10 Most-Anticipated Films of 2026

As I noted in my Top 10 of 2025 intro, there’s a lot of angst and uncertainty in Hollywood right now. However, movies aren’t going to disappear tomorrow, and audiences have plenty to be excited about in the coming year. While there are always movies that sneak up (I’d be lying if I said I had It Was Just an Accident or Eephus on my radar at the start of 2025), there are plenty of films that are worth keeping an eye on right now. Although I’m always happy to be surprised, I can’t deny how overjoyed I am when a movie exceeds my high expectations. These are the ten I’m most eager to see in 2026 (in no particular order).

Coyote vs. Acme

Does Wile E. Coyote always fail? Sure, but if his cartoons teach us anything, it’s that you can’t keep him down. I’m still baffled why Warner Bros. didn’t want this in their lineup, with Looney Tunes being a recognizable and beloved IP, and the potentially lucrative box office from family fare. But for whatever reason, they were going to bury the movie until Ketchup Entertainment came along to rescue the picture. Now we’ll all have the opportunity to see what seems like a terrific premise as Coyote finally sues the Acme Corporation for their years of defective products. [Release Date: August 28^th]

Ray Gunn

The Iron Giant is one of my favorite movies, so I’m eager to see whatever director Brad Bird wants to do. However, his upcoming animated feature feels particularly suited to my interests. The film, which he’s been developing since the 1990s, is a sci-fi noir, describing the project as “If you mashed up The Maltese Falcon with Buck Rogers, it might be something like that. But hopefully with a bit more action and funnier.” While Bird hasn’t quite landed a stunning directorial effort since Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, here’s hoping that Ray Gunn has the same magic as Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. [Release Date: No official date yet, but the film will be released by Netflix]

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew

It’s been over 15 years since the last Chronicles of Narnia movie, and now it will return thanks to the magnificent Greta Gerwig. As a director, Gerwig is 3-for-3 with her 2023 film, Barbie, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year, nd the only film from a solo female director to earn over a billion dollars worldwide. That clout gave Gerwig the leeway to enter the epic fantasy of Narnia and restart the story with The Magician’s Nephew, the sixth book in the series, but the first chronologically. It’s also the first of two Narnia adaptations Gerwig will write and direct. I'm eager to see what Gerwig does with the genre and such beloved material. [Release date: November 26^th]

Project Hail Mary

I have always been on Phil Lord & Christopher Miller’s wavelength. Every movie they’ve directed and most they’ve produced have been some of my favorites, and yet they’ve been so busy working on the Spider-Verse films that they haven’t been credited as co-directors since 2014’s one-two punch of 22 Jump Street and The LEGO Movie (they were supposed to be the helmers of 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, but sadly, that fell apart #ReleaseTheLordAndMillerCut). Thankfully, they’re back with a big sci-fi feature by adapting Project Hail Mary from The Martian author Andy Weir. For some, this is merely something to tide audiences over until Beyond the Spider-Verse arrives in 2027, but for me, it’s a long-awaited entrée. [Release Date: March 20^th]

Wildwood

I can’t believe it’s been six years since the last Laika movie (and for someone who didn’t much care for Missing Link, a decade since their stunning Kubo and the Two Strings). But the stop-motion powerhouse will finally return this year with Kubo director and studio co-founder Travis Knight’s Wildwood. Based on Colin Meloy’s 2011 novel, the story follows kids Prue and Curtis who wander a mysterious forest near Portland to save Prue’s infant brother. We’ve only received a glimpse of the movie thus far, but it promises to be as visually stunning as the studio’s other works. [Release Date: TBA]