We're halfway through 2026 and the back half is loaded.
Christopher Nolan made his Greek epic. Denis Villeneuve is closing out the Dune trilogy. Tom Cruise teamed up with Alejandro González Iñárritu for the first time. Marvel's next Avengers movie returns with Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. Pixar drops Toy Story 5 next month. Robert Eggers made a werewolf movie. And somehow there's also a new Meet the Parents.
Here are the movies worth getting excited about between June and December 2026. Ranked, with appropriate skepticism where warranted.
1. The Odyssey (July 17)
Christopher Nolan's first film since Oppenheimer (which won seven Oscars and made $976 million). Matt Damon plays Odysseus. Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron round out the cast. Universal Pictures distributing. $250 million budget. Shot on IMAX 70mm.
Hoyte van Hoytema is the cinematographer. Ludwig Göransson is the composer. Jennifer Lame is editing. The trio that made Tenet and Oppenheimer is reunited.
Nolan adapted Homer's Odyssey using the 2017 Emily Wilson translation as his source text. He's described the project as a realistic interpretation of Greek mythology. Filming wrapped in early 2026 across multiple international locations.
The expectations could not be higher. The track record suggests they'll be met.
2. Avengers: Doomsday (December 18)
The first Avengers movie since Endgame. Robert Downey Jr. returns as Doctor Doom (not Iron Man). Anthony Russo and Joe Russo directing. The Marvel multiverse converges as the Avengers, Wakandans, Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, and X-Men face Doom.
Chris Evans confirmed to return as Steve Rogers. Hayley Atwell back as Peggy Carter. The full cast list reads like a Marvel Studios trade catalog.
The questions: Can Marvel re-engage the audience it lost during Phase 4? Does Doom replace Thanos as a coherent franchise antagonist? Does Robert Downey Jr. playing the villain of the universe he made famous actually work?
We'll find out in December. This is the biggest swing the MCU has taken since the original Avengers in 2012.
3. Dune: Part Three (December)
Denis Villeneuve closes the trilogy by adapting Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah. Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson all returning. New cast additions for Messiah's expanded political and religious storylines.
If Villeneuve sticks the landing, Dune becomes one of the great sci-fi trilogies in cinema history. The first two parts already made $1.1 billion combined and won eight Oscars between them. Part Three has all the weight of a franchise that's never disappointed.
Villeneuve has also been confirmed as the director of Bond 26 (next), making 2026-27 a defining period for one of cinema's most precise filmmakers.
4. Untitled Iñárritu Film (October 2)
Tom Cruise plus Alejandro González Iñárritu plus Jesse Plemons plus John Goodman plus Riz Ahmed. Warner Bros. Pictures distributing.
The film has been informally referred to as Digger and pitched with the tagline "a comedy of catastrophic proportions." The first look images dropped early in 2026. It's Cruise's first non-Mission: Impossible film in years, and Iñárritu's first feature since Bardo in 2022.
The matchup is unusual on paper. Cruise typically works with directors who serve his action ambitions. Iñárritu typically works with actors who'll let him take them to dark places. The collision could go either way.
5. Toy Story 5 (June 19)
Pixar's 31st feature. Andrew Stanton directing, Kenna Harris co-directing. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return as Woody and Buzz. Greta Lee voices the new tech-toy antagonist Lilypad. Conan O'Brien voices a new toy called Smarty Pants.
The plot pits analog toys against screens and tablets in a kid's room. The thematic loaded-ness is real. Whether Pixar can land a fifth Toy Story after the franchise was supposed to end at three (and again at four) is the question.
Early industry tracking suggests strong opening weekend interest. Whether it sustains depends on the reviews.
6. Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31)
Tom Holland's fourth Spider-Man. Sadie Sink in a mystery role with significant fan speculation around it (the betting is on Mary Jane Watson, but nothing's confirmed). The Hulk, Punisher, and Scorpion are confirmed for appearances.
