The most anticipated films of 2026
COVER STORY
New year, new you, same old Hollywood!
The most popular film industry in the world is all set to drench us with nostalgia yet again, bringing back major franchises, while also giving us our yearly dose of ambitious auteur projects that draw us in with big names (and even bigger budgets).
2026 promises something for everyone, from action and horror to comedy and drama. There are adaptations aplenty, a sequel to everything imaginable, and capes flying all over the place.
Here’s a quick look at what you can expect to see – and either enjoy or roll your eyes at (TBD) – this year.
Slasher dark comedy Scream may have been all kinds of subversive fun but few of us would have wagered in 1996 that the film would spawn a franchise that would still be going in 2026!
Three decades after the release of the original, we are now getting the seventh – SEVENTH! – instalment in the series, as the Ghostface killer returns to cause more gory mayhem. Neve Campbell is back as Sidney Prescott (after the actress declined to appear in Scream VI due to a pay dispute with the producers), as the focus (thankfully) returns to the OG lead when the iconic final girl faces her masked nemesis yet again, this time as he targets her daughter.
Courteney Cox, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding also reprise their respective roles, while Isabel May (as Sidney’s daughter), Joel McHale (Sidney’s husband), Anna Camp, and Mckenna Grace are among the actors joining the franchise.
Pixar may have lost its mojo, what with its newer output struggling to meet the very, very high bar set by its most stellar offerings, but even the studio’s mediocre projects have still been creative and fun enough to keep us coming back for more. Here’s hoping the upcoming Hoppers – one of two Pixar releases this year – will be a return to peak form.
The animated adventure follows the story of an animal lover (voiced by Piper Curda) who uses technology to transfer her mind into a robotic beaver in order to communicate with animals and thwart a construction company’s attempts to destroy the local animal habitat.
If you are a fan of celebrities voicing animated characters, then i) why?? and ii) you will be pleased to know that Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Meryl Streep, and Dave Franco are among the famouses on board Daniel Chong’s latest project, his first at the helm of a Pixar movie.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller bring Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary to cinematic life in what may or may not turn out to be another episode of The Book Was Better Than The Movie.
A man wakes up aboard an interstellar spacecraft with no memory of how he ended up there. Said man is portrayed by one Ryan Gosling, which is another thing – alongside the impressive directorial team and the suspenseful source material – that this sci-fi adventure has going in its favour.
Antoine Fuqua gives us the big budget biopic of one of the most – if not the most – famous persons that ever lived. Michael takes a look at the troubled life of the King of Pop by way of a fittingly troubled production.
The singer’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson portrays his uncle in this biographical musical drama. The cast also includes Nia Long, Laura Harrier, Juliano Krue Valdi, and Colman Domingo, while Miles Teller portrays entertainment lawyer/manager John Branca, a casting choice MJ’s daughter, Paris, isn’t exactly chuffed about.
We are looking forward to this project if only to find out how the heck you spend US$150 million on a biopic! Let’s hope we don’t end up filing this one under “Should’ve Been a Miniseries”.
The iconic Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep at her finest) is set to deliver some more fierce looks in this sequel to 2006’s memorable The Devil Wears Prada. Based on Lauren Weisberger’s Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns (2013), the comedy drama sees David Frankel and Aline Brosh McKenna return as director and screenwriter respectively in this much-anticipated, long-overdue sequel.
Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs is now a respected media executive; Emily Blunt’s Emily Charlton is a senior executive at a fashion brand, now rivalling her former boss; while Streep’s Priestly is grappling with the changing landscape of the fashion industry.
In a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas created a fun movie trilogy that captured the imagination of epic space opera fans everywhere. Disney now proceeds to milk the cash cow with The Mandalorian and Grogu, the umpteenth entry in the Star Wars franchise and a continuation of the Disney+ The Mandalorian (2019 – 2023) television series.
Bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his apprentice Grogu embark on an adventure that will test their skill and resolve.
Battles will continue to be fought. Baby Yoda will continue to be adorable. Fans will continue to be serviced. Money will continue to be made.
By the power of Grayskull, the Masters of the Universe reboot is finally emerging on the other side of development hell this year. Nicholas Galitzine is the newest star of the Mattel franchise, playing the lead role of Prince Adam / He-Man, who returns to his home planet to save it from the evil Skeletor (Jared Leto, unfort).
Helmed by Travis Knight, the long-delayed sword and sorcery flick could potentially be a mess, and Leto’s presence isn’t likely to help with the marketing, but Idris Elba is in it for some reason so we will reserve judgment till we actually get the chance to see it.
We’ve got a friend in Pixar, and it’s because of gems like their Toy Story franchise that the studio continues to command our attention. The Disney subsidiary is now reviving its most beloved IP for a fifth adventure that finds Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), and the rest of the toy gang confronting their latest nemesis: electronics!
While the brilliant Toy Story 3 gave us the perfect ending, the gamble of sending the characters on a fourth adventure did pay off. Now Pixar won’t want to tarnish the series that put it on the map or make us feel like the project is just an unnecessary cash grab, so Toy Story 5 shoulders the weight of very high expectations. Directed by the most wonderful Andrew Stanton, here’s hoping the film succeeds in hitting us, once again, right in the feels. We’ll keep the Kleenex handy, just in case.
The revamped DC universe is expanding its roster by giving Supergirl her own standalone movie. Superman’s cousin goes on an adventure with Krypto and meets a young girl (Eve Ridley) on her journey to avenge her father’s death.
Craig Gillespie is in charge of the filmmaking duties. Milly Alcock portrays the titular character, reprising her role from last year’s middling Superman; former Aquaman Jason Momoa plays the anti-hero; and David Corenswet dons the red cape once again as the Man of Steel.
