Top 15 most anticipated movies of 2026

Greetings, reader!

It's once again the time of year that I share my most anticipated movies of the upcoming year. I expanded from the usual top 10 to a top 15, because there are so many upcoming releases to look forward to! Please see as many of these as you can in the cinema, to show to Netflix that no matter how hard they try, they won't be getting rid of movie theater culture anytime soon.

Here are my honorable mentions: Clayface, Poetic License, Scary Movie 6, The Bride!, The Cat in the Hat.

15. Jimmy

A James Stewart biopic? Sign me up. Not many details are known about this yet, although we do know that KJ Apa of Riverdale fame, out of all people, is playing the lead role. In any case, I'm guessing that the life story of this Hollywood icon will make for a decent movie!

14. Untitled Jumanji sequel

I love the original Jumanji from the 1995, and you know what - I also loved 2017's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and its 2019 sequel The Next Level. The new Jumanji films are the kind of movies that are easy to hate if you are a hater, what with the celebrity actors and trendy humor with plenty of easy jokes. But if you're like me - someone who tries not to take life too seriously and enjoys things that are fun - those films are adventurous, silly and a breath of fresh air. So, I'm excited to get more!

13. The Drama

An A24 romantic drama starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson - to quote Troy Barnes from Community, can I sign up twice?

Not much is known about the plot for this one either, but the star power of the lead actors and the tried-and-true quality of the studio are enough to create its share of hype. Furthermore, The Drama is being produced by Ari Aster, and the marketing campaign for the film appears to be delightfully creative, what with the fake engagement announcements being posted in newspapers and stuff.

12. Sense and Sensibility

The book by Jane Austen is a banger, so I reckon the new movie adaptation may be one as well! There are talented actors like Fiona Shaw and George McKay in the cast, but at the same time, I like how a majority of the main cast isn't all that familiar - a Hollywood film for this intellectual property would have the budget for a big-name cast, so this choice indicates that they prioritized getting just the right people rather than casting the most famous names and counting on that for revenue. More films should be taking this route - no one wants to see Chris Pratt as Edward Ferrars or Sydney Sweeney as Elinor Dashwood.

11. The Mandalorian and Grogu

About time for a new Star Wars film! I really enjoyed the Mandalorian TV show, and while I'm still a tad iffy about the need for a film sequel, I know that it has the potential to be really good. Ludwig Göransson's music alone is reason enough to be seated on opening day.

10. Madden

You're telling me that the legendary football coach and commentator John Madden, who the Madden games were named after, is getting a biopic...where he's played by Nicolas Cage? With a supporting cast including Kathryn Hahn, Christian Bale and *checks notes* JOHN MULANEY? How good the film is going to be is difficult to predict, but you just know it's going to be entertaining as hell no matter what.

9. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

This one is a no-brainer, as I loved 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Obviously, there's no guarantee that the sequel would be nearly as good - but there's always a solid chance! The trailer looks fun, the addition of Brie Larson as Princess Rosalia can't hurt, and the source material does make for vast worldbuilding so it's not like they're going to be running out of ideas by the second movie. Here's hoping this film will resonate with my inner child as much as the first one did!

8. Spider-Man: Brand New Day

I'm still working through some mixed feelings regarding this one - on some level, I feel that Spider-Man: No Way Home was such an epic and conclusive ending for the Tom Holland Spider-Man films, that continuing after that would feel weird and/or wrong. But, on some deeper and more sentimental level, certain elements in No Way Home as an ending never sat right with me, so this film feels like it could make some things right - the title Brand New Day certainly has that ring to it.

The Tom Holland / Zendaya Spider-Man films are very special to me, and my favorite Marvel saga to date. So, on one hand I'm skeptical of this new film messing with something so holy, but on the other I know that its potential is limitless if they do it right. Also, Sadie Sink is joining the cast, and she's the actor of the moment, so that alone warrants anticipation!

