Buckle up everyone, in 2026 we will be returning to our screens with not only Miranda Priestly, but also Paul Atreides, Charlie XCX and Heathcliff – oh my!
After a relatively warm 2025 for Hollywood (except a few clear favorites(of course), we're in for a rebuilding year, with some of our greatest directors filling multiplexes, Denis Villeneuve completing a trilogy, Christopher Nolan taking on an ancient epic, and the great Steven Spielberg bringing us an original sci-fi story.
On the Canadian front, festival favorites are getting cinematic releases as Matt Johnson takes us back to simpler times. There's even a film by Alexandre Trudeau, brother of Katy Perry's boyfriend (though he's not on this list).
It was difficult to narrow this list down to 10, and some notable games didn't make the cut, but that's only because expectations are high for the new year. Here are the films we're most looking forward to in 2026.
Moment
Director Aidan Zamiri
Release date: January 30 (VVS indicates it is “coming soon” in Canada)
In recent years, the music industry has seen a flurry of both flattering biopics and documentaries. Leave it Charlie XCX to do something different as she stars in her own fictional retelling of Brother Summer. Honestly, we can't say for sure whether it will be amazing or terrible, especially since we're not yet convinced that Charli XCX is making a turn toward acting. However, the idea is so unique that we will be first in line to check it out.
Nirvanna group, show, film
Director Matt Johnson
Release date: February 13
Winner of the Audience Award in the Midnight Madness section at the Toronto International Film Festival.Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll's time-travel comedy takes Canadiana by canoe. With a bottle of Orbitz at hand and a trailer on its last wheels, Nirvanna group, show, film offers a tender and cheerful message of hope and perseverance. An early favorite among Exclaim! For those of you who watched it at the festival, we can't wait for everyone to enjoy some skydiving, nostalgic memories and lots of love for Toronto in February.
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert
Director Baz Luhrmann
Release date: February 20
I was watching EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert five times at TIFF, and you can bet your blue suede shoes that I'll be first in line to watch the Baz Luhrmann concert documentary five more times (and then some). The best cinematic display of the king's musicality and physicality on stage after his death. Elvis Presley at a concert fans, doubters and newcomers alike will be shaking and dancing in their seats. Since his first performance at Overton Park in 1954, Elvis has caused scandal and controversy with and without his music. IN Elvis Presley at a concertLuhrmann reminds us why the youth of the 50s went crazy, with everyone from the Beatles to David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen finding inspiration in the music of Elvis.
Monica's News
Directed by Pamela Gallant
Release date: March 6
Pamela Gallant has quietly made her mark on the Canadian film industry as an editor, documentary and short film director, and Monica's NewsGallant makes her feature-length narrative debut. Gallant's film is set in a rural village in Nova Scotia. The film follows a tenacious nine-year-old girl, Casey, who is obsessed with changing the world until tragedy strikes. Filmed with a warmth that betrays the challenges Casey faces, Gallant boldly displays artistry and gentle storytelling nuances that reveal similarities in tone to Rob Reiner's stories. Stay with me.
Hail Mary Project
Director Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Release date: March 20
A novel by Andy Weir Martian received a memorable 2015 Hollywood adaptation, a film that still stands out today for capturing in great detail what surviving on another planet might actually look like. Now his 2021 novel Hail Mary Project receives the same treatment as a schoolteacher (played by Ryan Gosling) wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there. Knowing directors Lord and Miller, the humor will likely be brighter than space exploration, and the hard sci-fi that looks a little more fantastical than Martian.
Disclosure Day
Director Steven Spielberg
Release date: June 12
Arguably the most talented director of at least the last four decades is returning to science fiction. Disclosure Day. Original idea by Steven Spielberg (and written by longtime collaborator David Koepp, who wrote the screenplay Jurassic Park(among others), the UFO-based film starring Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth and Colman Domingo, explores the eternal question of “Are We Alone?” contemplating whether to share the answer. Spielberg explored the question several times throughout his filmography. Disclosure Day It looks like a modern consideration that will leave its mark on the summer blockbuster season (and most likely the 2027 awards season).
Odyssey
Director Christopher Nolan
Release date: July 17.
Odyssey is the ultimate epic poem – a story so fundamental that it is often referenced (e.g. Oh brother, where are you?), but does not often receive a full adaptation. Christopher Nolan is an epic director extraordinaire, so he's naturally ambitious enough to take on this massive project. Matt Damon plays Odysseus, and the cast also includes Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron and many more.
Reason and Sensibility
Director Georgia Oakley
Release date: September 11
Yes, we know this is a trailer Wuthering Heights (out February 14) above, but the trailer for Reason and Sensibility hasn't come out yet. The English public will devour both of these films, and between them we'll take Jane Austen's fourth-best novel over Emerald Fennel, which tries to find something sexy in Emily Brontë's story of violence and cruelty. Reason and Sensibility already received a charming adaptation in 1995 with a film starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, so it's time for another, this time starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor Dashwood. It's not Pride and Prejudicebut everything about Austen is great.
Excavator
Director Alejandro J.
Release date: October 2
Described as a “comedy of cataclysmic proportions”, Alejandro G. Iñárritu's sequel to the Mexican dark comedy. The Bardo: A False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths and Oscar winner Survivor This looks like a wacky original story with Tom Cruise in the lead. “Hollywood's Last Action Star” takes a break from jumping out of planes and running around in tip-top shape to take on a role that feels a little closer to Les Grossman and maybe even a little Pledge (without any coldness). With obvious ending Mission: Impossible Last year, Cruz seemed to be starting his next phase, and we're here for it.
Social calculation
Director Aaron Sorkin
Release date: October 9
When Aaron Sorkin wrote the script for the 2010s Social networkFacebook and other social media sites have been known to be superficial, a bit toxic, and generally a waste of time that could be better spent doing other things. In the years since, they've undermined democracy and allowed tech billionaire weirdos to infiltrate every aspect of our lives, meaning it's time for a sequel. Social calculation takes place in 2021 after internal document leaks reveal that Facebook knew how harmful its platform was but chose not to address the problem. Mikey Madison plays whistleblower Frances Haugen, Jeremy Strong plays Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeremy Allen White plays a technology reporter who wrote a book about the scandal.
