50 Most Anticipated Movies of 2026

High On Films ^ | December 31, 2025 | Julian Malandruccolo

[sphinx]

Blockbuster cinema returns full-throttle in 2026, but as always, it’s the smaller, more auteur-driven projects that catch our eye and keep us optimistic about the filmgoing prospects in the new year. As we set our sights on the films and filmmakers set to light up our screens across the next 12 months.

From the culmination of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” saga, to the surefire prospect of at least one, if not two, new Hong Sang-soo films, and everything in between, our scope spans the entire globe, with the lingering understanding that so many of our most talked-about films by year’s end will, in all likelihood, come right out of nowhere and blindside us with zero anticipation whatsoever. In any event, speculation is always a fun task when looking to the films of the future, so here are our 50 most anticipated films of 2026 (in no particular order):

---

TOPICS: Chit/Chat; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: 2026; movies

[sphinx]

I made a threat yesterday, and for once I will follow through promptly. I said I would post a "Most Anticipated" movie list today. Here it is.

Don't bury the lead ... don't bury the lead ... my question is what, if anything, the cinephiles in our midst might have their eyes on. Sound off if you've heard of something that (1) sounds interesting to you, and (2) might interest other freepers.

This is just a prompt. There are many such lists floating around right now. I'm not familiar with this author or website. I had been scanning "Most Anticipated" lists, and this caught my eye because it is very mainstream. 50 movies. His choices. But at least six or seven of them I've at least heard of and already know I will check out. I will probably end up watching most of these six or seven, and several more besides, although I'll watch trailers and read reviews first.

And I'll watch most of them in the theater if possible, because if we don't want Netflix, Prime, Amazon, Apple+, Disney -- and now maybe Skydance Paramount -- to be the sole gatekeepers of everything that's available, the independent producers should be supported, i.e. we need to buy some tickets.

I will scan many such lists as they pop up. It only takes a minute. If I see five possibly interesting titles in a list of 50, that's a decent hit rate. How else am I supposed to find good new movies? Wait for the Netflix landing page to highlight them? LOL. And no thanks.

This list is only a starting point. It caught my eye because it has so many top directors and actors attached. These are people with pretty solid track records. That's a good first screen, not a guarantee, but ya gotta start somewhere.

My choices on this list? Since somebody has to break the ice: number 1 would be Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die, for reasons I've hyped several times on FR already.

Following that, in no particular order: The Odyssey; Dune Part 3; Bucking Fastard (I hadn't heard of that one, but Werner Herzog, Kate and Rooney Mara, Domhnall Gleeson, Orlando Bloom. I am not a fan of Orlando Bloom, who peaked with Legolas, but the others are worth at least watching a trailer ...); Coyote vs. Acme (a lot of buzz about this one for some time; supposed to be pretty funny); Disclosure Day; Werwulf (hadn't heard of this one, but Robert Eggers and Willem Dafoe catch my eye); Wild Horse Nine (hadn't heard of it, but Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, John Malkovich, Parker Posey ... I will at least check out the trailers and reviews).

As to the film festivals ... it doesn't hurt to scan a few selections lists. Sundance is coming up soon. Sundance has sagged under new management in the last few years, and with Robert Redford gone, it may collapse into irrelevance as the new people seem to be all about identity politics first and movies maybe later. But that doesn't mean one shouldn't scan the list.

I've always respected what Robert Reford was trying to do with Sundance, which was to bypass the big studio gatekeeper machine, and give a chance to unknowns. So Robert Redford: R.I.P.

Even with the new deplorable management, I had no trouble picking out four or five movies that I know I will watch eventually, and one -- Zi, a microbudgeted experimental film shot in complete secrecy; no one even knew it existed until Sundance announced it as a selection -- in which I am keenly interested, now that I know it exists.

The microbudget, guerrilla filming aspect especially interests me. Watch Nouvelle Vague, 2025 -- a very good movie, and funny -- for a hint of what this might entail, and this one might be Godard on steroids. I would not be surprised if none of the actors were paid; they may be working for a percentage of the backend, if it somehow makes some money, or at most they worked for bare minimum. No sound stage, no rigged lighting, guerrilla filming on the streets in found spaces (in Hong Kong!) with ambient lighting and light, hand-held cameras. If it's good -- and I like the director -- it could be a big thumb in the eye of the big studio Borg.

If it's not good ... well, I'm sure they at least had fun making it, because all three of the named actors (all also listed as producers) have worked with the director before, and I think this is a group of talented friends improvising a movie on the cheap. It will still be hard to beat Primer, which was made for $6,000, but why not give it a try? If Disney can blow $250 million making flops, why can't some creative friends get down to the basics and see what can be done for next to nothing?

Oh, by the way, I will give Sundance credit for sticking with a hybrid model. They started this during covid and are still making many of their selections available for screening during the festival. Tickets are limited, so scan the list and maybe take a chance on a couple of movies you would not even hear of otherwise. It won't hurt you, and you will be saving money because you can have the "festival experience" online without having to spring for a trip to Telluride or TIFF or London or Cannes, Venice, Berlin, or the other biggies.

