Heading into 2026, there are so many existential questions that Hollywood has to grapple with. Between Netflix and Paramount, which will become the new owner of Warner Bros.? With the May 1st deadline for a new labor deal between the studios and guilds fast approaching, will we see a repeat of the industry-stopping strikes of 2023? Can the box office finally bounce back after years of accelerated depression from the COVID-19 pandemic? The answers to all these questions remain shrouded in mystery, although the past few years haven't instilled much room for optimism.

But a new year also brings a new wave of possibilities for the road ahead. 2025 saw big-name directors cashing in their blank checks for career-defining projects: Paul Thomas Anderson with One Battle After Another, Ryan Coogler with Sinners, and Guillermo del Toro with Frankenstein. 2026 will (hopefully) contain more of the same, with Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, and David Fincher returning to the silver screen. International directors have also garnered increased attention over the years, with numerous great films emerging from every corner of the globe.

To get you all excited as I am, listed below (in alphabetical order) are the twenty-six films I'm most looking forward to in 2026!

Honorable Mentions: Animals, Cry to Heaven, Enemies, Hope, Ink, Mother Mary, Sense and Sensibility, The Bride!, The Uprising, Wild Horse Nine

All of a Sudden

Between Drive My Car being an unexpected Oscar heavyweight and Evil Does Not Exist sneakily being one of the best films of last year, Japanese auteur Ryûsuke Hamaguchi has rapidly ascended to becoming one of the most sought-after voices in international cinema. With the lights being the brightest that they've ever been, he's shifting over to France for a story about two female scholars who form a deep connection as they exchange letters. Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto will star, with the former promising that the film will contain some “astonishing formal choices” during a recent interview.

Artifical

Artificial intelligence has taken over nearly every facet of our lives, so it’s only natural that it's made its way into the cinema as well. Thankfully, I’m not talking about an artificially generated movie, but a biopic about Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI. Cinema’s premiere workaholic, Luca Guadagnino, is taking the reins, and he’s reuniting with Andrew Garfield. Supporting him will be a cast comprised of Monica Barbaro, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Rylance, and Yura Borisov.

Avengers: Doomsday (December 18th)

On the one hand, the return of the Russo brothers to the director’s chair, along with Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr., feels like an act of desperation and a slight betrayal of the finality of Avengers: Endgame. On the other hand, the films directed by the Russos solely occupy my MCU Mount Rushmore, and I haven’t been interested in continuing the stories of any of the characters introduced over the past few years. A multi-billion-dollar empire hangs in the balance, so this will be quite the spectacle whichever side the coin lands.

Behemoth!

Most famous on the silver screen for his directorial debut of Michael Clayton, Tony Gilroy hasn’t helmed a film since 2012’s The Bourne Legacy, the continuation of the Matt Damon-starring trilogy that he penned. In the meantime, he’s proved to both Disney and the fandom that Star Wars can still be relevant with Andor. He’s pairing up with another Disney+ star, Pedro Pascal, for a movie about a cellist composing music for the big screen. It’s described as a “love letter to the music of the movies and the people who make it,” so expect some sentimentality attached to the tunes that helped those images soar.

Burning Rainbow Farm

The Australian Justin Kurzel has become the preeminent gritty filmmaker over the past decade, exploring the darkness within Shakespeare (Macbeth), as well as real-life tragedies within his native country (Nitram) and America (The Order). His next film comes from that same mold, with Sebastian Stan (his first of a few appearances on this list) and rising star Leo Woodall appearing as a marijuana advocate couple who endure a five-day standoff against the FBI at their farmstead. The climactic shootout in The Order was some of the best work Kurzel has produced, so I can only imagine what he'll be able to pull off with a wider scope.

Butterfly Jam

After nabbing the Best Director prize from the Un Certain Regard section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival for his sophomore feature, Beanpole, it seemed like writer/director Kantemir Balagov would become one of the top young voices in cinema. His disagreements with the current regime in his Russian homeland stalled his ability to make another project there, and he eventually was transplanted to New Jersey. He'll be exploring that area's Circassian community, centering on Barry Keoghan as an aspiring professional wrestler who gets caught up in his father's criminal schemes.

