MY TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED MOVIES OF 2026

Published 2/1/2026 

Written by: Braylon Mitchell 

New year, new films! 2026 already looks to have a stacked lineup of very exciting films. Here are the ten upcoming films I'm most looking forward to seeing. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in alphabetical order) 

• 1949 (Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski) 

• Artificial (Dir. Luca Guadagnino) 

• Coyote vs. Acme (Dir. Dave Green) 

• Cry to Heaven (Dir. Tom Ford) 

• The Drama (Dir. Kristoffer Borgli) 

• Dune: Part Three (Dir. Denis Villeneuve) 

• The Entertainment System is Down (Dir. Ruben Ostlund) 

• The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (Dir. Francis Lawerence) 

• Jack of Spades (Dir. Joel Coen) 

• Memory Police (Dir. Reed Morano) 

• Micheal (Dir. Antonie Fuqua) 

• Narnia (Dir. Greta Gerwig) 

• Saturn Return (Dir. Greg Kwedar) 

• Teenage Death and Sex at Camp Miasma (Dir. Jane Schoenbrun) 

• Toy Story 5 (Dir. Andrew Stanton) 

• Werewulf (Dir. Robert Eggers) 

• Wildwood (Dir. Travis Knight) 

#10

The Adventures of Cliff Booth 

Director: David Fincher 

Cast: Brad Pitt, Elizabeth Debicki, Timothy Olyphant, Yahya Abdul Mateen II, etc. 

Plot: Showcases more of Cliff Booth's backstory in his new role as a Hollywood fixer.

Officially announced on April 1st (of all days haha) after years of floating around in the rumor mill, it still feels surreal that we're actually getting this sequel to 2019's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.." - and not just from Quentin Tarantino, but from David Fincher as well as he's helming the project as its director. I can't wait to see Brad Pitt return to this Oscar winning role of his and I'm very curious to what this film will feel like and look like. 

#9

Untitled Jesse Eisenberg Musical Comedy 

Director: Jesse Eisenberg 

Cast: Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Bernadette Peters, Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu, Cara Buono, etc. 

Plot: A shy woman unexpectedly cast in a local musical production loses herself in the role under the spell of the strong-willed director, immersing herself in the high-stakes world of community theater. 

Following up 2024's "A Real Pain" there couldn't be a better time for Jesse Eisenberg to release his third directorial effort, and based off that cast and plot outline alone my anticipation is sky high. I don't even need to know the title for this film, or the tone its going for, or whether or not it'll actually be a full on musical- I'm already seated and ready. 

#8

I Love Boosters 

Director: Boots Riley 

Cast: Keke Palmer, Demi Moore, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Eliza Gonzalez, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle, etc. 

Plot: Follows a group of shoplifters who take an aim at a cutthroat fashion maven. 

Is there a bit of recency bias to my inclusion of this film on my list because its first poster and trailer were just released this week? Yes, I'm not afraid to admit that. Was that trailer an instant blast of style that looked awesome and is the poster displayed above one of my favorite posters of the past five years? Yes, I'm not afraid to admit that either. This film looks fantastic, and even if it's somehow not fantastic- it's sure to be an incredibly fun watch with a hell of a cast. 

#7

Project Hail Mary 

Director: Phill Lord and Christopher Miller 

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Sandra Huller, Milana Vayntrub, Ken Leung, Lionel Boyce, etc. 

Plot: An astronaut tries to save Earth while alone in outer space. 

I'm aware of how acclaimed the novel that this film is based on is, the trailer looked great, and I'll never be one to doubt the talents of Lord & Miller- but what really makes me highly anticipate this film is the early word on it. From test screenings alone, there's a quiet buzz floating around within the online film community that this film is something special and a possible awards contender next year. This film looks to have strong potential to be amazing, and I can't wait to watch it a little over a month from now when it releases in theaters. 

#6

Fjord 

Director: Cristian Mungiu 

Cast: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, etc. 

Plot: An immigrant Romanian family living in Norway is subject to an investigation and faces the scrunity of the local judicial system. 

