The 14 movies we’re most looking forward to in 2026

Even as the best films of 2025 linger in memory — it truly was a good year — we’re not sorry to flip the calendar page. Bring on the new shiny stuff: epic Homeric hugeness from Chistopher Nolan and sci-fi aliens from Steven Spielberg. We await greatness from Greta (Gerwig, that is). And a Quentin Tarantino–David Fincher collab sounds perfectly fun to us. Here are the 2026 titles we jotted down quickly on the back of a cocktail napkin.

Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in the movie “Wuthering Heights.”

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Those howls in the moors are literature fans fighting over whether this reimagining of Emily Brontë’s 1847 gothic romance will be confoundingly misguided or bodice-rippingly good. Either way, the latest provocation by Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman,” “Saltburn”) is already triggering a reaction just from its trailer which boasted images of lobsters in top hats, Margot Robbie in period-scrambling red sunglasses and Jacob Elordi licking a wall. Tepid is not Fennell’s thing. But so far, Fennell tends to be my thing — I admire directors who are game to take salacious swings. Will her “Wuthering Heights” wind up being a juicy but familiar adaptation of the obsessive love affair between newlywed Cathy and her rich and cruel neighbor, Heathcliff? Or should audiences be reading into the suspicious air quotes around the title? A Valentine’s Day-adjacent opening hints it wants to make audiences hot and bothered. — Amy Nicholson

Jessie Buckley in the movie “The Bride!”

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Classic monster tales have recently provided fresh inspiration for contemporary filmmakers (“Nosferatu,” “Frankenstein”) so now here comes Maggie Gyllenhaal’s stylized, energetic reinvention of “The Bride of Frankenstein.” (The title’s exclamation point is how you know she’s extra.) Reuniting the actor-turned-filmmaker with Jessie Buckley, one of the stars of Gyllenhaal’s Oscar-nominated directing debut “The Lost Daughter,” the story has been moved to 1930s Chicago with references to movies such as “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Wild at Heart” being thrown around to describe the movie’s lovers-on-the-run variation on the storyline of a monster and his mate. With a cast that also includes Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s creation along with Penélope Cruz and Annette Bening, this looks to be the kind of wild, imaginative leap that one wishes more filmmakers had the opportunity to go for regardless of the outcome. — Mark Olsen

Ryan Gosling in the movie “Project Hail Mary.”

(Jonathan Olley / Amazon Content Services LLC)

Bestselling sci-fi author Andy Weir has already supplied Hollywood with one radical idea: that watching someone think can be as gripping as watching things explode. Ridley Scott’s 2015 adaptation of Weir’s novel “The Martian” proved the point by turning competence and problem-solving into a mainstream hit with a wry sense of humor. “Project Hail Mary” pushes that idea further. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, whose credits run from “21 Jump Street” to “The Lego Movie,” the film stars Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, a former science teacher who wakes up alone on a spacecraft and slowly realizes he’s been sent on a last-chance mission to save Earth. As in “The Martian,” the story is built around trial and error and the scientific method. It also looks genuinely funny, an unusual combination for big studio sci-fi. In a market dominated by familiar brands, that in itself feels the best kind of hail Mary. — Josh Rottenberg

Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu in the movie “The Mandalorian and Grogu.”

(Nicola Goode / Walt Disney Studios)

Instead of doing a fourth season, the series pivoted, becoming a standalone feature with a prime Memorial Day weekend release — a sign of trust both in Jon Favreau’s durable concept and a devoted streaming audience, one that hopefully still likes going out to movie theaters. Don’t worry about never having seen a single episode. There’s not much to get here: bounty hunter, baby Yoda. Despite the somewhat jarring presence of Sigourney Weaver in an early trailer, we wouldn’t expect the Star Wars and Alien franchises to somehow be merging. Rather, redirect all your curiosity to the shocking fact that Jeremy Allen White is playing the son of Jabba the Hutt. Please let there be a cooking scene. — Joshua Rothkopf

Josh O’Connor in the movie “Disclosure Day,” directed by Steven Spielberg.