[sphinx]

movie ping list

Happy 2026 viewing ... for those who aren’t content to limit themselves to watching 60 year old movies and are willing to grok something new.

[EvilCapitalist]

I’m kind of looking forward to “Sheep Detectives.”

[Governor Dinwiddie]

I anticipate not going to the movies this year.

[BrexitBen]

Which Hollywood “ blockbuster “ can infuse the most WOKE propaganda this year?

[Afterguard]

I haven’t anticipated a movie release in probably 40-45(?) years....

[BipolarBob]

Westworld season 5.

[Rummyfan]

The Ryan Gosling flick Project Hail Mary looks interesting.

[sphinx]

I don’t know. But the point of this exercise is to find the good movies that WON’T play the Woke Hollywood game. And I’m willing to bet that most of them will be indies or foreign films, which is ok.

The film industry has been fleeing Hollywood for years. The trickle has become a flood. The question is what will replace it, because the younger generations are watching far too much as it is, and that won’t stop. WHAT they watch makes a difference.

I’m happy to support the saving remnant who are still doing good work, or trying to, in that industry. Because if the pendulum can ever swing back, we need to support the #resistance.

[BradyLS]

The third Dune movie is all I’m really interested in.

[PIF]

Catch it all on one of the underground streaming sites.

[j.havenfarm]

I was very young when the first movie came out. I’d read the books and was disappointed in the movie it was just so spacey if you’ll excuse the pun. I thought the new Dune I&2 were brilliant. Baron Harkonnen’s nephew should have gotten Best Supporting Actor. I’m eagerly looking forward to 3

[MinorityRepublican]

Not all movies made by Hollywood are bad. Usually Blockbusters are terrible so ignore them. You can find a gem or two and go to your local theater.

[gnarledmaw]

Ive always been pro independent. I had hoped that technology would have allowed control to have already been wrested from Hollywood. With AI available to everyone its imminently inevitable.

I wanted to see a movie this last weekend. Everything running at all the local movie theaters was crap. Obviously I couldnt look at every theater in the country but I did go to Marcus because they are all over the country. Almost exactly the same bad movies in every one of them nation wide.

Anything I can do to help the independent producers is worth my time looking in to.

[sphinx]

Great. Let us know how you liked them after you’ve seen them.

My point in doing this early is to try to get freepers looking ahead, perhaps even in time to see some good movies in the theaters if they get a chance. As opposed to discovering them as golden oldies whenever Netflix gets around to shuffling them through the system.

Streaming is destroying our target acquisition system. The best films often aren’t highly promoted because they tend not to be clickbait movies dumbed down for audiences that aren’t paying attention, which is the streamers’ core market.

So as always, if you see something good, sound off about it sooner rather than later.:)

[Rummyfan]

I finally got around to watching the Best Picture winner Anora recently. It was okay, but a Best Picture? I watched Demi Moore in The Substance last week; that was one weird flick. About thirty minutes too long and just degenerated into gratuitous gore and muck at the end.

[sphinx]

Not me. The independent guys are searching under couch cushions trying to scrape up the cash to make good small movies on a shoestring. I’m not going to steal their product.

The streamers are happy to kill theatrical exhibition because their business is selling subscriptions and data harvesting. I’d sooner find a way to kill the streamers and buy a ticket directly from the filmmakers, although the studio has to have a cut as well.

The streamers sell convenience but they’re killing quality and independent perspectives.

[PIF]

Mostly hackers, unwatchables, stinkers.

1. Digger
2. Dune: Part Three
3. Sheep In the Box
4. Possible Love
5. Bucking Fastard
6. The Odyssey
7. Untitled Mike Leigh Film
8. Coyote vs Acme
9. I Love Boosters
10. Minotaur
11. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
12. Remain
13. Wake of Umbra
14. Wildwood
15. All of a Sudden
16. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
17. At the Middle of Life
18. On Land and Sea
19. Fjord
20. Mother Mary
21. The Entertainment System is Down
22. Artificial
23. The Dog Stars Ridley Scott
24. Parallel Tales
25. Look Back
26. Disclosure Day Steven Spielberg
27. If Love Should Die
28. Butterfly Jam
29. Flowervale Street
30. Full Phil
31. The Drama
32. Ink
33. Paper Tiger
34. The Basics of Philosophy
35. Mimesis
36. Project Hail Mary
37. Werwulf
38. A Long Winter
39. October
40. Hope
41. Send Help
42. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
43. Out of This World
44. Burning Rainbow Farm
45. Tony
46. Bitter Christmas
47. Wild Horse Nine
48. Ray Gunn
49. Her Private Hell
50. Jack of Spades

[alternatives?]

I can’t imagine spending 100 hours watching movies.

[PIF]

Movies are just time fill-ins for me - they could all go away today at no loss to me. Books are different.