In a market that is heavily saturated by sequels, reboots and franchises, it is becoming increasingly difficult for audiences to see the best films that don’t require you to have watched three other Jumanji features or the twenty years’ worth of Marvel TV and movies. Thankfully, there are some hotly anticipated releases touted for 2026 that can be watched and enjoyed without any prior obligation to this brand or that timeline.
The Odyssey
The moment that he finished with Oppenheimer, the question on everyone’s lips was about what Christopher Nolan was planning next. It turns out he was planning another adaptation, this time of Homer’s Greek epic, The Odyssey. Starring Matt Damon as Odysseus following the Trojan War, as he faces off with many mythical beings, including a massive mechanical puppet of the Cyclops Polyphemus. A large ensemble cast, including Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, and John Leguizamo, rounds off what is sure to be the biggest film of the summer.
The Odyssey is set to be released in theatres on July 17.
Michael
The genre of music biopic has become tired since the success of Bohemian Rhapsody, with everyone from Elton John, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and even Weird Al Yankovic given the Hollywood treatment. However, if there is any music icon that can revitalise the genre, it’s the King of Pop himself. Starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar, the film charts the Thriller hitmaker from his days in the Jackson Five to becoming the biggest star in music. With the family involved in production, it is unclear how much focus will be placed on his controversial personal life, but with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua at the helm, this is definitely one to watch.
Michael is set to be released in theatres on April 24.
The Drama
Zendaya and Robert Pattinson star as a happily engaged couple put to the test in this, the latest of A24’s “independent” releases. The Drama, produced by filmmaker Ari Aster, and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, the Norwegian director behind Sick of Myself and Dream Scenario. If the film gets anywhere near the marketing budget of A24’s Marty Supreme, this is sure to be one of the big hits of 2026.
The Drama is set to be released in theatres on April 3.
“Wuthering Heights”
One of the 2026 films with the most social discourse around it already is “Wuthering Heights”. With die-hard Emily Brontë fans sharing their disappointment with the casting choices, and the lack of faithfulness to the original novel, the casting of Australian stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as Cathy and Heathcliff, respectively is a bold call. Director Emerald Fennell isn’t one to shy away from controversy, with her last film Saltburn causing quite a stir.
“Wuthering Heights” is set to be released in theatres on February 13.
The Backrooms
One of the most anticipated debuts in horror, YouTuber Kane Parsons, known online as Kane Pixels, made huge waves with his digital found footage web series Backrooms, which focuses on a series of disappearances linked to a research institute. This film adaptation, starring Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor, is understood to focus on one of these cases, when a therapist is forced to search for her missing patient.
The Backrooms is set to be released some time in 2026.
Digger
The much-anticipated collaboration between Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Tom Cruise sees the latter finally break free from the restraint of Mission: Impossible, producing and starring in this film, billed only as ‘a comedy of catastrophic proportions’. For some, this brings the hope that we will see Cruise go back to his Tropic Thunder performance, but it is sure to be a welcome relief from Ethan Hunt for the actor and the audience.
Digger is set to be released in theatres in October.
The Bride!
Originally slated for 2025 but pushed back, possibly due to Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein or Jessie Buckley’s Oscar push for Hamnet, The Bride! sees Maggie Gyllenhaal return to the director’s chair as Christian Bale portrays Frankenstein’s creature, who asks Annette Bening to create a companion for him. The result is Buckley, who is set to have a long-overdue 2026 of global success.
The Bride! is set to be released in theatres in March.
Disclosure Day
Four years since The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg is back in the chair and this time he goes back to the genre that has served him well thus far with both War of the Worlds and Close Encounters of the Third Kind as he brings us a very secretive production that is simply described as a UFO film. Starring an expected all-star cast including Emily Blunt, Colin Firth and the star of 2025, Josh O’Connor, this will no doubt be spoken about in the 2027 Oscars discourse.
Disclosure Day is set to be released in theatres on June 12.
I Want Your Sex
Gregg Araki is one of the biggest names in queer cinema, with The Living End, Totally F***ed Up being some of the first to break the mould in film. 2026 sees his long-awaited comeback as an all-star cast of Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman and singer Charli XCX bring his typically sexual narrative to life.
I Want Your Sex is set to be released at some time in 2026.
The Dog Stars
Ridley Scott seems to never stop making films and telling everyone how great he is at making films. Plenty more of that kind of egocentricity will feature in 2026 with the release of his science-fiction adventure starring Margaret Qualley and Josh Brolin. Hopefully, everybody else likes this one as much as Scott inevitably will, unlike his recent offerings of Gladiator II, Napoleon and House of Gucci.
The Dog Stars is set to be released at some point in 2026.
