{"id":222035,"date":"2026-01-01T17:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T17:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/222035\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T17:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T17:45:10","slug":"films-that-could-debut-at-festivals-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/222035\/","title":{"rendered":"Films That Could Debut At Festivals 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tHappy New Year! Goodbye 2025 and hello 2026. As the Deadline team catches its breath before hitting the global film festival circuit once again later this month, here is our annual (non-exhaustive) list of U.S. and international movies we believe\/hope will make the cut. As in our previous prediction lists, we\u2019ve focused on titles that have already started filming or are in post-production and which haven\u2019t yet been announced for a festival.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s always great interest in which studio movies could grace Cannes<\/a>, Venice<\/a> and other A-list festivals<\/a>. We hear movies unlikely to debut on the Croisette, despite their early summer launch dates, include Steven Spielberg\u2019s UFO film Disclosure Day (June 12 launch) and Disney\/Pixar sequel Toy Story 5 (June 19). Christopher Nolan\u2019s red-hot epic The Odyssey (July 17) is surely opening as a standalone summer blockbuster, with the director eschewing festival launches for many years. And just imagine the studio costs associated with getting all that talent to the Riviera! That leaves Cannes potentially short-handed in terms of major studio launches. But Thierry Fr\u00e9maux often works magic so let\u2019s see. There will still be plenty of high-profile pictures to choose from, as our list below reveals. <\/p>\n

\n\tLooking to the fall festivals, Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s newly titled Digger<\/a>, starring Tom Cruise looks possible for Venice, while Dune: Part Three has been dated for December 18, so seems to be removed from festival contention. There\u2019s also a question mark over Netflix\u2019s anticipated The Adventures Of Cliff Booth. David Fincher is reportedly still filming into January so he\u2019d have to go some to be ready for a summer release (which was reported in one trade) but we hear that Venice or another fall fest isn\u2019t off the table. Netflix often has a healthy contingent on the Lido, and Fincher\u2019s last film (also for Netflix), The Killer, launched at the Italian jamboree, while two of his last five films debuted at the New York Film Festival. Tom Ford\u2019s starry drama Cry To Heaven is due to film into the early spring and hasn\u2019t set a studio partner yet so seems unlikely to be ready for a 2026 launch.<\/p>\n

\n\tCheck out our list below.<\/p>\n

\n\tPaper Tiger
Adam Driver, Miles Teller and Scarlett Johansson star in James Gray\u2019s New York-set crime drama about two brothers whose pursuit of the American Dream puts them on the wrong side of the Russian mafia. Expectations are high for a premiere in Cannes, where Gray has already debuted five features including last film Armageddon Time. Producer Rodrigo Teixeira proclaimed to Deadline in December <\/a>that Paper Tiger is Gray\u2019s best film ever.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Entertainment System is Down
Ruben \u00d6stlund\u2019s new film is one of the most anticipated independent pictures of the year thanks to its high-profile ensemble cast<\/a> and the Swedish director\u2019s Cannes Palme d\u2019Or and Oscar nomination track-record. The dark satire is set on a flight between England and Australia on which the entertainment system fails, forcing the passengers to keep themselves occupied over the course of the long-haul journey. The large ensemble cast features Kirsten Dunst<\/a>, Daniel Br\u00fchl, Keanu Reeves, Nicholas Braun, Samantha Morton and Tobias Menzies.<\/p>\n

\n\tA Girl\u2019s Story
Judith Godr\u00e8che rocked the French cinema world in 2024 with sexual abuse accusations <\/a>against directors Beno\u00eet Jacquot and Jacques Doillon, turbo-charging France\u2019s MeToo movement in the process. She is now gearing up to unveil her feature directorial debut adapted from Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux\u2019s\u00a0autobiographical novel. Val\u00e9rie Dr\u00e9ville, Tess Barth\u00e9l\u00e9my,\u00a0Ma\u00efw\u00e8ne Barth\u00e9l\u00e9my and Anna Mouglalis\u00a0lead the ensemble cast bringing Ernaux\u2019s flashbacks to life as she reminisces during a book-signing trip that triggers memories of the pivotal summer of 1958. Godr\u00e8che, who has been a regular guest in Cannes as an actress, hit the festival as a director in 2023 with short film Moi Aussi.<\/p>\n

\n\t1949
After a lengthy break, Oscar-winning Polish filmmaker Pawe\u0142 Pawlikowski is back with this Cold War drama co-starring Hanns Zischler and Sandra H\u00fcller<\/a> as writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika, an actress, journalist, and rally driver. Based on the 2021 novel\u00a0The Magician\u00a0by\u00a0Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn, the feature follows the Manns on a road trip they took across Germany in 1949 from\u00a0Frankfurt in\u00a0West Germany to\u00a0Weimar,\u00a0East Germany. Pawlikowski was last on the festival in 2018 with Cold War which played in competition in Cannes and was then nominated for three Oscars.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tOut of This World<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAndergraun Films<\/p>\n

\n\tOut of This World
After Tahiti-set Pacification and bullfighting doc Afternoons of Solitude, Cannes and San Sebastian regular Albert Serra delves into geopolitics, with this tale of an American delegation on a mission to Russia during the Ukrainian war. Riley Keough features in the cast alongside F. Murray Abraham, Evgeniya Gromova and Liza Yankovskaia.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Adventures Of Cliff Booth
First revealed by Deadline in June<\/a>, Netflix\u2019s film continues the story of Brad Pitt\u2019s character from\u00a0Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. David Fincher directs, with Quentin Tarantino\u2019s blessing<\/a> and the latter\u2019s script. Also in the cast are Yahya Abdul-Mateen, Elizabeth Debicki, Carla Cugino and Scott Caan. What\u2019s not to like? The fall festivals would kill to have the movie. Netflix always has a healthy contingent on the Lido. Could this be part of the 2026 class?<\/p>\n

