We made it alive out of 2025! What a weird f*cking year, but it could get weirder! Nevertheless, 2026 has arrived and the amount of films to look forward to is a genuinely daunting list. Guaranteed, if you don’t have an AMC A-List pass, there’s a good chance you will be spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on movies alone. Down below I’ve named by top 10 most anticipated films, but before we get to those, I’ve categorized a long list of other titles that I’m keeping my eye on based on a certain qualifications. Starting with…

JANUARY GEMS:

We’re literally in the month of January now, so it’s hard to include any of these films in my most anticipated given I’m about to see them in a matter of days or and or weeks. That said, I can’t wait to enjoy the gruesome pleasures of Primate (Johannes Roberts), Send Help (Sam Raimi), and the follow-up to one of my Top 10 favorite films of 2025, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Nia DaCosta).

MY FAVORITE FILMMAKERS ARE BACK:

With this list, it’s simply a matter of “director I love making a new movie? I’m in.” This is likely the largest list given it’s just exciting to see what all these artists are doing next. Follow-ups including All of a Sudden (Ryusuke Hamaguchi), Artificial (Luca Guadagnino), Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy), Bitter Christmas (Pedro Almodovar), The Bride! (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Carousel (Rachel Lambert), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair (Greta Gerwig), Cry to Heaven (Tom Ford), Flowervale Street (David Robert Mitchell), The Gallerist (Cathy Yan), Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die (Gore Verbinski), I Love Boosters (Boots Riley), Ink (Danny Boyle), The Invite (Olivia Wilde), I Want Your Sex (Gregg Araki), A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh), The Man I Love (Ira Sachs), Mother Mary (David Lowery), Paper Tiger (James Gray), Remain (M. Night Shyamalan), Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (Jane Schoenbrun), an Untitled Jesse Eisenberg Musical (Jesse Eisenberg), and supposedly a new film by British legend Mike Leigh!

THIS SOUNDS LIKE MY SHIT:

Regardless of what filmmaker is attached, these original films are already making an impression on me based on genre, cast, or subject. Films like the nearly-canned Coyote vs. Acme (Dave Green), Burning Rainbow Farm (Justin Kurzel), Cold Storage (Jonny Campbell), The Drama (Kristopher Borgli), Fjord (Cristian Mungiu), The History of Concrete (John Wilson), Hoppers (Daniel Chong), The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (Noah Segan), Poetic License (Maude Apatow), See You When I See You (Jay Duplass), Sense & Sensibility (Georgia Oakley), The Shitheads (Macon Blair), and Union County (Adam Meeks).

SEQUELS AND FRANCHISE FILMS (I’M CONFIDENT IN!):

These are all to me interesting or unique approaches that I feel are in the right hands, have advertising that looks promising, or I just simply can’t imagine them disappointing. These exciting entries are Clayface (James Watkins), Evil Dead Burn (Sébastien Vaniček), Godzilla Minus Zero (Takashi Yamazaki), The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (Francis Lawrence), Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Destin Daniel Cretton) and the never knowing when to end-but somehow still always successful Toy Story 5 (Andrew Stanton).

SEQUELS AND FRANCHISE FILMS (I’M LESS CONFIDENT IN!):

Movies I’m definitely going to see, mostly out of obligation. While I want to be excited (and with a few of these, many people are), there’s just something that doesn’t sit right with me about their mere existence or the so-far execution of how these films look, even if I loved the previous installment. I certainly hope to be wrong about Avengers: Doomsday (Joe & Anthony Russo), Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett), The Devil Wears Prada 2 (David Frankel), The Mandalorian and Grogu (Jon Favreau), Scary Movie 6 (Micheal Tiddes), Scream 7 (Kevin Williamson), The Social Reckoning (Aaron Sorkin), and Supergirl (Craig Gillespie).

BIG PROJECT, BUT… WE’LL SEE:

You can’t help but be curious to see these films and see how they turn out, but given either the filmmakers’ track record or behind the scenes worries, it’s best to keep expectations low, even if it turns out to be a hit. These include Michael (Antoine Fuqua), The Dog Stars (Ridley Scott), and In the Blink of An Eye (Andrew Stanton).

And now finally…

MY TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF 2026

10. WILDWOOD (Travis Knight)

LAIKA Animation is back with perhaps their most ambitious project to date, a fantasy about a kidnapped infant and two young heroes who must navigate an enchanted forest to retrieve him. While the story seems familiar, the trailers promise a breathtaking visual spectacle and a massive voice cast that includes Angela Bassett, Mahershala Ali, Carey Mulligan, Jacob Tremblay, and Tom Waits. Despite a short catalogue, LAIKA may be the most consistently good animation company in the business and this may be their best shot yet at nabbing the Best Animated Feature Oscar.

9. THE ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM IS DOWN (Ruben Östlund)

Östlund’s brand of bleak comedy may not be for everyone, and this doesn’t exactly make the Top 10 being an Östlund film, but it does being a Kirsten Dunst film. Her ability to be brilliant ice-cold should work magic with Östlund’s writing and paired with Keanu Reeves should promise a riotously funny time as the two face extreme boredom after their in-flight entertainment system breaks.

