What we do know for certain is that 2026 looks pretty great, with a slate full of provocative dramas, ambitious blockbusters, intriguing comedies and an inexplicable amount of Anne Hathaway. Seriously, she\u2019s in four of the movies we\u2019ve selected below, plus an elaborate pop-star psychodrama with Michaela Coel and potentially a Ron Howard film if it gets completed in time. One way to prove that we\u2019re collectively better than we used to be? Letting her get through the year without a backlash a la the period around 2012 or 2013 when we all for some reason decided she was annoying.<\/p>\n
Anyway, here are the 20 films we\u2019re most excited for in 2026 \u2013 with apologies to Greta Gerwig\u2019s Narnia movie, Maggie Gyllenhaal\u2019s intriguing-looking take on The Bride of Frankenstein, Jesse Eisenberg\u2019s film about Julianne Moore joining a local theatre production, and new movies by Gregg Araki, Joel Coen, Nicolas Winding Refn and Pedro Almod\u00f3var, all of which just missed the cut here.<\/p>\n
Send Help<\/p>\n
Rachel McAdams leaves her house maybe once every two years, so Send Help is cause for celebration. Sam Raimi\u2019s latest thriller seems like a juicy star vehicle for the Mean Girls actor, who plays a put-upon secretary to an abusive tech CEO (Dylan O\u2019Brien). The pair are stranded on a desert island following a plane crash, with McAdams\u2019s character seemingly taking advantage of the flip in power. \u201cI\u2019m the captain now,\u201d is more or less the gist here. We are seated. (6 February)<\/p>\n
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Dylan O\u2019Brien and Rachel McAdams in \u2018Send Help\u2019 (Brook Rushton)<\/p>\n
\u201cWuthering Heights\u201d<\/p>\n
It felt as if everyone had an opinion about this even before we saw its first trailer, such is the power of the Saltburn filmmaker and master discourse-spinner Emerald Fennell. Margot Robbie is Catherine. Jacob Elordi is Heathcliff. Charli xcx is doing the soundtrack. You can practically hear the outrage already. But what\u2019s with those mysterious quote marks around the title? Could it be that Fennell has taken quite extreme liberties with her adaptation of Emily Bront\u00eb\u2019s sumptuous novel? And that we shouldn\u2019t get too angry about a movie that, according to an early test screening report, features\u2026 um\u2026 \u201cstylised depravity\u201d and \u201cclinical masturbation\u201d? This will inevitably break our collective brains this Valentine\u2019s Day, but hopefully in a good way. (13 February)<\/p>\n
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don\u2019t Die<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a new Gore Verbinski film coming out in 2026, and you should be more excited about that than you probably are. The filmmaker has nimbly dabbled in various genres over the last 30 years \u2013 horror (The Ring), adventure (Pirates of the Caribbean), animation (Rango) \u2013 and is returning in 2026 with his first film since the admirable if overcooked A Cure for Wellness 10 years ago. He\u2019s adding gonzo time-loop sci-fi to his repertoire with Good Luck, Have Fun, Don\u2019t Die, which follows a man from the future (Sam Rockwell) who travels back in time to recruit an army to prevent the development of a rogue AI. (20 February)<\/p>\n
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Sergi L\u00f3pez (far right) in \u00d3liver Laxe\u2019s \u2018Sir\u0101t\u2019 (Neon)<\/p>\n
Sir\u0101t<\/p>\n
From the moment an elaborate set of speakers is shown being set up in the Moroccan desert, ahead of an illegal rave attracting hundreds of euphoria-hunting revellers, you\u2019ll be hooked on the tone of Sir\u0101t \u2013 one of perceived safety that can be superseded by horror at the flick of an amp switch. The story follows Luis (Sergi L\u00f3pez), who goes deeper into the desert while searching for his daughter, last seen at one of these raves. As the search intensifies, so too does the terrain around him, resulting in a slow-burn descent into hell that caused some of the biggest gasps at 2025\u2019s Cannes Film Festival. Oliver Laxe\u2019s Sirat is a visual manifestation of dread. (27 February)<\/p>\n
The Drama<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still a little unclear how A24 will promote their black comedy The Drama, which revolves around Robert Pattinson discovering a maddeningly TMI secret about his new bride Zendaya on the eve of their wedding. If the rumours swirling around online are to be believed, said secret is legitimately very, very dark and very, very funny \u2013 so it\u2019d make sense for them to keep it under lock and key until the last minute. (3 April)<\/p>\n
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The Devil Wears Prada 2<\/p>\n