\n\tDigger
Warner Bros and Legendary\u2019s new\u00a0Tom Cruise<\/a>\u00a0movie directed by four-time Oscar winner Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1\u00e1rritu has newly been titled\u00a0Digger<\/a>\u00a0and will hit theaters on Oct 2, 2026 \u2014 that\u2019s the prized frame where Warner Bros\/DC\u2019s\u00a0Joker\u00a0bowed in 2019 after world premiering in Venice. Expectations are high for the film described as \u201ca comedy of catastrophic proportions.\u201d Fall festivals are likely in the discussion at the moment.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Unknown
French director Arthur Harari drew widespread praise for Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle, which premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2021, and then shared the Best Original Screenplay Oscar with Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall in 2024. His third feature adapts his graphic novel The Case of David Zimmerman, co-written with brother Lucas Harari. The fantasy drama revolves around the titular David, a reclusive photographer who wakes up on New Year\u2019s Day to find himself in the body of a woman he clocked at a party the previous night. The cast features L\u00e9a Seydoux and Niels Schneider.<\/p>\n

\n\tGentle Monster
Austrian director Marie Kreutzer won acclaim for historical drama Corsage, starring Vicky Krieps as Empress Elisabeth of Austria, or Sisi, which played in Un Certain Regard in 2022 and was then Austria\u2019s Oscar entry. Her new drama stars L\u00e9a Seydoux<\/a> as a renowned pianist who relocates with her family to the countryside and then uncovers a life-shattering truth that forces her to confront the complexities of love and trust. The cast also features Jella Haase (Chantal in Fairyland), Laurence Rupp (Veni, Vidi, Vici) and Catherine Deneuve.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRosalind Eleaza<\/p>\n

\n\tMisty Green\u00a0(working title)
Rosalind Eleazar\u00a0(Slow Horses) stars<\/a> as talented actress Misty Green who is attempting to re-set a career derailed by her vices in this original feature written and directed by Chris Rock. The stand-up and actor also appears in the role of film director Jordan (Rock), who offers Misty a role that would be perfect for her if it were not for their contentious past. The cast also features Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, and Anna Kendrick.<\/p>\n

\n\tParallel Tales
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi returns to France for a second time after 2013 couple drama The Past. His new French-language drama gathers a high-profile ensemble cast<\/a> topped by Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Adam Bessa, with Catherine Deneuve also putting in a brief appearance. The film\u2019s storyline was being kept under wraps until Cassel revealed in an interview over the summer that it is inspired by the Paris 2015 terror attacks and that he plays a S.W.A.T officer. Farhadi, who won Oscars for his Iran-set features A Separation (2012) and The Salesman (2018,) vowed in 2024 that he would no longer make films at home until the country\u2019s Islamic Republic government lifts draconian rules around women\u2019s rights and attire.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCristian Mungiu on the set of Fjord<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoodfellas<\/p>\n

\n\tFjord \u00a0
Romanian director Cristian Mungiu\u2019s English-language debut co-stars Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice) and Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) as a Romanian and Norwegian couple whose plans for a new life in the wife\u2019s native fjord village come up against neighbors with a very different outlook on life. The film, which features some Romanian dialogue, also marks a first for Stan who was born in Romania but has never acted in his native language, having grown up in Austria and then the U.S. Mungiu has played in competition at Cannes four times, winning the Palme d\u2019Or for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days in 2007; Best Screenplay for Beyond The Hills in 2012 and Best Director for Graduation in 2016. He told Deadline in December that he is aiming for a Cannes berth <\/a>once again.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt The Sea & Place To Be
Hungarian director Korn\u00e9l Mundrucz\u00f3\u2019s Hollywood currency rose in 2020 with English-language debut Pieces of a Woman after Vanessa Kirby was Oscar-nominated for her performance in the film. It remains to be seen whether Amy Adams <\/a>will enjoy a similar trajectory as the star of his latest movie about a woman who takes refuge in her family\u2019s beach home after a major life setback. Mundrucz\u00f3 is set for a high-profile 2026 with a second film, Place To Be, starring Ellen Burstyn and Taika Waititi<\/a>, also currently in post-production.<\/p>\n

\n\tA Family
Carice van Houten, Pieter Embrechts, and rising young talents Celeste Holsheimer and Finn Vogels co-star in this intimate Dutch-language portrait of two siblings caught in the emotional crossfire of their parents\u2019 divorce, unfolding their story from mirrored perspectives as they navigate loyalty, heartbreak and the fragile path back to love. It is the second feature from Netherlands filmmaker Mees Peijnenburg, whose debut\u00a0Paradise Drifters\u00a0premiered at the 2020 Berlinale.<\/p>\n

\n\tWolfram
Indigenous Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton\u2019s new movie is billed as a period western set on the 1930s colonial frontier. It follows three Aboriginal children who escape brutal servitude in the wolfram mines and embark on a dangerous journey across Central Australia in search of safety and a future they can call their own. Thornton won the Cannes Cam\u00e9ra d\u2019Or for his first film Samson and Delilah in 2009 and was back at the festival in 2023 with The New Boy starring Cate Blanchett.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tLove Is Not the Answer
Juno and Superbad star Michael Cera makes his feature directorial debut<\/a> with this absurdist comedy exploring modern loneliness and the search for connection Pamela Anderson, Steve Coogan, and Jamie Dornan star with further cast members including Lucas Hedges, Julia Best Warner and Shirley Henderson. Deadline is told it could be ready in time for a 2026 festival splash.<\/p>\n

