2026 has the potential to be a truly great year for movies, both in terms of critical reception and commercial reception. Horror has 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Scream 7, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Evil Dead Burn, Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil, and Clayface. On the drama front there’s Wuthering Heights, Othello, Michael, and Sense and Sensibility. As for comedies there’s How to Make a Killing, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Scary Movie 6, Practical Magic 2, and Super Troopers 3. When it comes to animated films there’s Hoppers, The Cat in the Hat, Minions 3, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and Toy Story 5. And, lastly, the action genre will have Cliffhanger, Mortal Kombat II, The Odyssey, Street Fighter, Jumanji 3 (or four, depending how you look at it), and Violent Night 2.
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But no genre has a greater chance for success in 2026 than science fiction. And, while the following 10 movies aren’t the only 2026 sci-fi movies that might break out, they are the 10 with the greatest chance of doing so.
10) Flowervale Street (8/14)
As is the case with several entries on this list, there isn’t a substantial amount known regarding the plot of Flowervale Street. He’s what we do know: It takes place in the ’80s, it focuses on a family, that family is transported to the past after an odd storm, and once there they have to survive dinosaurs.
Even if it doesn’t do Jurassic World numbers, it sounds like something that will do well. It certainly sounds like something that could come from Amblin. It doesn’t come from Amblin, but it does come from J. J. Abrams (as producer) and his Bad Robot production company. It also has some poster-worthy star power as the matriarch and patriarch of the family are played by Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor, respectively. Furthermore, it’s directed by David Robert Mitchell, whose previous two films, It Follows and Under the Silver Lake, are both excellent.
9) The Dish (6/12)
There is even less known about Steven Spielberg’s The Dish than Flowervale Street. That even comes down to the title, as The Dish has yet to even be officially confirmed as its title (but that’s probably it, and it’s not a bad title at all).
But we do know that it’s led by the consistently reliable Emily Blunt and has a particularly impressive supporting cast in the form of Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, and Wyatt Russell. Plus, at the end of the day, it’s a big budget movie from Spielberg…there will be interest. This is especially true considering how his track record with alien movies is quite solid, from Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to War of the Worlds.
8) The Bride! (3/6)
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! is actually something of a risk, given its non-traditional take on the monster movie subgenre combined with its $80 million budget. Furthermore, while Jessie Buckley is one of the most talented performers of her generation, she has yet to prove herself as a financially viable poster name. But this, combined with her role in the indie hit Hamnet, is almost certainly going to change that.
Even if The Bride! doesn’t take off financially, which it very well may considering it also features Christian Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Penélope Cruz, it could still end up being a critical darling. Imagine a modern take on The Bride of Frankenstein grabbing up a slew of Academy Award nominations. That doesn’t seem fully off the table. This will be an interesting one.
7) The Dog Stars (3/27)
Ridley Scott has a pretty mixed bag track record when it comes to financial reception, but The Dog Stars seems likely to end up in the win column. It’s a post-apocalyptic alien movie, so if it finds the right tone it could be a critical winner, which would then attract skeptical ticker buyers.
Furthermore, it’s led by Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, and Josh Brolin. Elordi and Qualley are two of the biggest names in the business right now, thanks to Frankenstein and The Substance, respectively, while Brolin remains very popular, even if The Running Man came and went at the box office. It’s a bit of a question mark film, but if it has an impressive and captivating trailer, good things can be expected of The Dog Stars.
6) Project Hail Mary (3/20)
While Ryan Gosling is one of the most famous and well like A-listers in the industry at the moment, he’s not quite a can’t miss box office draw. In recent years, The Nice Guys, Blade Runner 2049, The Fall Guy, and fellow astronaut movie First Man all fell short of expectations.