Digger (October 2nd)

When the world needs saving, that means it’s time to call in Tom Cruise. It looks like he’ll be up to that task again for a “comedy of catastrophic proportions.” Although judging by his hairpiece and shovel dancing in the recent title announcement, his titular character won’t be as suave as Ethan Hunt or Maverick. Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki won back-to-back Oscars in their respective fields for Birdman and The Revenant. Each of those films also netted nominations for their lead stars, with Leonardo DiCaprio finally nabbing that elusive trophy in the latter film. Here’s hoping the same happens for Cruise, who hasn’t been nominated for acting since Magnolia.

Disclosure Day (June 12th)

Steven Spielberg has solely made movies based on preexisting material or history in the forty-plus years since E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. That makes it extra fitting that the streak will be broken for an original story about aliens walking among us. Spielberg has enlisted his trusted screenwriter, David Koepp, to flesh out the details, as well as a cast consisting of Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Eve Hewson, Colin Firth, and Colman Domingo. Morbidly, this film will likely feature the final compositions by legendary maestro John Williams.

Dune: Part Three (December 18th)

The first two parts of Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi franchise were adaptations of the initial book in the famed series by Frank Herbert. This third chapter will leap ahead to Dune: Messiah, which contains several story elements that could take this series in bold directions. It’s unclear how strongly Villeneuve will follow the source material. What is clear is that much of the same cast and crew return, with new additions in Robert Pattinson and Anya Taylor-Joy. After The Odyssey, this will be the second film shot entirely in IMAX, a naturally epic canvas for Villeneuve to paint with.

Fjord

While he has yet to break into the mainstream, Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu has consistently been one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the 21st century. He won the Palme d’Or in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, and will likely compete again with his starriest film to date. Coming off their work in A Different Man, Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve will play an immigrant Romanian couple who are persecuted shortly after settling in Norway. Judging by Mungiu’s continuous critiques of the flawed justice system, it’s doubtful that this will be a happy tale.

Her Private Hell

True to his nature, Nicolas Winding Refn's first film in ten years promises "lots of glitter, sex, and violence." The Danish bad boy director is the epitome of style over substance, sending Ryan Gosling down a path of bloody crime in Drive and Only God Forgives. His two leading ladies this time around are Sophie Thatcher and Havana Rose Liu, who, between their looks and acting styles, seem like perfect additions to his intoxicating world.

Jack of Spades

Since the breakup of the Minnesota-born brothers, Ethan has released two wacky comedies (Drive-Away Dolls and Honey Don’t!), while Joel has dabbled in Shakespeare (The Tragedy of Macbeth). This second solo effort from the latter brother will probably give us enough evidence to solidify any theory about the dynamics of their working relationship. As with every Coen project, specific details are closely guarded, with the only known information being that it’s set in London during the nineteenth century, and will star Josh O’Connor, Frances McDormand, Damian Lewis, and Lesley Manville.

Madden

Between the slight disappointment of Joy and the outright disaster of Amsterdam, there’s been quite a cooling off for David O. Russell since his early-2010s hot streak of The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle. Despite those most recent failures, he’s attracted a star-studded cast for this story of the birth of the chart-topping football video game series. Nicolas Cage will be caked in makeup to play the turducken-loving coach, and so will Christian Bale as he portrays longtime Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. This will probably be a mess, but entertaining nonetheless.

Paper Tiger

Not that it can be taken too seriously, but Rodrigo Teixeira, a producer on Paper Tiger, claims that it’s the best work that writer/director James Gray has ever done. Bias aside, that kind of enthusiasm is what Gray deserves, whose consistently remained underappreciated despite his near impeccable filmography, which includes Ad Astra, The Lost City of Z, and We Own the Night. He's got his starriest cast yet with Adam Driver and Miles Teller playing brothers caught up in the violence of the American dream, with Scarlett Johansson also involved.

Parallel Tales

Sandwiched between his Oscar-winning dramas of A Separation and The Salesman, Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi dipped his toe into the Parisian waters with the equally acclaimed The Past. Thirteen years later, he's back in France, this time with an all-star cast comprised of Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Cassel, Virginie Efira, and Pierre Niney. The plot is under wraps, so we'll just have to wait and see what’s in store.