\n\tDeli Love
A regular on the festival circuit with her short films which include Chopping Onions, Cheer Up Baby and Moving, New York-based filmmaker Adinah Dancyger taps into her Korean and Polish roots for this debut feature revolving around an unlikely bond forged between a Korean deli owner and a Polish-Jewish artist in her home city in the 1980s and continued against the odds across decades.<\/p>\n

\n\tLove Lessons
Fabrice Luchini, who won Best Actor in Venice for his performance in 2015 courtroom drama Courted, stars as a lonely retired literature teacher who reinvents his life in French writer-director Martin Provost\u2019s eighth movie. Other cast include Chiara Mastroianni, Emmanuelle Devos and Carole Bouquet.\u00a0Provost, whose credits include S\u00e9raphine,\u00a0The Midwife,\u00a0How to Be a Good Wife, was last in Cannes in 2023 with artist biopic Bonnard, Pierre & Marthe.<\/p>\n

\n\tA Long Winter
Riding high on the reception for All of Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh has gathered one of his buzziest casts to date \u2013 featuring Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear), Caitriona Balfe<\/a> The Amateur, Fred Hechinger (Marty Supreme), Kit Connor (Warfare)<\/a>, and D\u2019Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai<\/a> (Caught Stealing) \u2013 for this mountain-set tale of a family preparing for a long winter ahead, against a backdrop of absence and regret. Adapted from the eponymous novella by Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn (Brooklyn, Return to Montauk), the drama began filming last October and hopes are high that it will be ready for a 2026 festival splash.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLes Miserables<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00a9 2026 Curiosa Films \u2013 Eskwad \u2013 Studiocanal \u2013 TF1 Films production \u2013 Photo by Christophe Brachet<\/p>\n

\n\tLes Mis\u00e9rables
France\u2019s Fred Cavay\u00e9 has promised an action-skewed revisiting <\/a>of Victor Hugo\u2019s Les Mis\u00e9rables with his French-language adaptation of the 1862 classic novel. Vincent Lindon co-stars as ex-convict and parole breaker turned benevolent industrialist Jean Valjean, opposite Tahar Rahim as his nemesis, Inspector Javert. Further cast members include Camille Cottin, Benjamin Lavernhe and No\u00e9mie Merlant.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Beloved
Javier Bardem stars as an acclaimed film director \u00a0who reunites with his unsuccessful actress daughter on a movie after years of estrangement in Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen\u2019s first movie in four years. Victoria Luengo (The Room Next Door) plays the daughter with other cast members including Ra\u00fal Ar\u00e9valo (Pain and Glory) and Marina Fo\u00efs, who starred in the Sorogoyen\u2019s 2022 Goya Best Film breakout The Beasts (As Bestas). In between times, the director made TV drama The New Years.<\/p>\n

\n\tFour Seasons in Java\u00a0
Indonesia director Kamila Andini\u2019s sixth feature revolves around a woman who returns home after spending more than a decade in prison for killing the man who raped her. Finding herself unwelcome and marginalized, she unites with other outcasts as she reconciles with her past and carves out a new life. Andini has shown nearly all her films at the Berlinale with her last feature Before, Now & Then premiering in competition in 2022. In between times, she made the award-winning Netflix show Cigarette Girl.<\/p>\n

\n\tJia Zhangke Untitled Project
Speaking to Deadline\u2019s Asia correspondent Liz Shackleton<\/a> at the Pingyao International Film Festival in September, Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke revealed he had written a screenplay for \u201ca road movie without cars\u201d following a journey across the China. He did not divulge further details but said he aimed to begin shooting in December 2025. The director was last on the festival circuit with Caught by the Tides which played in Cannes in competition.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Riley<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRiley Keough, Callum Turner<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJeff Vespa, Getty<\/p>\n

\n\tRosebush Pruning
Callum Turner and Riley Keough <\/a>top the cast of Karim A\u00efnouz\u2019s remake of Marco Bellochio\u2019s 1965 satitical drama about family dysfunction feature Fists in the Pocket. A\u00efnouz is directing script written by long time Yorgos Lathimos collobrator Efthimis Filippou. Brazilian and Algerian filmmaker A\u00efnouz\u2019s last three films \u2013 Motel Destino, Firebrand and The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao \u2013 all debuted in Cannes.<\/p>\n

\n\tLa Bola Negra
Spanish duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, who are known collectively as\u00a0Los Javos,<\/a> first made waves with genre-bending thriller\u00a0La Mesias. Their second feature is based on an unfinished play<\/a> by Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca and revolves around the interconnected stories of three men across three different eras. Pen\u00e9lope Cruz features in the cast alongside singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente, in his big-screen debut, Cannes Best Actress winner Lola Due\u00f1as (Volver).<\/p>\n

\n\tA Day In The Life Of Jo: Chapter Phaedra
Greek director Jacqueline Lentzou\u2019s second feature takes its cue from the unexpected death of a teenager in Athens, whose light does not go out. Lentzou previously made waves with 2021 first feature Moon, 66 Questions, which premiered in Berlin\u2019s Encounters section.<\/p>\n

