certain point, all we know for sure is that Michael will finally get a global theatrical release on April 24, 2026 via Lionsgate and Universal Pictures.
1. The Odyssey - Though I certainly considered switching my number one and two spots several times, if I'm being true to myself there's no year where a Christopher Nolan film is released where I'm anticipating anything more. Nolan's adaptation of Homer's epic about Odysseus facing a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca after the Trojan War is easily the most enticing movie of the year. Whether it's wondering what direction Nolan will go in when depicting creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus, the Sirens, and Circe along the way or how such an expansive and well-known cast will pull off such an expansive and well-known story, nearly every angle offers intrigue. What Nolan would follow-up his Best Picture winner and box office behemoth with was also always going to be subject to fascination and in many ways The Odyssey feels like the only natural route to take. What does one do after seemingly reaching the mountain top critically and commerically? Well, adapt one of the oldest surviving works of literature that still resonates with modern audiences as a poem of epic proportions, right? Nolan's film - this time shot exclusively on IMAX cameras - will undoubtedly be the biggest event of the summer, will undoubtedly resonate as an epic across the board, and if everything goes really well will end up being one of the best films of the year for many moviegoers. Starring a who's who of Hollywood's biggest names featuring Matt Damon in the lead role, Tom Holland as Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Robert Pattinson as Antinous, Zendaya as Athena, Charlize Theron as Circe, Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, Jon Bernthal as Menelaus, Mia Goth as Melantho, John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, and Himesh Patel as Eurylochus, along with Lupita Nyong'o, Elliot Page, James Remar, Logan Marshall-Green, Samantha Morton, and Bill Irwin in unnamed roles. The film will be released on July 17, 2026 via Universal Pictures and Syncopy.
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