Continues from the end of No Way Home, with Peter Parker having lost everyone's memory of him. The "Brand New Day" comic storyline is the source material, suggesting a fresh-start framing for the character.
The biggest non-Avengers Marvel project of the year. Sony and Marvel co-produced. Expected to lead the summer box office unless The Odyssey over-performs the week before.
7. Werwulf (December)
Robert Eggers's follow-up to Nosferatu. A medieval werewolf movie, set in 13th century England. Aaron Taylor-Johnson rumored to be attached. Eggers writing and directing.
This is the most cinephile-focused entry on the list. Eggers's last four features (The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman, Nosferatu) have all been critical successes and reasonable commercial hits. Werwulf is the genre swing nobody asked for and everybody should be excited about.
December release suggests Focus Features sees it as awards-adjacent.
8. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Summer 2026)
The second film in Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's resurrected zombie trilogy. Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels) is directing this one rather than Boyle. Garland writing. Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, and Cillian Murphy confirmed to return.
28 Years Later did $124 million in 2025 with mixed reviews leaning positive. The Bone Temple has been talked about as the more ambitious of the two. DaCosta's direction is the wildcard.
9. The Adventures of Cliff Booth (November, IMAX Only)
Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood spin-off, with Brad Pitt reprising his Oscar-winning role as Cliff Booth. Tarantino wrote the screenplay but is not directing this one. David Fincher is.
This is one of the more interesting director-writer combinations of the year. Fincher and Tarantino have never collaborated. Pitt has worked with both extensively. The IMAX-only theatrical release is a Netflix Original move that suggests Netflix is treating the film as both a cinematic event and a streaming asset.
The film is expected to land on Netflix shortly after the IMAX run.
10. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (November 20)
The prequel based on Suzanne Collins's 2025 novel. Joseph Zada as a young Haymitch Abernathy. Elle Fanning, McKenna Grace, Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes, Whitney Peak, and Jesse Plemons join the cast.
Francis Lawrence returns to direct, his fifth Hunger Games film. Lionsgate is positioning this as the franchise's biggest project since Mockingjay. The novel was the bestselling YA book of 2025.
If you grew up on Hunger Games, this is the one. If you didn't, it's still going to be a major fall theatrical event.
11. Verity (October 2)
Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett in the adaptation of Colleen Hoover's 2018 novel. Michael Showalter directing. Amazon MGM Studios releasing.
This is the third Colleen Hoover adaptation in two years (after It Ends with Us in 2024 and Ugly Love in 2025). The book is one of Hoover's darker stories. The cast is the most prestige-coded yet for a Hoover adaptation. The October release positions it as an adult thriller more than a YA romance.
Honorable Mentions
- The Mandalorian and Grogu — first Star Wars theatrical since The Rise of Skywalker, exact 2026 date TBD
- Disclosure Day — Spielberg's UFO thriller, rumored late 2026
- Meet the Parents 4: Focker In-Law (November) — De Niro, Stiller back
- Godzilla Minus Zero (November) — sequel to the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One
- Remain (October 23) — Jake Gyllenhaal romance thriller from director Steven Knight
- Jumanji: Open World (December) — Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart returning
- Project Hail Mary (March 2026, already in theaters) — Ryan Gosling sci-fi epic
- The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender (October 9, Paramount+) — animated Avatar universe film
The Shape of the Back Half
Big year. Three movies (The Odyssey, Avengers: Doomsday, Dune: Part Three) could each gross over $1 billion if they hit. Several others have the smaller-but-significant audiences (Toy Story 5, Hunger Games, Spider-Man) that the multiplex still serves well.
The wildcards are Werwulf, The Adventures of Cliff Booth, and the Iñárritu film with Cruise. Each is the kind of bet that could either define the back half of the year or get lost in the December crush.
Theaters were declared dead three years ago. The back half of 2026 is the test of whether the audience comes back for the right movies.
Last updated: May 23, 2026. Release dates do shift. We'll refresh this guide as confirmations land and dates lock in.