Anne Hathaway klaxon! The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a terrifying prospect, frankly, with the original film a bona fide modern classic that\u2019s never quite fallen out of memory despite being released 20 years ago. So the stakes are incredibly high for the sequel, which sees Meryl Streep once again strap on her ice-white swoop of a wig to boss people about and tell them they look like crap. Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci are all back, too, along with newcomers including Lucy Liu and Kenneth Branagh. We are excited. Tentatively. (1 May)<\/p>\n
Disclosure Day<\/p>\n
Steven Spielberg is directing aliens again! Disclosure Day feels like the filmmaker\u2019s most conventionally Spielbergian blockbuster in maybe 20 years, its first trailer grand in scale and filled with striking images of end-of-the-world dread. We still know little about the plot, but it seems to be an ensemble piece about an alien invasion, with Emily Blunt playing a TV reporter and man of the moment Josh O\u2019Connor playing a conspiracy-brained UFO hunter. (12 June)<\/p>\n
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Toy Story 5<\/p>\n
You\u2019re reading that correctly; there\u2019s another Toy Story film arriving next year, and this one will see Woody, Buzz and co fall from favour with new owner Bonnie thanks to the presence of her new favourite plaything \u2013 a frog-like tablet named Lilypad. The thought of another sequel might make your eyes roll, but this particular plot \u2013 the extinction of physical toys in favour of digital distraction \u2013 sounds like a bold new creative direction for the franchise. And if anyone can mine that for existential laughs, it\u2019s Pixar. (19 June)<\/p>\n
The Odyssey<\/p>\n
Anne Hathaway klaxon! You\u2019d think that Christopher Nolan might have wanted a rest after finally winning an Oscar on the heels of making absolute bangers for more than two decades. Instead, he only went bigger. Nolan\u2019s Oppenheimer follow-up is his take on Homer\u2019s Greek epic, and is led by Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and a plethora of other stars \u2013 all of whom were clearly champing at the bit to work with the maestro. Intrigued to see how Nolan \u2013 a fan of practical effects over CGI \u2013 pulls off his version of a Trojan horse and the one-eyed Cyclops? We are too. (17 July)<\/p>\n
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Flowervale Street<\/p>\n
Anne Hathaway klaxon! We\u2019re gonna call it now: Flowervale Street will be a disaster or a future cult classic. The evidence suggests the latter. First up, the plot is tantalisingly mysterious \u2013 strange events pit a suburban couple (Hathaway and Ewan McGregor) on a perilous journey that potentially involves dinosaurs \u2013 and secondly, it\u2019s directed by David Robert Mitchell, whose last offering, Under the Silver Lake (2018), was a down-the-rabbit-hole masterclass that didn\u2019t get enough love. This cryptic new one sounds like more of the same \u2013 and it also lists JJ Abrams as producer, which means you\u2019re either striking this one from your memory or scribbling down the release date in permanent marker. (14 August)<\/p>\n
Clayface<\/p>\n
One of the great pleasures of 2025 was the decidedly not-appalling Superman, which had pop and fizz and colour in all the right places. So hopes are high for the rest of the DC stable with James Gunn now in charge of it all. There\u2019s Supergirl on 26 June, of course, but we\u2019re a little more hyped by Clayface a few months later. The Batman villain \u2013 a struggling actor able to transform his appearance at will \u2013 has never been depicted in live action before, while director James Watkins (of Eden Lake and Speak No Evil fame) has form with gnarly horror-thrillers. Throw in the left-of-centre casting of Tom Rhys Harries in the lead role and the presence of Naomi Ackie, coming off a sensational year via Sorry, Baby and Mickey 17, and this seems genuinely very intriguing. (11 September)<\/p>\n
Whalefall<\/p>\n
What\u2019s a cinema year without mindless action? Next year\u2019s schedule is bursting with it \u2013 look out for a reboot of Sylvester Stallone\u2019s Cliffhanger (1993) and a sequel to Gerard Butler\u2019s actually pretty great apocalyptic thriller Greenland. The one we\u2019re most excited for, though, is Whalefall, and you will be too after reading the plot: a scuba diver searching for the remains of his father gets swallowed alive by a whale and attempts to escape. Need we say more? (16 October)<\/p>\n
Focker-In-Law<\/p>\n
Like that long-lost cousin you forgot about, the Focker family is back. The franchise was rightly put to bed after the dreadful Little Fockers in 2010, but this new Meet the Parents sequel could well restore some of the original\u2019s magic. All the cast are back, including Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller. Ariana Grande, fresh from her escapades in Wicked, is on hand to lure in a younger generation. Colour us cautiously optimistic that the film will be more \u201cfock yes\u201d than \u201cfock off\u201d. (25 November)<\/p>\n
Avengers: Doomsday<\/p>\n