\n\tFleur
French animation director R\u00e9mi Chay\u00e9\u2019s last film Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary won Best Film at the Annecy International Animation Festival in 2020. With animation increasingly getting a splash in mainstream festivals, we\u2019ve including his third animated feature in our list. Set in the beginning of the 20th Century, the work revolves around the fortunes of titular Fleur, a young girl who rebels against her life in a slum on the outskirts of Paris and seeks out the bright lights of the Belle Epoque capital. <\/p>\n

\n\tYellow Letters
Deadline\u2019s Baz Bamigboye reported in July 2024 that Ilker \u00c7atak <\/a>had wrapped production on his next feature,\u00a0Yellow Letters. \u00c7atak shot the film in secret and has been in post-production since then and is expected to hit the festival circuit this year The film follows a married actress and a professor of dramatic arts at the university in Ankara, whose lives are sent into a tailspin when they both lose their jobs due to \u201cstate arbitrariness\u201d.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJack O\u2019Connell In Ink<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDanny Boyle<\/p>\n

\n\tInk
Hot on the heels of 28 Years Later, Danny Boyle delves into the events surrounding Rupert Murdoch\u2019s acquisition of UK newspaper The Sun in 1969 and drive to make the then failing broadsheet into one of the country\u2019s most read newspapers. He directs from James Graham\u2019s adaptation of his Tony-nominated play of the same name. Guy Pearce plays Murdoch opposite Jack O\u2019Connell<\/a> as so-called tabloid king Albert \u201cLarry\u201d Lamb, the Yorkshire native hired to spearhead the newspaper\u2019s transformation. Boyle has debuted multiple films at festivals but not all.<\/p>\n

\n\tBitter Christmas
After winning the Golden Lion in Venice with\u00a0The\u00a0Room Next Door,\u00a0legendary Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar got straight back to work with\u00a0Bitter Christmas, a film about a woman who is abandoned by her partner during Christmas time. Almodovar reunites with Milena Smit and Rossy de Palma on the film, which is the Spanish giant\u2019s 25th feature project. The film is set for a March 20 launch in Spain, so could play Berlin and would be a significant coup for Berlin head Tricia Tuttle, although the Spanish release does not exclude it from a Cannes release.<\/p>\n

\n\tCoward
Set in World War One, Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont\u2019s latest feature follows soldiers trying to keep up their morale in the trenches. Stirred by wartime rhetoric, each of them seeks their own path. The film is currently set for a May 2026 release in the filmmaker\u2019s home country, so a Cannes debut is theoretically on the cards. Dhont was last at the festival in 2022 with Close, which debuted in competition and was then Oscar nominated as Belgium\u2019s entry that year.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tDe Gaulle 1 and 2 <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00a9 2026 Path\u00e9 Films, TF1 Films Production, Belv\u00e9d\u00e8re, Ness Film, Beside Productions, Auvergne Rh\u00f4ne Alpes Cin\u00e9ma<\/p>\n

\n\tDe Gaulle: Tilting Iron\u00a0&\u00a0De Gaulle: The Sovereign Edge
Diplomat-turned-director Antonin Baudry revisits decisive episodes of World War II through the eyes of General Charles de Gaulle. Simon Abkarian plays de Gaulle and is joined by an ensemble that includes Beno\u00eet Magimel, Mathieu Kassovitz, Niels Schneider and Karim Leklou, Florian Lesieur and Anamaria Vartolomei. Dated for release in France on June 10 and July 3, 2026, we would not be surprised to see at least the first part play Out of Competition in Cannes. Path\u00e9 released a teaser in late December<\/a> which promises a polished, high-octane movie.<\/p>\n

\n\tAll of a Sudden
Japanese Oscar-winning director Ryusuke Hamaguchi followed in the footsteps of compatriots Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Hirokazu Kore-eda to shoot his latest picture in Paris, with some scenes shot in Kyoto. French-Belgian actress Virginie Efira stars opposite and Japanese actress Tao Okamoto in the tale of the bond between a Japanese theater director and the French head of a nursing home. The drama is loosely based on published letters written by late philosopher Makiko Miyano in the wake of her diagnosis with breast cancer.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt Will Happen Tonight
Louis Garrel and Jasmine Trinca co-star in Italian director Nanni Moretti\u2019s romance unfolding in Rome, Turin, San Sebastian among other locations. The film is adapted from short story Hungry Heart by Israeli author\u00a0Eshkol Nevo, whose work previously inspired Moretti\u2019s 2021 film Three Floors Up. Cannes would be an obvious berth for Moretti, who has debuted 11 films at the festival, beginning with Ecce Bombo\u00a0in 1978, and including Dear Diary, for which he won best director in 1993, and Palme d\u2019Or-winning The Son\u2019s Room\u00a0in 2001.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhere To?
After a series of award-winning shorts including Auschwitz on My Mind and Seven Minutes, Israeli director Assaf Machnes makes his feature debut with this timely Berlin-set drama about a series of encounters between a reserved 55-year-old Palestinian Uber driver and a young, outspoken Israeli, who keeps getting lost in the city.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Uprising
Set during the English Peasants\u2019 Revolt of 1381, Paul Greengrass\u2019 period drama stars Andrew Garfield as legendary labourer-turned-rebel leader Wat Tyler. Principal photography began in September 2025, with filming taking place across multiple Bavarian and Franconian locations, as well as at the newly established Penzing Studios in Munich. Garfield is joined in the cast by Jamie Bell and Thomasin McKenzie among others.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tSoumsoum
Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun\u2019s new film unfolds in a village where a young woman named Kellou is troubled by haunting visions. Feeling different from everyone around her, her world shifts the day she meets outcast Aya.\u00a0 As the villagers turn against their budding friendship, Kellou must stand up for Aya and face the hostility of her own people, while fighting to hold on to her freedom. Haroun is one of Africa\u2019s most feted directors with notable films including A Dry Season, A Screaming Man and Lingui.<\/p>\n

