The films to look forward to in 2026.
As we come to the end of 2025 and a year that delivered a rapturous response to films from Ryan Coogler, Paul Thomas Anderson, Joachim Trier and many more, what does 2026 hold in store for cinephiles?
Galaxy far, far away
It promises to be a year full of marquee directors and franchises. We are due to see a return to a Galaxy far, far away with The Mandalorian & Grogu, the first cinematic Star Wars adventure in 7 years. Doomsday marks the first Avengers film since Endgame, in a film that brings together all corners of the Marvel universe to face off against Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom.
There are plenty of other franchises releasing films in 2026, from Toy Story 5 to 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, with Nia Dacosta taking over the reins from Danny Boyle. We are also due to return to Arrakis in December for the latest chapter in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune saga, adapting the second novel, Dune: Messiah. Joining Timothee Chalamet is Robert Pattinson. Could this be a Return of the King moment for the Frank Herbert adaptation?
Hunger Games
We return to the Hunger Games arena with Francis Lawrence’s latest entry in the series, Sunrise on the Reaping, fresh on the heels of Suzanne Collins’ novel in 2025. It sees huge names like Ralph Fiennes, Elle Fanning, Glenn Close and Jesse Plemons join the fray alongside a host of newcomers. The reaction to the source material has been far stronger than the previous novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, so this promises to be a huge event at the tail end of the year.
We have of course, had Guillermo Del Toro’s long-awaited take on Frankenstein in 2025, but we’re also getting a radically different take in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s sophomore feature as a director. The Bride stars Jessie Buckley in the titular role, opposite Christian Bale’s monster. It looks like a riotous take on the source material and something very different from Buckley’s role as Agnes in Hamnet.
Christopher Nolan
A new Christopher Nolan film is always at the forefront of the year’s cinema events. Fresh off the gargantuan box office and awards success of Oppenheimer, hype is high even by Nolan’s standards for his take on the epic to end all epics, Homer’s Odyssey. It has a cast to die for, led by Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Pattinson, Charlize Theron and many more. It certainly promises to be one of the year’s must-watch films, offering a unique take on one of the most well-known stories from Greek mythology.
Steven Spielberg
Nolan is not the only huge name releasing a film in 2026. Steven Spielberg returns after one of the longest gaps in his career with his untitled UFO film starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor and Colman Domingo. It sees him return to his roots, of course, covering similar thematic ground to the classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Wuthering Heights
Another iconic work being adapted is Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, with the latest take coming from Saltburn and Promising Young Woman director Emerald Fennell. From the trailer and the Charli XCX soundtrack, it promises to be vastly different to any take we’ve had on the story before.
Project Hail Mary
The Martian was a huge smash in 2015, so it is perhaps surprising it has taken over a decade to adapt one of Andy Weir’s other works but Project Hail Mary certainly looks set to be a draw. Ryan Gosling’s Ryland Grace is the last hope for humanity, finding more than he expected on an interstellar mission to save mankind.
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise takes a break from Top Gun and Mission Impossible, pairing up with The Revenant and Birdman director, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, for an untitled film that sees him taking on a leading non-franchise film for the first time in years. There’s little known about the film, but the cast is certainly stacked with Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, Riz Ahmed and John Goodman among its cast.
Sequels
That’s just a snapshot of what we have to look forward to; it would be remiss not to mention The Devil Wears Prada 2 and The Social Reckoning, both long-overdue sequels to classic films (of very different types). There will, as ever, be a string of surprises come awards season that we know little about but that come to dominate discussion. 2026 will no doubt prove to be another year to remember.
