2026 is set to have a wide variety of blockbuster movies, spanning multiple genres. The first of these, set to release in late February 2026, is Scream 7. While some may say the Scream franchise has dragged on long enough, other fans may be excited to see Neve Campbell return as Sidney Prescott to face off against Ghostface once again. The plot details have yet to be hinted at or revealed, with that possible happening later this year.
In contrast to the upcoming Scream 7, there are many animated movies scheduled to release next year, with the standouts being Toy Story 5, The Legend of Aang, Minions 3, and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Toy Story 5 seems to be much of the same as the previous films, and will follow Woody and Buzz as they face off against the newer, more digitized gadgets. I would personally say that the franchise should have ended with the third film, but it looks like the directors thought differently. The Avatar franchise will be expanding as well, through the upcoming addition, The Legend of Aang, the Last Airbender, which is slated to be released in late October 2026. This new animated film will follow Aang, the main protagonist of the series Avatar: The Last Airbender from 2005. Avatar 2 (2009) is currently the third highest grossing box office film of all time, so this new film surrounding Aang has large shoes to fill in terms of revenue and popularity for the franchise. Minions 3: Mega Minions looks to be much of the same as fans have come to expect from the Despicable Me franchise, with Steve Carrell once again taking the role of Gru, but little is actually known about the plot details of the film. The movie was originally scheduled to release in 2027, but was moved up to early June 2026, swapping places with Shrek 5. Nintendo, meanwhile, will be following up their success with the Super Mario Movie (starring Chris Pratt) by expanding their film franchise into their 2007 hit title on their Wii game console, Super Mario Galaxy. It is unknown whether or not Chris Pratt will be returning to voice Mario, but it is speculated he will be returning. It is also unknown whether this new movie’s plot will span both Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, or if it will be limited to the first game.
Superhero movies are also, of course, being expanded upon in the upcoming year, with three main films for fans to be looking forward to. The most prominent of these is Avengers: Doomsday, with predictions of the movie budget circling $400 million, and projected box office earnings exceeding $1 billion. Many fans, myself included, are unsure of how the storyline can continue after the events of Avengers: Endgame, but that will remain to be seen. The Marvel Cinematic Universe will also be gaining another Spider-Man film, titled Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which will once again be starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker. Many plot details are still obscured, with even actress Zendaya’s appearance in the film being unconfirmed. The DC movie franchise has unveiled trailers for their new film: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. House of The Dragon actress Milly Alcock will be portraying Kara Zor-El, or Supergirl, along with her pet dog, Krypto.
The Star Wars film franchise is yet again back from the dead, as the spinoff film titled The Mandalorian and Grogu is scheduled to release in late May 2026. The known roster of actors include Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, and Sigourney Weaver. This will be the Star Wars franchise’s first time in theaters since The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. That film was the lowest grossing Star Wars film ever, only barely scraping above the $1 billion mark. That is still no small feat, and hopefully this new Mandalorian film can live up to the excitement surrounding it.
My personal favorite genre of film, that being action films, are seeing some adventurous additions. Perhaps the most anticipated and interesting of which being a film rendition of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. This film has perhaps the most loaded roster of actors and staff of all the films discussed in this article, as Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, and Robert Pattinson are all set to have roles in the film. To round out this stacked cast, the film’s director is also none other than Christopher Nolan, one of the greatest film directors of all time, with acclaimed works like Interstellar, Inception, Oppenheimer, and The Dark Knight Rises on his extensive resume. This Odyssey film is the first movie adaptation of any of Homer’s poems in more than 60 years, leading many fans to be excited for the new release. In addition to The Odyssey, the Dune film series is getting its third iteration in recent years, that being Dune: Messiah. I personally have not watched any of the other Dune films, so the hype surrounding this movie is mostly lost on me. However, a fan favorite actor, Timothee Chalamet, will be cast as the lead role in Dune: Messiah. In that same boat, at least for me, is the Hunger Games franchise. Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping follows the life of the character Haymitch 24 years before Katniss volunteered herself as tribute, after the murder of Haymitch’s entire family by President Snow. I have neglected to read any of the Hunger Games books, so I personally have no concept of the new film’s story significance.