\n\tArtificial
Fresh from their collaboration on After the Hunt, Luca Guadagnino and Andrew Garfield have reunited on this comedy drama set in the world of artificial intelligence and reportedly inspired by the company<\/a> OpenAI and the tumultuous few days 2023 in which founder and CEO Sam Altman was fired and then promptly rehired. Garfield is joined in the cast by Yura Borisov, Monica Barbaro, Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Hoffman, Ike Barinholtz, Cooper Koch, Billie Lourd, Zosia Mamet, and Chris O\u2019Dowd among others.<\/p>\n

\n\tJesse Eisenberg Untitled Musical
Jesse Eisenberg planted his flag as a serious director with 2024\u2019s\u00a0A Real Pain, which won an Oscar after its Sundance debut. He returns to director\u2019s chair with this untitled musical project starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti. A24 has picked up world rights on the project, which has largely been kept under wraps. We know nothing of its plot. However, production began in early 2025, so the film is theoretically prime for a 2026 debut.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Daigo<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tDaigo and Ayase Haruka in Kore-eda\u2019s \u2018Sheep In The Box\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u300c\u7bb1\u306e\u4e2d\u306e\u7f8a\u300d\u88fd\u4f5c\u59d4\u54e1\u4f1a<\/p>\n

\n\tSheep In The Box & Look Back
Japanese Cannes regular Hirokazu Kore-eda has two potential festival titles in the works. Sheep in the Box is is set in the near future in which a couple adopts a state-of-the-art humanoid as their son, while Look Back is adapted from Tatsuki Fujimoto\u2019s eponymous bestselling manga about two girls pursuing their dreams of becoming manga artists. Kore-eda is a regular at Cannes with Monster,\u00a0Broker,\u00a0Like Father, Like Son\u00a0and Palme d\u2019Or winner\u00a0Shoplifters, which went on to secure an Oscar nomination.<\/p>\n

\n\tBy Any Means
The cast for Elegance Bratton\u2019s latest feature is ridiculously stacked. The ensemble includes Mark Wahlberg,\u00a0Nicole Beharie<\/a>\u00a0(The Morning Show),\u00a0Giancarlo Esposito<\/a>\u00a0(Captain America: Brave New World),\u00a0Josh Lucas<\/a>\u00a0(Palm Royale),\u00a0David Strathairn<\/a>\u00a0(The Luckiest Man in America), Ethan Embry (Scream 7), LisaGay Hamilton (The Dropout), and LaChanze (The Outsiders). The film\u2019s plot follows a notorious mafia hitman and a young Black FBI agent who team up to investigate the murders of civil rights leaders in 1966 Mississippi.\u00a0By Any Means\u00a0will be one of the hottest fall 2026 titles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tEnemies
American filmmaker Henry Dunham is in a prime position to hit the fall festivals for the first time with his debut feature. \u00a0The film began shooting in May 2025, so it will likely be in a strong position by the new year. The film also stars contemporary leading men Jeremy Allen White and Austin Butler. The film follows a relentless detective and an infamous contract killer who collide in a deadly game of cat and mouse.<\/p>\n

\n\tI Play Rocky\u00a0
The tumultuous 1970s production of Sylvester Stallone\u2019s\u00a0Rocky\u00a0is getting the biopic treatment in\u00a0I Play Rocky\u00a0from Amazon MGM. The film stars Anthony Ippolito as a young Stallone. The film was deep in production in October 2025, according to Amazon, so it could be ready in time for a late fall festival debut.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tLast Days
Following successful runs at the Royal Opera House in London and the LA Phil, the English-language opera\u00a0Last Days\u00a0has been adapted for the big screen by artist and filmmaker\u00a0Matt Copson<\/a>, who co-created the original opera with Oliver Leith. Inspired by Gus Van Sant\u2019s 2005 film of the same name and financed by Mubi, Spain\u2019s AF Films, and LUMA, with additional support from Nina Pictures and Artemis Rising Foundation, the film stars\u00a0Agathe Rousselle<\/a>\u00a0(Titane) who also starred in the original opera production.<\/p>\n

\n\tFull Phil
France\u2019s maestro of the absurd Quentin Dupieux opened Cannes in 2024 with his film-within-a-film The Second Act. His latest feature co-stars Woody Harrelson as wealthy American industrialist Philip Doom who travels to Paris to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Kristen Stewart). The trip takes a strange turn thanks to French food, horror films and a stranger hotel employee. The cast also features Emma Mackey, Charlotte Le Bon, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim.<\/p>\n

\n\tWolves
Inspired by Lebanon\u2019s real-life 2019 economic collapse<\/a>, Rami Kodeih and Nora Mariana Salim\u2019s debut feature revolves around a young woman who decides to stage a bank heist when she \u00a0unable to withdraw her life\u2019s savings to pay for her sister\u2019s cancer treatment. The L.A.-based husband and wife team previously made waves with short films Alina and Maki & Zorro.<\/p>\n