Next Christmas, another blockbuster sequel beginning with \u201cAv\u201d will be released, and it looks like it\u2019ll be the most crowded film in history. Not only are the typical Avengers characters back (Captain America, Thor), but so too are the new ones (the Fantastic Four) and the X-Men stars of old (Ian McKellen, James Marsden, et al). At the centre of it all is Robert Downey Jr, who won\u2019t be playing the heroic Iron Man but the film\u2019s primary antagonist, Doctor Doom, in a casting stunt that\u2019ll either excite or make you groan. (18 December)<\/p>\n
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Dune: Part Three<\/p>\n
Sandworming its way into cinemas on the same day as the above is Denis Villeneuve\u2019s third Dune film. It\u2019ll be a cinematic face-off to rival the 2019 clash of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and *checks notes* Cats. This new film will close out the trilogy with a gloomy chapter set years after Dune: Part Two. If you want to find out what happens in the film, you can do so by reading Frank Herbert\u2019s Dune: Messiah \u2013 but for everyone else, all you need to know is that Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet\u2019s Paul Atreides will be back, his flowing locks won\u2019t, and Robert Pattinson has joined the cast as a shapeshifting villain with the catchy moniker Face Dancer Scytale. (18 December)<\/p>\n
The Adventures of Cliff Booth<\/p>\n
Does the world need a new film centred on Brad Pitt\u2019s character from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? Absolutely not. Will we be waiting with bated breath to watch it? We certainly will. Heightening excitement levels for the Netflix release is the small detail that Quentin Tarantino, who\u2019s written the prequel, has handed the project off to none other than David Fincher. The film is expected to show the stuntman\u2019s time in a POW camp during the Second World War, and if it all sounds like a pulpy quick hit, it\u2019s anything but: The Adventures of Cliff Booth will be the most expensive film of either Tarantino or Fincher\u2019s vast catalogues, with a budget of $200m. (TBC)<\/p>\n
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Bucking Fastard<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve been due a Rooney Mara comeback for a few years now, and we may get it with this presumably-gonna-be-retitled movie from Werner Herzog, in which she plays opposite her sister Kate, of House of Cards fame. The film is reportedly loosely inspired by real-life twin sisters Freda and Greta Chaplin, who became tabloid catnip in the Eighties when a man they were both romantically involved with took out a restraining order against them. Juicy, right? (TBC)<\/p>\n
I Love Boosters<\/p>\n
Boots Riley\u2019s Sorry to Bother You was one of 2018\u2019s strongest films \u2013 a bold, off-kilter sci-fi story that marked the arrival of a real visionary. So there\u2019s a lot riding on I Love Boosters, Riley\u2019s star-studded follow-up, which revolves around a ragtag team of shoplifters who assemble to rob a fashion designer. Demi Moore is the designer, while Naomi Ackie, Keke Palmer and Zola\u2019s Taylour Paige are among the shoplifters. The first stills released from the film tease bold colours and outrageous costumes, though we shouldn\u2019t have expected anything less. (TBC)<\/p>\n
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Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige and Keke Palmer in \u2018I Love Boosters\u2019 (Neon)<\/p>\n
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma<\/p>\n
This will inevitably hit the festival circuit in 2026 and may not arrive in British cinemas until 2027, but we\u2019d be insane not to mention it all the same: Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is director Jane Schoenbrun\u2019s follow-up to their sensational 2024 mystery I Saw the TV Glow, and revolves around the psychosexual mania that occurs when a young filmmaker recruits an actor to reprise her star-making \u201cfinal girl\u201d role in a reboot of her celebrated slasher franchise. That the women are played by Hacks breakout Hannah Einbinder and none other than Gillian Anderson is just the icing on the cake. (TBC)<\/p>\n
Verity<\/p>\n
Anne Hathaway klaxon! OK, a question: does this Colleen Hoover adaptation sound like bonkers fun or just very bad? In it, Dakota Johnson plays a struggling novelist recruited to ghost-write the latest book by a literary titan played by Hathaway, who\u2019s been confined to a wheelchair following a \u201cmysterious accident\u201d. Her husband, snaking around their property with squinty, handsome eyes, is played by Josh Hartnett. This trio will inevitably become embroiled in some sort of sexy but strictly PG, slightly Christian-tinged power struggle, as is the Colleen Hoover way. (TBC)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,206],"class_list":{"0":"post-381347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}