7. The Sheep Detectives

Based on the trailer, this is going to be a whodunit about Hugh Jackman hanging out with a bunch of sheep for a few hours. Honestly, this might end up becoming the fourth film ever that I give a full 10/10 to.

6. Supergirl

Hell yeah! The new Superman from 2025 was totally awesome to an expectation-defying degree - and the cameo of Milly Alcock as Supergirl near the end was the cherry on top. Based on that alone, as well as the promising-looking trailer, I'm really hyped for the Supergirl movie this year. Alcock's devil-may-care Supergirl is looking to be a very fun contrast to David Corenswet's boy-scout Superman, and I can't wait to see what they do with this.

5. Animal Farm

Yes, George Orwell's masterpiece Animal Farm is getting a big-screen adaptation this year. Not only that, but the animated flick is directed by Andy Serkis, while the cast includes talents such as Kieran Culkin, Laverne Cox, Gaten Matarazzo and Glenn f**king Close. It's hard to estimate how good a cinematic adaptation of Animal Farm could be, but I'm giving this one a chance.

4. The Social Reckoning

I did not have "The Social Network sequel" on my 2026 bingo card, but damn, what an amazing surprise! 2010's Facebook biopic The Social Network remains a big favorite of mine and one of the best films written by the legendary screenwriter Aaron Sorkin - and when you think about the escalation of the drama surrounding the controversial social media platform in the past 15 years, it almost feels like this second film is destined to be even better. Sorkin is not only the writer but also the director for this new film, and based on his track record, I quite simply can't wait.

Starring Oscar winner Mikey Madison and the incredibly talented Jeremy Allen White as a Facebook engineer and a journalist who helped blow the whistle on some major company secrets, the cast also includes Jeremy Strong of Succession acclaim as Mark Zuckerberg. Somehow this re-casting makes even more sense in my head than if they had gotten Jesse Eisenberg again - the real Zuckerberg has spiraled so far beyond recognition that Eisenberg, even though he made for a believable asshole in the 2010 film, would still feel a bit too 'pure' for the role whereas Strong's trademark dead-inside look feels a bit too perfect.

3. Narnia: The Magician's Nephew

While I like the existing Narnia movies, I never felt that they were as good of an adaptation as C.S. Lewis' legendary books deserve. Furthermore, the project felt half-assed, as they stopped at three movies instead of adapting all seven. Having grown up reading fantasy literature, I've been yearning for a big-screen take on books like The Horse and His Boy, The Silver Chair and particularly The Magician's Nephew all these years.

And now, we're getting a new beginning - one being helmed by the fantastic Greta Gerwig, no less. Gerwig's tried-and-true track record leaves little doubt in my mind that she's the right writer and director for this project, and I really hope that this film will be the gateway to six more films, so that we'll finally have the full and cohesive adaptation that Lewis' books deserve. I'm especially excited that Gerwig is starting with The Magician's Nephew - it was the sixth book to be published and is thus "book 6" for the most common reading order, but I'm one of the people who grew up reading the books in chronological order, so this will always be the beginning for me. Can't wait for this one!

2. The Odyssey

I'm really hoping that having his text adapted for the big screen by Christopher Nolan will be a big break for this Homer guy.

1. Dune: Part Three

If you've read my blog even a little, you likely haven't missed the fact that I adore Denis Villeneuve's Dune films to the utmost degree - I rarely shut up about it. So, it makes sense that the upcoming third film, based on Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah, is my most anticipated film of the year. Dune Messiah is such a great book, and I can't wait to see what Villeneuve and company do with it - in addition to the already dynamite cast, I simply can't wait to see how Robert Pattinson interprets the fascinating character Scytale, not to mention Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides (sure, she had a short cameo in Dune: Part Two, but that definitely leaves one begging for more). Expectations are sky-high for this one!

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my traditional best-of-the-year 'award' nominations, celebrating the best of 2025 in movies and television!