With James Gunn and Peter Safran trying to rebuild the limping DC franchise, one would hope that being a DC fan can finally stop being an exercise is building patience and developing a high tolerance for recasting, for there is only so much course correction our Krypto-loving hearts can take.
Every year Disney regurgitates a live-action adaptation no one asked for, and every year said live-action remake somehow ends up making a billion dollars at the box office. Because apparently people enjoy watching worse versions of the animated classics we grew up with. (Although last year’s Snow White did teach Disney a lesson or two in the shortcomings of relying on the powers of nostalgia and the gullibility of viewers, so there’s that.)
Now it’s the turn of 2016’s Moana to go the live-action route, as we revisit the story and sing the familiar tunes barely a decade after the animated version came out and less than two years after its sequel.
Dwayne Johnson, who voiced Maui, now portrays the demigod, while Catherine Laga’aia plays Moana, the strong-willed daughter of a chief of a Polynesian village, who is chosen by the ocean to undertake a voyage and restore the prosperity of her community.
Directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Everyone In Hollywood, The Odyssey brings one of the oldest surviving works of literature to blockbuster life. With a US$250 million budget, the film is the most expensive of Nolan’s career and the first captured entirely on IMAX cameras.
Based on Homer’s ancient Greek epic, the movie follows the legendary Greek king of Ithaca (Matt Damon) on his long, perilous journey home following the Trojan War, as he battles seas, monsters, and a very long runtime (probably). It’s an expensive exercise in prestige cinema, For Your Consideration.
Marvel may have lost the plot several phases ago but they have continued undeterred with their Multiverse Saga. Now the second film of Phase Six sees the return of a certain friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. With his great power comes the great responsibility of saving the MCU from itself.
Brand New Day will be the fourth chapter in MCU’s Spider-Man series (following 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home) and Peter Parker (Tom Holland) will once again suit up to battle a threat that endangers his friends.
Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton is steering the project while our curiosity is steering us back to movie theatres.
We return to Panam as The Hunger Games series makes a sixth foray onto the big screen with Sunrise on the Reaping, a prequel set around two and a half decades before Katniss Everdeen stepped into the arena.
The movie explores how the Capitol refined the Hunger Games from dire punishment to a polished spectacle.
Joseph Zada plays Haymitch Abernathy, a tribute from District 12 who is also the future mentor to Katniss. Francis Lawrence directs. Our interest piques.
Firmly lost in its own multiverse, the MCU has decided to bring back as many familiar faces as possible in Avengers Doomsday, an attempt to reclaim the box office glory that the series has lost since the heady highs of Endgame, all the way back in 2019.
Robert Downey Jr. exchanges Iron Man’s suit for Doctor Doom’s cloak, going from MCU’s most beloved superhero to its most menacing supervillain (or so we hope).
Everyone from the Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, and X-Men to Avengers old and new make an appearance. The movie leads up to next year’s Secret Wars (December 2027) and will hope to recapture the magic of the Russo brothers’ Infinity Saga finale duology.
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune series plods to a finish with its third and final instalment, the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah (1969). The epic space opera takes a turn from grand myth to cautionary tale while exploring the consequences of Paul Atreides’ (Timothée Chalamet) victory.
Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, and Anya Taylor-Joy all return, while Robert Pattinson joins the cast.
Expect epic vistas and even more epic existential dread.
Also…
If you’re in the mood for some action, then this summer’s martial arts fantasy sequel Mortal Combat II (May) might interest you. And if you want some sci-fi, then you are likely to enjoy Steven Spielberg’s tech thriller Disclosure Day (June) and/or Ridley Scott’s post-apocalyptic The Dog Stars (which comes out in August).
If it’s classic romance you’re looking for, then await the newest adaptations of Wuthering Heights (February) and Sense and Sensibility (September).
Period comedy drama The Adventures of Cliff Booth, directed by David Fincher off a script by Quentin Tarantino, also comes out this year, as does The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin’s companion piece to The Social Network (2010).
Those who enjoy horror can expect some thrills from the zombie sequel 28 Years Later: Bone Temple (January), the Frankenstein-inspired monster flick The Bride! (March), and the horror comedy Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come (March). We hope we will get some lols out of the comedic parody of Scary Movie 6 (June), and at least a few awws from the long-awaited sequel to 1998’s Practical Magic (September).
Meanwhile, fans of animation can look forward to the family friendly The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April), Minions 3 (July), and PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie (August).
And cinephiles of all inclinations can expect a whole lot more.
Meanwhile, thinking locally…
While Pakistani cinema’s mainstream output has been limited and its experimental ambitions modest, the industry has still managed to keep audiences engaged, if only by way of a handful of projects every year.
From the looks of it, the local cinema’s scale and frequency are likely to remain slim this year. (Although you never know, our filmmakers might just surprise us!)
One of the most prominent Pakistani flicks of 2026 come from director Bilal Atif Khan. Comedy caper Aag Lagay Basti Mein stars Mahira Khan, Fahad Mustafa, Javed Sheikh, and Tabish Hashmi, and is set to hit theatres on Eid ul-Fitr (March).
Also on our radar is Ehteshamuddin’s Khan Tumhara, an action thriller starring Bilal Ashraf and Maya Ali that comes out on Eid ul-Azha (May).
The year will also see the release of projects like Abu Aleeha’s sports drama Mera Lyari (starring Ayesha Omar and Dananeer Mobeen), and we might also get a wider release of Seemab Gul’s drama Ghost School which premiered at TIFF in 2025, and the indie crime thriller Jujji – loosely inspired by the real case of a serial killer masseur – which premiered internationally last year and is expected to hit local screens in early 2026.