\n\tOrient Adagio
After a high-profile 2025 for Palestinian cinema on the festival circuit thanks to films such as Palestine 36, All That\u2019s Left Of You and Once Upon A Time In Gaza, Maha Haj looks at another Palestinian reality through her third feature about a Palestinian filmmaker, born and raised in a refugee camp in Syria, who gets a residency in Paris to write his first feature. It\u2019s a dream come true, but the weight of events back home sends him into artistic paralysis. Haj is a regular on the festival circuit, with her first two films Personal Affairs and Mediterranean Fever both debuting in Cannes Un Certain Regard.<\/p>\n

\n\tBehemoth!
Tony Gilroy shot his first feature since 2017\u2019s The Bourne Legacy in 2025. Pedro Pascal leads a cast that also includes David Harbour, Eva Victor, and Olivia Wilde. Character details are under wraps, and the film\u2019s logline remains locked down for now, though Gilroy has shared in interviews that the story revolves around a cellist. Gilroy\u2019s star power alongside a strong cast will make this feature a hot title for festival curators.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWild Horse Nine
Martin McDonagh\u2019s long-gestating feature\u00a0Wild Horse Nine\u00a0began shooting in March 2025, making the project a likely candidate for the 2026 fall festivals. Venice is probably the most logical home for the film, considering McDonagh has debuted his last two films at the Italian festival. John Malkovich and Mark Ruffalo star alongside Sam Rockwell in the comedy-drama, which has been kept under wraps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSweetsick
A long shot, but still worth noting, Alice Birch began shooting Sweetsick, her debut feature as a director, in late 2025. The film stars Cate Blanchett and follows a mercurial woman (Blanchett) with a strange and piercing gift \u2013 the ability to see what others most intimately need, often at great personal cost \u2013 who sets out on a journey home.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere Comes the Flood
Denzel Washington<\/a>,\u00a0Robert Pattinson<\/a>, and\u00a0Daisy Edgar-Jones<\/a>\u00a0are starring in this Netflix heist film from\u00a0Fernando Meirelles<\/a>, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind\u00a0The Two Popes\u00a0and\u00a0City Of God. Written by Simon Kinberg, the film is described as an unconventional heist flick about a bank guard, a teller, and a master thief in a deadly game of cons and double crosses.<\/p>\n

\n\tTeenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson star<\/a> in this American horror from Jane Schoenbrun. The Plan B and Mubi co-pro follows a queer filmmaker who is hired to direct a new instalment of a slasher franchise. The director fixates on the prospect of casting the \u2018final girl\u2019 from the original movie, and the two women descend into a frenzy of psychosexual mania.<\/p>\n

Jack of Spades
The new film from Joel Coen shot in Scotland over the summer and features a high-profile cast including Josh O\u2019Connor<\/a>, Frances McDormand, Lesley Manville and Damian Lewis. Little has been revealed about the plot but the film is speculated to be a period mystery potentially set in the 1800s.<\/p>\n

Her Private Hell
Nicolas Winding Refn\u2019s first film since Neon Demon in 2016 shot in Tokyo and Copenhagen with a cast including Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Kristine Froseth, and Havana Rose Liu. Plot and character details have been kept under wraps but the filmmaker has strong ties to Cannes. Neon is repping rights and handling domestic distribution, which is another potential Cannes signpost.<\/p>\n

\n\tPossible Love
Burning\u00a0and\u00a0Secret Sunshine\u00a0director\u00a0Lee Chang-dong<\/a>\u00a0returns to directing after eight years. He reunites here with\u00a0Jeon Do-yeon<\/a>\u00a0who won the Best Actress prize at Cannes for their film\u00a0Secret Sunshine. The film follows the intertwined lives of two married couples leading completely opposite lives. As their worlds collide, fractures begin to appear in their daily existence. Netflix is behind the project so a fall festival is more likely than Cannes.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"'Bucking<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Bucking Fastard\u2019 stars Rooney Mara (left) and Kate Mara (right)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLena Herzog<\/p>\n

\n\tBucking Fastard
Werner Herzog\u2019s latest stars Kate and Rooney Mara, Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson. Filming wrapped in April on the project that marks the first time the Mara sisters have appeared on screen together. The movie charts the story of Jean and Joan Holbrooke, \u201ctwo sisters who are so close to each other that they speak in unison, love the same man, and have the same dreams. They even make the same slip of tongue in unison. In search of an imaginary land, the Orkneys \u2013 where true love is possible \u2013 they start digging a tunnel through an entire mountain range.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBad Lieutenant: Tokyo
This sounds a blast. Neon is aboard for the Takashi Miike update of the Bad Lieutenant IP starring\u00a0Shun Oguri<\/a>\u00a0(Godzilla v. Kong),\u00a0Lily James<\/a>\u00a0(Pam and Tommy), and WWE star Liv Morgan. The U.S. \u2013 Japan co-pro has partners including Jeremy Thomas for Recorded Picture Company, Sam Pressman for Pressman Film, Naoaki Kitajima for Nippon TV and Misako Saka for OLM. Written by Daisuke Tengan (13 Assassins), the film will follow a corrupt gambler (Oguri) in the Metropolitan Police Force, who finds himself thrown into a tangled case after an enigmatic FBI agent (James) arrives in Tokyo to investigate the disappearance of a politician\u2019s daughter (Morgan). Meanwhile, a deviant killer operating in the yakuza underworld seems to be shadowing their moves. Feels very Cannes.<\/p>\n