This film stars Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan, that's all I needed to know to include this film so highly on my ranking. Both quickly rose to the top of my list of favorite actors/actresses currently working, both having turned in several amazing performances since the decade began. I feel confident that sometime in the future both Reinsve and Stan will win Oscars- and who knows, maybe one of them will get it for this film come next year. Likely premiering at the Cannes Film Festival later this summer and helmed by a director whose previous film "R.M.N" was quite acclaimed, I have high expectations for this film to be great. 

#5

The Social Reckoning 

Director: Aaron Sorkin 

Cast: Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Wunmi Mosaku, Bill Burr, Betty Glipin, etc. 

Plot: Follows Frances Haugen, a young Facebook engineer, who enlisted the help of Jeff Horwitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter, to blow the whistle on the social network's most guarded secrets. 

If I had a nickel for every film on this list that's an unprecedented sequel to a 2010s hit that the original director isn't returning to direct, I'd have two nickels. Yes, I'm obviously excited for this film but even more so I'm extremely curious to see how this'll turn out. David Fincher may not be returning to direct, but Aaron Sorkin is once again writing the script as well as taking his forth swing at the director's chair. In particular, I'm very interested to see Sorkin take on the 2020s events/politics. All around very much looking forward to this film, and seeing if its existence will prove to be warranted. 

#4

Wild Horse Nine 

Director: Martin McDonagh 

Cast: Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Parker Posey, Tom Waits, Mariana Di Girolamo, etc. 

Plot: CIA agents Chris and Lee face a trust-testing mission from Santiago to Easter Island during 1973 Chile.

Martin McDonagh's last film "The Banshees of Inisherin" is one of my favorites of the decade so far, and prior to that I've been a fan of every other film apart of filmography- so yeah, I'm entirely down for a brand new McDonagh film. A killer cast, premise, crew, and overall guaranteed Oscar potential make this film one of the biggest standouts to me when looking at the 2026 new release slate. 

#3

Digger 

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu 

Cast: Tom Cruise, John Goodman, Jesse Plemons, Sandra Huller, Riz Ahmed, Micheal Stuhlbarg, Sophie Wilde, Emma D'Arcy, etc. 

Plot: The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's savior before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything. 

This film is going to be an event for cinephiles. Love him or hate him as a director/writer, Inarritu makes artistically large scale films and there's no denying this one is going to be ambitous. To me, this is the most excited I am to see an upcoming cast in action- most especially to see Tom Cruise give what I have a gut feeling might be a possible career best performance. Playing an eccentric billionaire I'd assume he'll pull a lot from real life figures, he'll be supposedly be caked in makeup prosthetics to appear unrecognizable, and I would put money down that there's a good shot he'll be Oscar bound. It's the one 2026 performance I'm genuinely thrilled to see. 

#2

Disclosure Day 

Director: Steven Spielberg 

Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell, Elizabeth Marvel, etc. 

Plot: If you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? 

In my humble opinon, Steven Spielberg is currently on a hot streak with his last two films of the 2020s "West Side Story" and "The Fabelmans" being quite excellent- and I have high, high hopes that this film will contuine that streak of late-career brilliance. Returning to his roots with a sci-fi/Aliens plot that aside from a single trailer we honestly don't know too much about, I'm all on board for this film and will be the first one seated on opening weekend this summer. 

#1

The Odyssey 

Director: Christopher Nolan 

Cast: Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Jon Bernthal, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Mia Goth, Benny Safdie, Elliot Page, John Leguizamo, Samatha Morton, etc. 

Plot: After the Trojan War, Odysseus faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca, meeting creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus, Sirens, and Circe along the way. 

After how giagantic "Oppenheimer" was, I would argue that no other filmmaker on Earth currently has as much momentum and popularity as Christopher Nolan does- and to follow up his massive success, Nolan decided to take on an story that's fame/influence dates back to the literal ancient era and adapt it into a cinematic epic shot ENTIRELY with IMAX 70mm cameras. This has the strong potential to be one of the (if not THE) largest scale film of the 21st century so far, and aren't we lucky that its releasing just a few months from now? If I had to predict now, by its end I would say that this film will define the year- and for that, as well as many other reasons, it's easily my most anticapted film of 2026 and I know I'm not alone in that opinion. 

Go back and click on the posters of each film for the film's trailer- all except Untitled Jesse Eisenberg Comedy Musical, Fjord, The Social Reckoning, and Wild Horse Nine as they have not released trailers yet.