(Niko Tavernise / Universal Pictures)

I liked it better when this was simply known as “Untitled Steven Spielberg UFO movie.” That’s enough to sell a few hundred million dollars in tickets this summer and make me giddy with anticipation. We don’t know much else at the moment, other than Spielberg is working again with “Jurassic Park” and “War of the Worlds” screenwriter David Koepp. The teaser promises crop circles, spooky animals, Colin Firth sporting a beard, government agents (no doubt hiding something) and Emily Blunt possessed by some kind of alien intelligence. It’s ominous, and not just because it’s giving off M. Night Shyamalan vibes. We’re definitely not in “E.T.” territory with this one. — Glenn Whipp

Matt Damon in the movie “The Odyssey.”

(Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures)

After two decades of turning weighty subjects into box-office events — nuclear physics in “Oppenheimer” (2023), wormholes in “Interstellar” (2014) and a pivotal World War II evacuation in “Dunkirk” (2017) — Christopher Nolan has chosen a particularly audacious next project: adapting a poem composed nearly three thousand years ago, when stories were recited in verse rather than projected on screens. Homer’s “The Odyssey” follows Odysseus, a Greek king trying to get home after the Trojan War, a journey interrupted by Cyclopes, sirens, shipwrecks and gods with grudges. It’s a story built from vivid episodes and long delays, where danger and temptation matter as much as forward motion. Shot entirely on IMAX with a stacked cast featuring Matt Damon, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron, the film will present Nolan with a distinct challenge: turning a story written 27 centuries ago into a modern epic that can thrill an audience today. — J. Rottenberg

A scene from the movie “Coyote vs. Acme.”

(Ketchup Entertainment)

Technically, one of my most-anticipated movies of 2026 is a rewatch. I lucked out and landed an invite to a “Coyote vs. Acme” cast-and-crew screening in November 2023 when there was hope that Warner Bros. might soon sell its controversially canceled cartoon to a new distributor. We all laughed ourselves silly as the Coyote sued the Acme Corporation over its defective merchandise. No longer will he suffer injuries in silence — although the Coyote’s legal team, played by Will Forte and Lana Condor, do all of the talking against Acme’s cocky defense attorney, John Cena. Director Dave Green and screenwriter Samy Burch (“May December”) completely nailed Looney Tunes’ manic antics while adding just the right amount of heart. Alas, the film’s outlook continued to plummet and soar and plummet again like a jet-propelled pogo stick. When it finally arrives in theaters, I’ll be strapping on my rocket-powered roller skates to get there as quick as possible. — A.N.

Director Alejandro González Iñárritu, photographed in New York in 2022.

(Christopher Smith / Invision / AP)

Tom Cruise champions have been waiting for this movie, oh, give or take 25 years. That’s the last time he was nominated for an Oscar for his darkly funny and emotional supporting turn as seduction guru Frank T.J. Mackey in “Magnolia.” Cruise spent the first two decades of his career stretching himself artistically, never making a sequel until 2000’s “Mission: Impossible II.” More recently, the daredevil actor has focused on warm-up stretches, muscling his eight-film franchise to its explosive finale. His first post-Ethan Hunt challenge is this awards season-positioned project directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu (“Birdman,” “The Revenant”). The filmmaker has teased it’s a “brutal, wild comedy of catastrophic proportions,” promising news for fans who wondered why Cruise never made another movie like “Tropic Thunder.” Here’s hoping Cruise will remind himself to keep braving creative risks. — A.N.

Greta Gerwig, right, on the set of “Barbie” with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

(Jaap Buitendijk / Warner Bros. Pictures)

All eyes will be on Greta Gerwig — and should be — because there’s an excellent chance she could follow up “Barbie” with something equally as inspired. We really know next to nothing about this one at this point: a dozen cast members (including Emma Mackey, Daniel Craig and maybe the voice of Meryl Streep) and some locations. For some reason, I’m not nervous. Gerwig made Louisa May Alcott’s language her own for 2019’s “Little Women” and I don’t expect her to subjugate her signature voice to C.S. Lewis’ fantasy. Fans of the Chronicles know this installment to be both breezier and loaded with religious symbolism. Give it a whirl. The talking animals will see you through. — J. Rothkopf

Timothée Chalamet in the movie “Dune: Part Two.”