\n\tPerfect Girl
Adeline Rudolph<\/a>,\u00a0Arden Cho<\/a>,\u00a0May Hong<\/a>\u00a0and Jeon Somi are among cast for this psychological thriller set against the competitive world of K-pop. Billed as\u00a0Scream\u00a0meets\u00a0Black Swan, the film is based on a 2023 Black List script and centers on a brand-new K-Pop super group that\u2019s preparing to be launched to the world at a massive concert. A group of girls have trained for years for only four spots, and the final cut is only a week away. The competition is off the charts. But when a talented and mysterious new girl is introduced at the last minute, things start to get strange \u2014 girls are being hunted and attacked one by one.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnimals
Yet another Netflix charge. This crime-thriller directed by Ben Affleck stars Affleck alongside, Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washinton and Steven Yeun. Currently in post, the film\u2019s synopsis reads: \u201cDesperate to pay their son\u2019s ransom, a mayoral candidate and his wife resort to extreme measures, revealing dark secrets they never intended to bring to light.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLa M\u00e1s Dulce
La\u00efla Marrakchi\u00a0made waves on the festival circuit in 2013 with Casablanca-set female-focused family drama\u00a0Rock The Casbah, which world premiered in Toronto. In between times, the Moroccan and French director segued into high-end TV dramas, taking credits on Marseille,\u00a0The Bureau,\u00a0The Eddy\u00a0and L\u2019Opera. She returns to cinema with a drama about two young Moroccan women who head to southern Spain for a season of strawberry picking, only to find themselves subject to abuse and harassment. Against the odds, they seek justice in the courts.<\/p>\n

Safe Exit
Egyptian director Mohammed Hammad\u2019s contemporary drama takes its cue from the real-life killing of Egyptian Christians by ISIS in Libya in 2015. The film follows an introspective young man who is still coming to terms with the loss of his father in the massacre a decade later. Working as a security guard in downtown Cairo, his path crosses that of young Muslim woman. An unexpected friendship blossoms, offering a route to healing his trauma. Hammad previously made waves on the festival circuit with Withered Green which debuted in Locarno and won best director in Dubai in 2016.<\/p>\n

\n\tOrient Adagio
After a high-profile 2025 for Palestinian cinema on the festival circuit thanks to films such as Palestine 36, All That\u2019s Left Of You and Once Upon A Time In Gaza, Maha Haj looks at another Palestinian reality through her third feature about a Palestinian filmmaker, born and raised in a refugee camp in Syria, who gets a residency in Paris to write his first feature. It\u2019s a dream come true, but the weight of events back home sends him into artistic paralysis. Haj is a regular on the festival circuit, with her first two films Personal Affairs and Mediterranean Fever both debuting in Cannes Un Certain Regard.<\/p>\n

\n\tMimesis
Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania is currently on the awards circuit with Gaza-set work The Voice of Hind Rajab, which took Venice by storm last September and is Tunisia\u2019s Oscar entry this year. In between times, Ben Hania somehow found time to shoot a new Tunisian drama. The long-gestated work revolves around a woman called Bouchra who was raised in a mausoleum dedicated to a mysterious saint. When a pushy imam starts lobbying to turn the family home into a mosque, Bouchra embarks on an investigation into the saint, uncovering much more than she bargained for. The film shot in Tunisia and France in September and October and is now in post-production.<\/p>\n

\n\tHeatwave
French director St\u00e9phane Demoustier was in Cannes in 2025 with The Great Arch, starring Claes Bang as Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, the Danish architect who designed Paris\u2019s La Grande Arche de la D\u00e9fense.\u00a0 He was back on set just weeks later for the shoot of this psychological thriller adapted from Victor Jestin\u2019s 2019 novel of the same name. Unfolding against the backdrop of campsite in the Landes on France\u2019s Atlantic coast, the feature follows a teenager over the course of a scorching hot day as he frets over whether a body that he buried in the sand will be discovered.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMoulin<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPitchipo\u00ef Productions\/Studio TF1\/TF1 Films Production\/Umedia<\/p>\n

\n\tMoulin
Hungarian director L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Nemes, who won an Oscar for Holocaust drama Son of Saul in 2016, revisits WW2 with this biopic about French resistance hero Jean Moulin. Gilles Lellouche (Tell No One) stars as Moulin opposite Lars Eidinger<\/a> (Jay Kelly, The Light) as Klaus Barbie, the head of the Gestapo in French city of Lyon who oversaw three weeks of brutal torture which led to the resistance fighter\u2019s death in a train bound for Germany in 1943 but failed to break his silence. Speaking to Deadline in late 2025, Lellouche carried a special responsibility<\/p>\n

\n\tLa Perra
Set on a remote island, Chilean director Dominga Sotomayor\u2019s new drama stars Manuela Oyarz\u00fan (The Good Life, No) as a solitary middle-aged woman with a painful past, who rescues an abandoned puppy and names her Yuri, the name intended for the daughter she never had. Oyarz\u00fan is joined in the cast by Selton Mello<\/a>, star of Walter Salles\u2019s Oscar-winning political drama I\u2019m Still Here. Sotomayor previously made waves with Too Late to Die Young and Thursday Till Sunday.<\/p>\n

\n\tGlaxo
Adapted from Hernan Ronsino\u2019s 2017 novel, Argentinian director Benjam\u00edn Naishtat\u2019s new film is set in a down-at-heel Argentinian Pampas town and revolves around four childhood friends who paths diverge in adulthood with a deadly outcome. Billed as a tale of betrayal, passion and revenge, it features popstar Lali Esp\u00f3sito alongside Esteban Lamothe and Marcelo Subiotto in the cast. Naishtat was last on the festival circuit with comedy drama Puan, which premiered at San Sebastian, winning frequent collaborator Subiotto, best leading performance.<\/p>\n