But the trailer for Project Hail Mary really does make it seem like something that could take off. A reluctant and fearful non-astronaut sent to space? That’s an interesting character people will want to get to know, especially once he’s made a little alien acquaintance. Furthermore, the 2021 novel by Andy Weir is quite popular. And, lastly, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have an amazing track record when it comes to helming crowd-pleasers. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie, and 22 Jump Street were all hits. Toss in the fact that it’s not opening against any particular impressive competition and Project Hail Mary could take off. And, if it does, those behind The Dog Stars may come to regret opening it one week later.
5) The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (11/20)
Some may say The Hunger Games universe isn’t sci-fi. And fair enough to that, as it skews a bit more fantasy than sci-fi. But it still takes place in a futuristic dystopian world and has dresses that are designed to catch on fire and not burn the wearer. That’s sci-fi tech if ever there was sci-fi tech.
There’s also an argument to be made that the IP is past its prime. The first film was a massive surprise hit in 2012, its sequel was even bigger, and the two Mockingjay movies did will, but not spectacularly. But then the prequel, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes only made $361 million worldwide, which was $300 million less than Katniss’ sendoff. So why do we think The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will do better than Songbirds & Snakes? Because it ties even further into the original hit movies. We get to meet the younger versions of Plutarch Heavensbee, Caesar Flickerman, and Haymitch Abernathy. This is Haymitch’s story, the Hunger Games he survived which was only alluded to in the Katniss movies. That feels like a prequel story worth telling, whereas Songbirds & Snakes didn’t feel as much like an event.
4) Supergirl (6/26)
The DCU currently has a question mark looming near it, considering Warner Bros. will likely be sold to either Netflix or Paramount. If the latter’s hostile takeover ends up being successful, we’ll get additional installments not in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s gameplan.
For now, though, we’re just getting movies that they intended to make from the jump. And, between Clayface and Supergirl, the latter is almost certainly going to be 2026’s big DC movie. We already met Milly Alcock’s Kara Zor-El in the successful opening of the new universe, so it feels like a natural continuation of something that already worked. Supergirl could fall slightly short of Superman, but there’s just as big a chance it will do even better, as Gunn’s opening of Chapter One: Gods and Monsters has only gotten more fans on HBO Max.
3) Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu (5/22)
The previous big screen Star Wars movie was Solo: A Star Wars Story back in 2018. And, as we all know, that flopped harder than cat finding the perfect resting spot.
But seven years between Star Wars movies is a decent chunk of time. Even if The Mandalorian & Grogu weren’t already directly tied to a particularly successful wing of the overarching universe, it would still likely do quite well. But, as a continuation of The Mandalorian, a massive hit on Disney+, this one’s a sure thing.
2) Spider-Man: Brand New Day (7/31)
Even though the MCU hasn’t been on fully stable legs for a few years, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man remains a beloved favorite. And, even without the event pull of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it is still almost certain that Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be a major moneymaker.
For one, there’s just the general Holland and Zendaya factor. They attract audiences. But then there’s the fact that this is following up one of the biggest movies of all time. Specifically, a mega movie with a devastating cliffhanger of an ending. How will Peter Parker adjust to having everyone he’s known and love forget him? Many people are going to buy a ticket for that before spoilers get out.
1) Avengers: Doomsday (12/18)
As mentioned, the MCU hasn’t been as healthy as of late as Disney would surely like it to be. Phase Four did well enough, but outside No Way Home none of them were juggernauts. Phase Five, however, saw Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts* all either fall short of expectations or outright flop.
But as Phase Four’s Deadpool & Wolverine proved the MCU is still capable of releasing a full-on event film, and that is almost certainly what Avengers: Doomsday is going to be. On one hand, there’s the return of Robert Downey Jr., albeit in a new role. People are going to be clamoring to see if and how Doctor Doom is related to his time as Iron Man. On the other there’s the return of the Russo brothers, whose Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame are all pretty much universally seen as MCU highpoints. It’s doubtful they’ll go completely off the rails with Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, they just understand what makes a good MCU movie too well for that to happen.
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