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

With Denis Villeneuve at the helm, the first two “Dune” films earned more than $1.1 billion worldwide and picked up 15 Oscar nominations, including two for best picture, turning Frank Herbert’s famously unadaptable science-fiction novel into a blockbuster franchise. The trilogy’s finale is where that success gets tested. The story moves forward in time, with Paul Atreides now emperor, trapped in a position of power he never wanted and presiding over a holy war carried out in his name. Timothée Chalamet returns alongside Zendaya and Florence Pugh as the film turns away from conquest and toward consequence. In Herbert’s original sequel book, 1969’s “Dune: Messiah,” that turn frustrated many readers who expected another triumph and instead found a story that deliberately refused an easy payoff. Villeneuve has spent years laying the groundwork for this moment. The question now is whether he can turn a divisive book into an ending that feels suitably epic and genuinely satisfying. — J. Rottenberg

Director Robert Eggers, photographed in Los Angeles in 2024.

(Marcus Ubungen / Los Angeles Times)

Robert Eggers calls his upcoming medieval werewolf movie the “darkest thing I have ever written, by far.” Let that sink in for a moment. Eggers’ filmography includes the suffocating madness found in “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse” and the chilling terror of a malevolent, shape-shifting, lustful vampire in “Nosferatu.” These are not light movies. So what are we in store for here? Apparently a member of Eggers’ sound team said he needed a hug after reading the “Werwulf” script. I couldn’t verify this, but I want this to be true. There will be blood and fog. One other thing we know is the setting: 13th century England, which means that the film’s dialogue will be in Middle English. How farest thou with that? I’m sure the cast, which includes Eggers regulars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson, had fun, verily. — G.W.

Brad Pitt and Mike Moh in the movie “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”

(Columbia Pictures)

Do we need a stand-alone Cliff Booth movie? Quentin Tarantino thinks so, though not enough to direct the sequel he wrote to his hit 2019 film “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.” That’s OK, however, since Brad Pitt, who won an Oscar for playing Booth, enlisted David Fincher to sub in. It’ll be their fourth collaboration, following “Seven,” “Fight Club” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” a track record that offers some optimism that a film elevating Booth from Rick Dalton’s loyal sidekick to a leading character is an idea worth pursuing. (Leonardo DiCaprio apparently turned down an offer to reprise Dalton in a cameo.) If nothing else, the movie’s 1977 setting, eight years after the events in “Once Upon a Time,” will give us the chance to revel in another glorious L.A. time capsule. — G.W.

Ruben Östlund, photographed in New York in 2022.

(Evelyn Freja / For The Times)

Sweden’s Ruben Östlund (“Force Majeure,” “The Square,” “Triangle of Sadness”) makes jabbing social satires that inspire love-it-or-hate-it responses. The last thing his films tend to do is leave audiences flat. His latest is set on a long-haul flight where the on-board entertainment system breaks down and passengers are forced to confront their boredom and themselves. The cast includes Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Brühl, Nicholas Braun and Samantha Morton, and supposedly a decommissioned 747 airliner was purchased for the production. A24 has the U.S. distribution rights and Östlund has said he wants to win an unprecedented third Palme d’Or, so a Cannes premiere makes sense. Combining Östlund’s taste for the outrageous and absurd with this simple yet terrifyingly relatable premise may make this the year’s truest horror film. — M.O.

Director Nicolas Winding Refn, center, and the cast of “The Neon Demon,” photographed in Los Angeles in 2016.

(Christina House / For The Times)

It is hard to believe that it’s been a full decade since Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn’s last feature film, 2016’s “The Neon Demon,” a disorienting treatise on fame and Los Angeles. Even having made two single-season streaming series in the interim, he has seemingly been missing in action, the absence of his visual flair, bent humor and taste for provocation leaving an empty space in theaters. So it is welcome news that he will be back at some point this year with “Her Private Hell.” Aside from a brief teaser promising “something groovy,” little is known regarding what the movie is about. Refn shot in Tokyo in 2025 with a cast that includes Charles Melton, Sophie Thatcher, Kristine Froseth and Havana Rose Liu with music by Italian composer Pino Donaggio (famous for his ’80s work with Brian De Palma). The film will be released by Neon, which has had a chokehold on Cannes in recent years, so that makes the festival a likely a place for Refn to unleash “Hell.” — M.O.