\n\tMinotaur
Billed as a political thriller Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev\u2019s sixth film revolves around a struggling Russian entrepreneur who discovers that his wife is having an affair. Zvyagintsev\u00a0was last on the festival circuit with Loveless, which premiered in competition at Cannes, winning the Jury Prize, and was then Oscar-nominated. Now living in exile in the wake of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, he shot his new film in Latvia.<\/p>\n

\n\tButterfly Jam
Barry Keoghan and Riley Keough<\/a> co-star in Russian director\u2019s Kantemir Balagov third feature. The father and son drama revolves around 15-year-old Pyteh who lives in New Jersey\u2019s Circassian community where his father and aunt run a diner specializing in Circassian cuisine. With the restaurant struggling, his father embarks on a misguided scheme which backfires, exposing Pyteh to a violence that will force him to grow up faster than he would like. Balagov previously made waves with his critically acclaimed features Closeness and Beanpole.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMan Vs Flock <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVideo Studio Petkovski, asterisk* Nukleus film, Filmoskopija, Cine Planet, Zeynofilm<\/p>\n

\n\tMan Vs Flock
Macedonian director Tamara Kotevska \u2013 best known internationally for her Sundance winner and Oscar-nominated documentary Honeyland \u2013 makes her fiction feature debut with this tale about an elderly farmer fighting for his land after it is earmarked for the construction of a new highway. In a good sign, the film clinched one of the top prizes at the work in progress<\/a> showcase of the Les European Film Festival in December. Kotevska in Venice last year with documentary The Tale Of Sylian.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Birthday Party
French director L\u00e9a Mysius third feature revolves around a child\u2019s birthday party in a remote French village which takes an unexpected turn when strangers start to gathering around the home. The ensemble cast gathers Bastien Bouillon, Hafsia Herzi, Monica Bellucci, Twaba El Gharchy and Beno\u00eet Magimel. Mysius\u2019 first two films Ava and The Five Devils premiered at Cannes Critics\u2019 Week and Directors\u2019 Fortnight respectively.<\/p>\n

\n\tHope
Korean director Na Hong-jin most ambitious feature to date has gathered a high-profile cast topped by Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander alongside compatriot stars stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Hoyeon. The drama takes its cue from the arrival of extraterrestrials in a remote village near Korea\u2019s DMZ. Na\u2019s last film The Wailing premiered Out of Competition in Cannes.`<\/p>\n

\n\tVenus Electrificata
Set in early 20th Century Paris, Pierre Salvadori\u2019s dramatic comedy stars Pio Marma\u00ef as in-vogue painter Armand who hits a creative block in his belief that he caused his wife\u2019s recent death. In a bid to seek her forgiveness, Armand attempts to connect with her via a medium. The voice that replies, however, is not that of his wife but rather an impoverished young woman who has entered the medium\u2019s caravan to steal food. The cast also features Ana\u00efs Demoustier and Gilles Lellouche.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlpha Gang
Having made waves at SXSW in 2024 with Sasquatch Sunset, the Zellner brothers\u2019 are now in post-production on their anticipated Cate Blanchett-produced alien invasion comedy. Alongside Blanchett, the buzzy cast also features L\u00e9a Seydoux, Dave Bautista, and Riley Keough as well as later additions, revealed exclusively by Deadline last summer<\/a>, of Chris Pine, Lily-Rose Depp, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Doona Bae. The film follows a group of alien invaders sent to conquer Earth, disguised as a 1950s leather-clad biker gang.<\/p>\n

\n\tPeaches
A second Dirty Films production is also nearing completion in Jenny Suen\u2019s Hong Kong-set comedy, starring Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets) and Havana Rose Liu (Bottoms<\/a>) as two spoiled best friends who scam sugar daddies for a living. The movie is inspired by Vera Chitylova\u2019s 1966 film Daisies. Two years after we first announced the news of the film<\/a>, we hear it is now in post-production.<\/p>\n

\n\tL\u2019\u00c2ge d\u2019Or
Berenger Thouin\u2019s debut feature is being heralded as one of the most visually innovative French projects due to hit the big screen this year for its fusion of contemporary live-actions shots and archive footage. The film follows a woman across the 20th century as she searches for emancipation. The cast features rising stars Souheila Yacoub, who won the Female Revelation C\u00e9sar in 2025 for her performance in Planet B, and Vassili Schneider.<\/p>\n

\n\tZejtune
Maltese American director Alex Camilleri\u2019s first feature Luzzu debuted in Sundance\u2019s World Cinema Dramatic lineup in 2021, with Jesmark Scicluna winning the Special Jury Award for acting. Also set in Malta, his second feature follows a woman who is about to cut ties with the Mediterranean island following her estranged mother\u2019s death until she meets a 80-year-old folk singer. <\/p>\n

\n\tBunker
An architect\u2019s marriage is tested after he accepts a project to build a bunker for a billionaire. This psychological thriller written and directed by Oscar winner Florian Zeller has attracted a buzzy cast including Penelope Cruz and husband Javier Bardem in the lead roles alongside Stephen Graham, Paul Dano and Patrick Schwarzenegger. Filming began last month in London. FilmNation handles sales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Happy New Year! Goodbye 2025 and hello 2026. As the Deadline team catches its breath before hitting the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[47241,321,93,5497,61,60,111452,35168],"class_list":{"0":"post-222035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-cannes","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-festivals","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-look-ahead-2026","15":"tag-venice"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}