2026 – A Look Ahead

As we start the new year, it’s time to have a look ahead at some of the highlights “coming soon” in 2026.

January – Alongside the usual ‘Oscar-bait’ releases, January brings the second instalment in the 28 Years Later trilogy, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.  Directed by Nia DaCosta and filmed alongside Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later, this will continue the story threads set up by writer Alex Garland in the first movie, and it has a lot of positive buzz around it at the moment.  On streaming, the big release is director Joe Carnahan’s The Rip, an action thriller which reunites Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as Miami cops.

February – We get an eclectic selection of films in February, and the one I’m probably most excited about is Scream 7 (given that I’m a huge fan of the series, and this film sees the return of star Neve Campbell and writer Kevin Williamson).  We also have Send Help, Sam Raimi’s first original film since 2013 (and his first horror since 2009), which looks like showcasing an impressive performance from Rachel McAdams.  The thriller Crime 101 also has a promising cast, with Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry and Barry Keoghan just for starters.

March – March is traditionally a fairly quiet month, and this year Project Hail Mary is probably the biggest release.  But given that this marks Phil Lord’s and Chrisotpher Miller’s first film as directors since 2014, and it’s based on a novel from the same writer as The Martian (which is a film I love), I’m very excited for this Ryan Gosling sci-fi.

April – My highlight for April is Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, the sequel to the cult 2019 darkly comic horror.  The first Ready or Not film put directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett on the map and led to them being given the gig to direct the (very enjoyable) Scream (2022) and Scream VI before they went on to make their original horror/comedy Abigail (which was my fourth favourite film of 2024), so I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with this expanded sequel.

May – May sees the start of the blockbuster season, with Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu the first Star Wars movie since 2019’s disappointing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker brought the inconsistent sequel trilogy to a disjointed conclusion.  This looks like being a fun, cinematic space adventure that recaptures some of the magic from both the earlier big screen and small screen Star Wars outings, so I’m quietly optimistic that director Jon Favreau and writer Dave Filoni know what they’re doing.  May also sees the release of the long-awaited sequel The Devil Wears Prada 2, which reunites Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway from the 2006 original, and of Mortal Kombat II which sees Karl Urban join this sequel to the guilty pleasure that was 2021’s rebooted Mortal Kombat.

June – June brings us the first superhero movie of 2026, with Supergirl, the second film in the nascent DCU (following 2025’s very enjoyable Superman).  Starring Milly Alcock, the trailer certainly looked promising.  Meanwhile, very few details are currently known about the plot to the UFO movie Disclosure Day, but knowing it’s directed by Steven Spielberg is arguably all anyone needs to know.  For those looking for more family-friendly options, June also sees the release of Toy Story 5, which is surely going to be worth a watch – while I’m also curious about the reboot of Masters of the Universe, given that it has an all-star cast and comes from the director of the surprisingly enjoyable Bumblebee.

July – The summer’s big releases hit in July, starting with Christopher Nolan’s epic take on The Odyssey.  With an all-star cast and unbound ambition, this looks like it’ll be a film unlike anything else released this year (and not just because it’s apparently the first film to ever have been shot entirely on IMAX cameras).  At the end of the month, we have the long-awaited fourth film in the series, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which reunites Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon after the climactic events of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.  July also sees the release of Minions 3, the latest in the somewhat inconsistent (but nevertheless, extremely successful) animated spin-off series.

Later in 2026 – In September, we’re due to get a couple of unexpected films that sound intriguing on paper: first there’s the third DCU film, Clayface, which looks like it’s going to be a horror-themed take on the classic Batman villain; and then there’s the reboot of Resident Evil from writer/director Zach Cregger, the man responsible for the entertainingly inventive horrors Barbarian and last year’s Weapons.  I can’t wait to see what Zach Cregger has planned for his original story set in the Resident Evil universe.  September also brings us Practical Magic 2, the belated sequel to the 1998 supernatural fantasy starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock.

October sees the release of The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin’s sequel to his 2010 Facebook biopic, The Social Network, as well as the bonkers looking Street Fighter reboot – before November brings us the prequel The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.  If it’s half as good as 2023’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, we’ll be in for a treat.

Then heading into Christmas, in December we get the as-yet-untitled "Jumanji 3", the concluding chapter to the Jumanji sequel trilogy that starting with 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and continued in 2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level.    We also get Violent Night 2, the sequel to 2022’s delightful Christmas-themed action comedy, to start the festive season. We then end the year on a high with the eagerly awaited Avengers: Doomsday, the sequel to 2019’s Avengers: Endgame (the second highest grossing film of all time), and with Dune: Part Three, the concluding chapter of Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi adaptation (which was previously my Film of the Year in 2024).

So that’s a selection of what to look out for in 2026 – and in the meantime, I’ll be working on my cinematic highlights from 2025…