Movie Preview 2026: 20 Films We Can’t Wait to See

Mark your calendar for these upcoming standouts from January through December

Chris Nashawaty,

AARP

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Published January 06, 2026

meryl streep and anne hathaway in a scene from the devil wears prada 2

Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway match wits for the second time in "The Devil Wears Prada 2."

Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection

It’s a brand-new year, which means it’s time to take a look at what the next 12 months have in store for movie lovers. The good news is 2026 is shaping up to be a blockbuster year for movies by and for grownups, including some familiar faces doing what they do best. Steven Spielberg, 79, unveils a new UFO tale, Meryl Streep, 76, gets devilish in a pair of Pradas and Tom Cruise, 63, attempts to save the world from disaster — again. All that plus 17 more highly anticipated titles you’ll want to make sure to mark on your calendar.

Dead Man’s Wire, R (in theaters Jan. 9)

True-crime tales don’t get much weirder than this. In this tense thriller from Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant, 73, Bill Skarsgård plays a desperate man who takes a bank employee hostage and wires a shotgun to his neck, demanding a ransom and an apology for his financial troubles. If his captive tries to get away, boom! Al Pacino, 85, and Colman Domingo, 56, costar in this ’70s-set nail-biter.

The Rip, R (on Netflix Jan. 16)

They’ve been pals forever, they won matching Academy Awards and now they’re partners in crime: Matt Damon, 55, and Ben Affleck, 53, costar in this Miami-set crime thriller about a group of cops who seize millions in cash from some bad guys and then start to wonder what would happen if they kept the loot. Might be a recipe for trouble.

Wuthering Heights (in theaters Feb. 13)

The cinematic pairing of Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi is reason enough to get excited for this steamy adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic Gothic romance. The stunning Yorkshire moors setting doesn’t hurt either. Catherine and Heathcliff will arrive in theaters the day before Valentine’s Day, which means your date night plans are now made. You’re welcome.

The Bride!, R (in theaters March 6)

Speaking of classic adaptations, actor-turned-director Maggie Gyllenhaal adds a stylish twist to the 1935 black-and-white chiller The Bride of Frankenstein, moving the action to Chicago in the 1930s. Hamnet’s Jessie Buckley heads up an all-star cast that includes the director’s little brother, Jake Gyllenhaal, Annette Bening, 67, Penélope Cruz, 51, and Christian Bale, 51, as Frankenstein’s creature.

The Breadwinner, PG-13 (in theaters March 13)

Nate Bargatze is one of the funniest stand-up comedians working right now. And his hilarious guest-hosting stints on SNL showed that he might have a second career as a comic actor. That experiment will be officially put to the test in his above-the-title movie debut: this family comedy about a clueless stay-at-home dad. If this sounds an awful lot like 1983’s Mr. Mom with Michael Keaton, 74, you’re not wrong. But knowing Bargatze's comic chops, lightning could strike twice.

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, R (in select theaters March 5)

It’s been nearly four years since Peaky Blinders ended its dazzling run on Netflix. Since then, fans have been scouring the internet for updates on the British series’ Downton Abbey-esque feature film treatment. The good news is the wait is nearly over. The better news: Cillian Murphy returns with costars Stephen Graham, 52, Rebecca Ferguson and Tim Roth, 64. After its theatrical opening, the film heads to Netflix on March 20.

Project Hail Mary (in theaters March 20)

If you were a fan of the Matt Damon survival-in-space thriller The Martian (and honestly, who wasn’t?), then here’s the perfect second half of a double bill for you. Like The Martian, Project Hail Mary is based on a bestselling novel from author Andy Weir, 53, only this time around, Ryan Gosling plays a disgraced college professor who’s recruited to join a space mission to prevent the sun from dying.

Michael (in theaters April 24)

Remember how inescapable Michael Jackson’s Thriller was in 1982? Pop culture events on that scale are rare, but Training Day director Antoine Fuqua, 60, is certainly looking to create a similar splash with this buzzy biopic of the King of Pop. Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, dons the spangled white glove to play the title role. Nia Long, 55, Colman Domingo, 56, and Miles Teller costar.

