As we look out on the horizon and see 2026 imminently closing in, there's a lot of uneasy questions about the future of the movie industry that have yet to be answered. Who will end up taking control of Warner Brothers and what ramifications will that have on the theatrical industry (assuming that whatever deal WB ends up accepting gets regulatory approval from multiple governments of course)? Can Amazon fulfill its aspirations to become a major player in the theatrical space after merely dipping their toes into the exhibition space since they officially took over MGM in 2022? Will Avengers: Doomsday bring anything to the table besides fan service galore as the panic-stricken Marvel desperately tries to preserve their standing at the top of the blockbuster food chain? Answers will come in time, but for now, all we have is the movies themselves and 2026 has plenty of those to offer.
There's an argument to be made that this is the first "normal" winter/spring slate of this decade after COVID and the strikes wreaked havoc on this part of calendar in particular over the previous 5 years. Sitting among 2026's pretty healthy January-April slate is a wide array of films that has something that will appeal to most film lovers out there.
There are comebacks of sorts for some accomplished veteran directors (Sam Raimi, Gore Verbinski, Phil Lord and Chris Miller). Some budding indie filmmakers (John Patton Ford, Kristofer Borgli, Matt Johnson) will look to prove the acclaimed films they made earlier this decade weren't flukes. Emerald Fennell has returned to terrorize the terminally online and this time she's not only ruining the lives of Film Twitter but also English Lit majors by putting her own spin on Wuthering Heights. Both of the current kings of January movies (Gerard Butler, Jason Statham) have movies (Greenland 2: Migration, Shelter) coming out during their favorite month of the year to put out new projects and ironically, they are both directed by Ric Roman Waugh! The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will earn 60 zillion dollars in its first 20 days of release and prove once again that nothing is more profitable for studios than putting a piece of premiere IP in theaters. Fun should be had and given how gloomy everything in the industry could get in short order if the WB situation plays out in a certain way, that's something that'll be worth celebrating should it materialize.
Here are the 10 movies that I'm looking forward to seeing most during the inaugural stretch of 2026.
10.Primate (January 9):
You'd be hard-pressed to find many people who view the work of Johannes Roberts (The Strangers: Prey at Night, both 47 Meters Down movies) in a favorable light. Roberts' shaky track record aside, his latest offering Primate look like a lot of fun, and its heavy use of practical creature effects/gore earned it a lot of fans during its run on the genre festival circuit this past fall.
9.Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (February 13):
Speaking of movies that played well on the genre festival circuit over the past few months, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die debuted to widespread raves following its premiere screenings at Fantastic Fest and Beyond Fest in September. While I've never been the biggest fan of Gore Verbinski and the concept of a group of misfits trying to take out a rogue AI before it destroys the world isn't exactly unique, the cast is loaded with actors that I love watching (Sam Rockwell, Zazie Beetz, Michael Pena, Haley Lu Richardson, Juno Temple) and I'm always up for giving an off-kilter action comedy a whirl.
8.Crime 101 (February 13):
A throwback to the flashy, ensemble-driven crime thrillers of the 90's is inherently appealing to me, particularly when the cast is made up of such a magnetic group of familiar faces (Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry, Barry Keoghan, Nick Nolte, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tate Donovan). Whether or not documentarian-turned-narrative filmmaker Bart Layton (American Animals) will be able to handle a movie of this scale is another question entirely, but I look forward to finding out if he's up to the challenge in February.
7.How to Make a Killing (February 20):
Emily the Criminal is one of the most assured, impressive directorial debuts of the 2020's so far and I'm eager to see what John Patton Ford has cooked up for his sophomore feature. The darkly comedic thriller tone of the trailer would mark a pretty drastic yet compelling pivot from the unrelentingly intensity of Emily the Criminal and Glen Powell taking on the part of a charming, conniving scumbag presents him with another great opportunity to expand his range.
6.Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (March 27):
Ready or Not becoming a sleeper hit during the final weeks of the 2019 summer movie season turned Radio Silence into in-demand horror directors overnight, so it's only fitting that the duo has returned to make a sequel to the movie that radically changed the trajectory of their career 7 years ago. Showing that there are more elite families tied to the same ritual that the le Domas family were a part of is a great hook for a sequel and casting veteran horror comedy scene-stealer Kathryn Newton as Samara Weaving's younger sister is a masterstroke that should pay dividends.
5.The Drama (April 3):
Zendaya teaming up with notorious sickos Robert Pattinson and Kristofer Borgli on a "romantic" dramedy is the latest sign that she's a performer that's never going to stop challenging herself. I've been lucky enough to not have the twist-which leaked on Reddit months ago-the teaser alludes to spoiled for me yet and I'll be crossing my fingers that A24 continues to dance around it in their future marketing efforts.
4.Project Hail Mary (March 20):
There's been speculation coming out of Hollywood insider circles that there's a film slated for release in the first stretch of the calendar that has a real chance to contend for Best Picture. By process of elimination, Project Hail Mary seems to be the anonymous film at the center of this wave of buzz. This wouldn't be an overly shocking development as the book it's based on is widely acclaimed and Lord and Miller are a visionary directing duo who've authored multiple beloved movies over the past 15 years. The only thing preventing me from putting this higher on this list are the trailers-which haven't really grabbed me all that much.
3.Wuthering Heights (February 13):
Hot take: I'm firmly in the camp of letting Emerald Fennell cook. Her take on the classic British romance tale has produced a pair of excellent trailers that are full of stunning visuals/production design and appear to be teasing some explosive chemistry between Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.
2.Send Help (January 30):
Sam Raimi coming home to the horror genre after nearly 16 years away is cause for celebration. Enlisting the powerhouse duo of Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien for a warped survival thriller about the power dynamic shift that occurs between a timid woman and her asshole boss after they become trapped on a deserted island following a plane crash that claimed the lives of everyone else onboard further amplifies the feeling of jubilation behind this exciting occasion.
1.28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (January 16):
The final moments of 28 Years Later did an unbelievable job of setting the stage for The Bone Temple by introducing another form of human evil into a world that has brought out both the best and worst in the people that have survived in the face of the zombie uprising for nearly 3 decades. Early critical reactions have indicated that The Bone Temple delivers on its tantalizing set-up and paves the way for one hell of a finale to the trilogy-which Sony recently officially greenlit.
Also Interested In:
We Bury the Dead (January 2)
Greenland 2: Migration (January 9)
The Rip (January 16)
Mercy (January 23)
The Wrecking Crew (January 28)
Shelter (January 30)
The Moment (January 30)
Whistle (February 6)
The Strangers-Chapter 3 (February 6)
Goat (February 13)
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (February 13)
Psycho Killer (February 20)
Dreams (February 27)
Scream 7 (February 27)
The Bride! (March 6)
Hoppers (March 6)
The Undertone (March 13)
They Will Kill You (March 27)
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 3)
The Mummy (April 17)
Normal (April 17)
Apex (April 24)
Several 2025 Titles That Have Yet to Open in My Area including Dead Man's Wire, Sirat and The Voice of Hind Rajab