Sheep in the Box and Look Back

Hirokazu Kore-eda has arguably been one of the greatest filmmakers of this millennium, with even his recent "lesser" films like The Truth, Broker, and Monster being near the top of my list in their respective years. He has two films in the can for this year, the first being set in the near-future as a couple takes in a state-of-the-art humanoid into their home as their son. The second is a live-action adaptation of the immensely popular manga, which recently received a highly acclaimed anime version.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow felt like a defining film of the 2020s, containing a voice that stemmed from several influences, yet was entirely its own. They'll be staying in that liminal space for their third feature, which follows a queer director (Hannah Einbinder from Hacks) making a modern sequel to an iconic 80s slasher franchise. Gillian Anderson stars as the original film's 'final girl,' who becomes psychologically and sexually tangled with Einbinder.

The Adventures of Cliff Booth

Between a novelization and now a sequel script, it seems that Quentin Tarantino really wants to stay in the world of Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood before he finally ventures into making his tenth and final film. And for the first time in thirty years, he won’t be directing his own screenplay, having personally hired David Fincher for that task. It’s an odd pairing of the cold and calculating Fincher with a potentially shaggy comedy. But the talent both on and off the screen is too immense for those doubts to cloud my excitement. 

The Dog Stars (August 28th)

Ridley Scott has continually defied the notion that age should slow a person down. Since he turned 80 years old in 2017, he has directed four blockbusters and several television pilots. Even at 88, he’s still lining up projects that will not be filmed for many more years. For now, he’s got an adaptation of the popular sci-fi novel set in a post-apocalyptic world after a virus wipes out most of humanity. Jacob Elordi stars as Hig, a pilot who survived the plague and must scavenge the desolate wasteland in order to preserve what’s left of our species.

The Entertainment System Is Down

In the year since he started production on his newest film, Ruben Östlund has been claiming that it will cause the most walkouts in the history of the Cannes Film Festival, where he recently won consecutive Palme d'Ors for The Square and Triangle of Sadness. A real Boeing 747 was acquired specifically for the production, with a cast that includes Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Brühl, and Vincent Lindon, stuck on a long-haul international flight where the titular scenario occurs. While the characters will certainly be bored as they must grapple with life free of distractions, we will not, as Östlund doles out another helping of his outlandish social commentary.

The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde

Although he has yet to share any plot details, writer/director Kenneth Branagh has been very open about his admiration for star Jodie Comer, even going so far as to compare her to Meryl Streep. That’s a lofty pedestal to place her on, and a funny coincidence since Branagh will be starring as Streep’s husband in The Devil Wears Prada 2. Branagh has always been an inconsistent director, with his more successful films being the ones he wrote. Let’s hope that streak continues here.

The Odyssey (July 17th)

I may not have approved of the practice, but I did cave and buy a year-ahead ticket for the first IMAX 70mm showing of The Odyssey at AMC Lincoln Square. It only felt right for me to witness Christopher Nolan's new film on the biggest screen in the country. His retelling of the epic that started it all will be presented entirely in IMAX, making this not just a film, but also a cultural event.

The Social Reckoning (October 9th)

The scope of The Social Network feels quaint compared to what Facebook has become in the fifteen years since. That’s why original screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is returning to the subject for a follow-up investigation, which will include data leaks, invasions of privacy, and how it became connected to the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Mikey Madison will mark her return to the screen after winning her Oscar, and Jeremy Strong replaces Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. It is somewhat of a shame that Sorkin is now directing his own scripts instead of entrusting them to a top-tier filmmaker. But if that’s the price that must be paid to experience his signature masterful dialogue, then so be it.

The Way of the Wind

Now that we’ve reached the seventh consecutive year of this film appearing on this list, the joke has more than run its course. Although it does seem fitting for a film about the life of Jesus Christ to continually test my faith in its existence. I worship at the altar of Terrence Malick, so I’ll continue to say my prayers.

Werwulf

Between Guillermo del Toro and Robert Eggers, the classic movie monsters have been receiving the respectful modern adaptations that they deserve. While Eggers’ newest film is technically not a story about the famous werewolf, it will definitely have those familiar elements. He’s working again with his The Northman screenwriter, Sjón, as well as a majority of the cast of Nosferatu. Likely to be bathed in darkness and blood, this will be the feel-bad movie of Christmas.

Wuthering Heights (February 13th)

Emerald Fennell has become something of a prestige provocateur this decade with Promising Young Woman and Saltburn. The latter film may not have fared as well as the former, but it still packs a lot of messy glitz and glamor. How will those sensibilities mesh with literature's most famous love story, which has amassed a loyal fanbase in the nearly two centuries since its publication?  It's hard to tell, with the imagery from the trailer looking ravishing and the passion between stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi seemingly being off the charts.