Apex (on Netflix April 24)

Charlize Theron, 50, may be a serious Oscar-winning actress, but don’t forget that she’s also a serious neck-snapping action heroine (Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde, The Old Guard). In her latest survival crunch-apalooza, Theron plays a grieving woman who moves into the wilderness, only to be dragged into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a serial killer. Taron Egerton and Eric Bana, 57, costar.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 (in theaters May 1)

Do we really need to sell you on this one? Meryl Streep, 76, and Anne Hathaway (not to mention Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci, 65) are back in this fashion-forward sequel to the 2006 smash that made $326 million at the worldwide box office. Things are about to get deliciously nasty.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (in theaters May 22)

Just when it looked like there was barely a flicker of life left in The Force, the Star Wars faithful found salvation with The Mandalorian, the hit Disney+ series that teamed an Eastwood-esque bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal, 50) with the pint-size Baby Yoda (a.k.a. Grogu). Now the intergalactic odd couple is making the jump to the big screen for their latest adventure.

Disclosure Day (in theaters June 12)

Any new movie from Steven Spielberg, 79, is an event. But when that movie is about UFOs, the ante gets upped. After all, this is the director of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. The trailer for Disclosure Day is intentionally mysterious and maddeningly vague, but very promising nonetheless. A cast that includes Josh O’Connor, Emily Blunt and Colin Firth, 65, doesn’t lessen anticipation either.

The Odyssey (in theaters July 17)

While we’re on the topic of A-list directors, summer is shaping up to be a showdown of the box-office titans, with Spielberg facing off against Christopher Nolan, 55. This follow-up to Nolan’s billion-dollar thinking person’s blockbuster, Oppenheimer, is an epic retelling of Homer’s Odyssey with Matt Damon, 55, as Odysseus, the homeward-bound hero of the Trojan War. You can’t say Nolan’s unambitious.

The Dog Stars (in theaters Aug. 28)

There isn’t a ton of information about this one yet, but it’s a sci-fi epic from Ridley Scott, 88, the director of two of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time, Alien and Blade Runner. So, sight unseen, this is a release date that gets a big, fat circle on our calendar. What we do know is that it’s a postapocalyptic adventure about the survivors of a deadly virus facing down roaming scavengers called Reapers, and it stars Josh Brolin, 57, Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley. That’s good enough for us.

Practical Magic 2 (in theaters Sept. 18)

Let’s not question the wisdom of waiting nearly 30 years to make a sequel to 1998’s beloved witchy comedy starring Nicole Kidman, 58, and Sandra Bullock, 61. Let’s just be happy that it’s happening at all. Based on The Book of Magic, Alice Hoffman’s 2021 novel and sequel to 1995's Practical Magic, the film promises broken hearts and love spells.

Digger (in theaters Oct. 2)

The latest movie from Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, 62, the Oscar-winning director of Birdman and The Revenant, calls itself “a comedy of catastrophic proportions.” We’re not sure what that means either, but it stars Tom Cruise, 63, so we’re in, sight unseen. Here’s what little we know: Cruise plays “the most powerful man in the world.” His mission: to prove that he’s humanity’s savior before a disaster destroys everything. The cast: German actress Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, 73, and Jesse Plemons.

The Social Reckoning (in theaters Oct. 9)

Aaron Sorkin, 64, the whip-smart writer of The West Wing and Moneyball, returns to the source of his greatest screenplay, 2010’s The Social Network, for this sequel about Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, this time telling the story of a young engineer-turned-whistleblower who reveals the tech company’s most guarded secrets to a Wall Street Journal reporter. The ensemble includes The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White, Anora’s Mikey Madison, and Succession’s Jeremy Strong.

Dune: Part Three (in theaters Dec. 18)

The third chapter in this eye-candy sci-fi saga based on Frank Herbert’s doorstop-size novels about interplanetary mysticism continues the story of Timothée Chalamet’s messianic adventurer Paul Atreides. Not much about the plot is known at this point, but we’re pretty sure the film will be stunning to look at: The director of the first two installments, Denis Villeneuve, 58, returns.

Coming sometime in 2026

The Adventures of Cliff Booth (on Netflix)

Well, this is a first. A Quentin Tarantino movie is getting a sequel directed by someone other than Quentin Tarantino, 62. That may sound like a terrible idea, but considering that David Fincher (Fight Club, The Social Network, Zodiac), 63, is the one taking the reins and Tarantino is writing the script, it could work out just fine. If you saw 2019’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, then you already know that Cliff Booth is the stuntman played by Brad Pitt, 62. Color us intrigued.

Madden (in theaters)

John Madden, the beloved head coach of the Super Bowl-winning Oakland Raiders who went on to an illustrious broadcasting career, introduced the world to the “turducken” and became a video-game icon, gets the biopic treatment from Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell, 67. In a casting coup, Nicolas Cage, 61, will play Madden, with Christian Bale, 51, as eccentric Raiders owner Al Davis.

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Chris Nashawaty, former film critic for Entertainment Weekly, is the author of Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story and a contributor to Esquire, Vanity Fair, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.