2026 will be an exciting year for Sci-Fi fans, with several new projects, including the return of what is likely the best modern Sci-Fi movie franchise. Over the past few years, streaming services like Apple TV have started giving movie studios a run for their money when it comes to exciting releases. Many top-notch Sci-Fi shows have been released recently.
Series like Foundation, Severance, Silo, The Expanse, The Peripheral, 3 Body Problem, and many more have shown that Sci-Fi is going through a high-quality era on TV. However, that does not mean that Sci-Fi movies are losing steam. In fact, the best Sci-Fi franchise in the last few years comes from theaters, and it will return in 2026 in a major way.
Why Dune Is The Best Modern Sci-Fi Franchise
Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides in Dune 2 looking off-screen
The Dune movie franchise is an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s main Dune book series, which ran from 1965 to 1985. While a movie adaptation was released back in 1984, it lacked the budget and the advanced VFX to properly bring the expansive world of Dune to life on the big screen. With visionary Denis Villeneuve as its director, the new Dune franchise has soared.
Villeneuve is easily one of the most talented storytellers in the Sci-Fi genre. Besides his two masterpieces in the Dune franchise, Villeneuve also tackled futuristic visuals and complex concepts in the form of Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. The Dune books are known for being dense and hard to adapt, yet Villeneuve brings the intricate space politics and gorgeous visuals to life consistently.
The Dune movies’ cast includes several Hollywood stars giving nuanced performances, the action is visceral yet beautifully choreographed, the visuals make larger-than-life Sci-Fi worlds, creatures, and equipment feel real, the story is mature and grounded, and so on. The two Dune movies released so far are simply flawless, which is hard to say for all other modern Sci-Fi franchises.
Dune: Part Three Continues The Franchise In An Ambitious Way In 2026
Paul Atreides staring intimidatingly at the Emperor in Dune Part 2
After two successful Dune movies, the third film in the franchise will perhaps be its most important so far. Not only does Dune: Part Three have to provide a satisfying ending to the trilogy, but it will be Villeneuve’s last movie in the Sci-Fi franchise as its director, with a potential fourth film set to see someone else step up.
Dune: Part Three will be released on December 18, 2026, the same day as Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday.
Villeneuve’s last entry in the franchise is an adaptation of Dune: Messiah, the book that skips Paul Atreides’ blissful period as a ruler to delve into the dark state of Arrakis after Timothée Chalamet’s character breaks away from the hero persona that was built up in the first two films. If the more introspective movie works, then 2026 will 100% crown Dune as the best modern Sci-Fi franchise.
Created by
Frank Herbert
Cast
Kyle MacLachlan, Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista
Movie(s)
Dune, Dune, Dune: Part Two, Dune: Part Three