8. JACK OF SPADES (Joel Coen)

Much like the Safdies, it’s clear which brother has the independent juice. While Ethan has been stumbling in his zone of lesbian-themed B-movies, Joel granted us a visionary take on Macbeth, and this time pairs with everyone’s favorite actor-of-the-moment Josh O’Connor as an 1880’s mystery author grappling with a plagiarist and his own dark past.

7. PROJECT HAIL MARY (Phil Lord & Christopher Miller)

From author Andy Weir of The Martian, the novel was a giant hit and anything being adapted by Lord & Miller should be a guaranteed good time. Ryan Gosling seems perfectly cast as an astronaut who awakens with memory loss and is Earth’s last hope in saving the planet. The trailers promise a delightful time but word-of-mouth is that this is going to be a big hit and a possible awards contender. We shall see!

6. WERWULF (Robert Eggers)

He’s tackled witches! He’s tackled mermaids! He’s tackled (in Nosferatu voice) VEHMPEHLLRRS!! Now Robert Eggers grabs a few of his regulars (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Lily Rose-Depp, Ralph Ineson) for another classic monster story with WEREWOLVES! You know what you’re likely to get: period accurate folklore that scares the bejeezus out of you, and you’re going to get it. His vision applied to anything in the horror-space is exciting, but this seems more perfectly matched than ever.

5. DIGGER (Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu)

Inarritu directing Tom Cruise is already a ticket sold. Inarritu directing Cruise as the world’s most powerful man is a dozen tickets sold. But the first look teaser suprised us with an unexpected vision, Cruise in Les Grossman-mode dancing with a shovel. With striking IMAX imagery, this bold and original comedy may be one of the most fascinating projects of the year. Inarritu is a divisive voice to many so this may be a tightrope of quality-control for some, but I’m here for the big swings.

4. DISCLOSURE DAY (Steven Spielberg)

New Spielberg is always going to make a Most Anticipated List. He’s one of the greatest of all-time. Returning to the UFO blockbuster genre, this time consulted and advised by modern Disclosure movement advocates, this mysterious new thriller seems to deal in dreams, memory, and language in fascinating but terrifying ways. Once again on this list, Josh O’Connor leads a cast featuring Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, and Colman Domingo. The combination of screenwriter David Koepp, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, and master composer John Williams.

3. THE ADVENTURES OF CLIFF BOOTH (David Fincher)

Normally a sequel or spin-off to a Quentin Tarantino film not directed by Tarantino would be a big, fat no from me, but alas David Fincher is teaming up with regular collaborator Brad Pitt to continue the adventures of Cliff Booth from a script by Tarantino. Supposedly molded from prior drafts of an original script he’s still struggling to write, the narrative of Cliff Booth remains a mystery. Will it just be a fun hangout film? Possibly. But the combination of Fincher and Tarantino together is a high school film nerd’s wet dream and if successful, may be a cinephile’s wet dream as well.

2. DUNE: PART III (Denis Villenueve)

The novel of Dune: Messiah really puts its foot into the weird with the conclusion of Paul Atreides’ story, but have faith in Denis Villenueve to somehow make it accessible to a large audience. Dune itself had been unadaptable for decades (even proven so with Lynch’s colossal misfire 1984 film), but somehow Villenueve’s translation of the dense text managed to be thrilling, dramatically compelling, and visually overwhelming. With new cast addition Robert Pattinson and the return of Jason Momoa, as well as the brilliant Linus Sandgren taking over camera duties from Greig Fraser, fingers crossed that Villenueve deviates from the novel in all the right ways to deliver a rousing and devastating conclusion to the main Dune story.

1. THE ODYSSEY (Christopher Nolan)

Was it going to be anything else? After sweeping the Oscars, Christopher Nolan’s newest project is to adapt the most famous piece of literature that’s not the Bible (I’m sure that’s next). Odysseus, King of Ithaca’s decade-spanning journey over land and sea to return home is ripe for a large-scale cinematic event helmed by a master of the medium (its last and perhaps only great adaptation being the Coen’s O Brother, Where Art Thou) and Nolan may be the most exciting filmmaker to tackle the challenge. Employing every major A-list star in Hollywood from Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, and once again in this top 10 list, Robert Pattinson, Nolan’s The Odyssey may be the biggest non-franchise blockbuster released in our current time (tickets even went on sale for it already, one year in advance). It’s expectation by cinema-goers everywhere may be impossibly high, but Nolan has never failed to deliver spectacle. The first feature-length film to be entirely shot with IMAX footage (and you know this’ll be a long one), he’s pulling out every big gun he has. When this thing drops in the summer, it may dominate conversation for the rest of the year.

Anything I missed that you’re excited to see? What are your most anticipated films of 2026? Comment below! Thanks for reading!