Movies of 2026: The Good, the Bad, and the Maybe

Welcome to the year 2026! In fact, welcome to February of 2026! We’re already 10.4 percent through the year as of the day that I’m posting this. In a perfect world, one would get a “preview” of the year done before the year has started, or shortly thereafter. But my routine, especially in the last several years, is to start the year with a deep dive into January with my January preview, thus giving me a bit of a buffer for the next two lists – my top movies of the previous year and this yearly preview. I won’t make this a personal log, but that buffer was certainly needed this time around. Life has been a bit of a whirlwind. But now that the calendar has progressed forward one month, no more excuses and no more procrastinating. It’s time to dive into the movies that are on the calendar this year!

This is always one of my favorite posts to do, if for nothing else than to get myself excited for everything coming out in the upcoming year after all the research done on this post. If others appreciate the work, then awesome! The process here is simple enough. I gather some highlights from the upcoming year and separate them into three categories – the good, the bad, and they maybe. “Good” and “bad” is simple enough. Movies I’m excited for and movies I’m not. The “maybe” is more of a gray area. Some of them lean towards positive, others negative, while some I simply don’t have enough information to make a conclusion. And the order I list these in is purely chronological in regards to release date, not a top 10 ranking of most and least anticipated. I save that for the end of the year.

And speaking of “highlights,” this is, of course, not an all-inclusive list. As I mentioned in my most recent post, I have an Excel chart where I keep track of box office numbers. I include every movie that opened to at least $100,000 or had a per theater average of $2,000. In 2025, there were 377 movies that made that cut. Diving deeper, there were 159 movies by my count that wound up in at least 1,000 theaters at some point in their run. So it’s impossible to include everything, especially since there’s plenty that we don’t know about right now. Many of my favorite movies when all is said and done are movies that debuted at festivals, then got picked up or established a solid release date after that. And those are movies that we might not even know exist at this point in the year. So like I said, just some highlights that stood out to me. It’s always fun to look back on this list in a year from now to see what I got right, what I was totally wrong on, and what I hadn’t even included. All that said, I still have a total of 82 titles in this year’s post, so that’s decently comprehensive. Read every word if you want, or just skim through the titles and see what catches your attention. I design this for either.

Finally, most of the release date information for this post comes from the release schedule on the-numbers.com. But I did double and triple check several other sources to make sure I’m not overlooking something major. Release date changes will end up happening. And some of these movies won’t end up coming out this year. That’s fine. I’ll put them on again next year. But the dates are accurate as of me posting this. And yes, I did include a few January releases, mostly to be a completionist. So scan through this post and let me know what you’re excited for this upcoming year!

The Good

Primate – January 9

If you’re interested in seeing a movie where a rabid chimp terrorizes a group of college-aged friends, I’ve got a movie for you! And you’ll know instantly whether or not this is a movie for you. It’s almost gone from theaters by now, but it was Paramount, so it’ll be on Paramount+ before too long.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – January 16

The team here in charge of this franchise needs to study what went wrong with “The Bone Temple” in regards to why this was the year’s first flop, despite it getting nearly universal praise from those who did see it. That way they can make a course correction for the third movie, if/when that happens. This is the second movie in a planned trilogy, all written by Alex Garland, with Nia DaCosta taking over directing duties in this second movie, while Danny Boyle finished up post-production on the first, which came out just this past summer. Boyle will return to direct the trilogy capper in this zombie franchise… if it gets made.

Send Help – January 30

Sam Raimi returns to the horror genre for the first time since 2009’s “Drag Me to Hell,” in terms of film directing, that is. He did a little work in the TV realm in between the two. That got his fans excited and helped this critically acclaimed film score the highest opening of the month. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien are pitted against each other on a deserted island after their plane crashes. It’s the male chauvinistic boss vs. the belittled female employee. Except this time the tables are turned because she’s the one that has the survival skills. It narrowly beat out Markiplier’s “Iron Lung,” which I don’t have as it’s own entry, but call this a two-for-one entry. The popular YouTuber wrote, directed, produced, starred in, edited, and independently distributed this video game adaptation and his fans certainly showed up and seemed mostly pleased, even though reaction outside his fan base was a bit more mixed.

Wuthering Heights – February 13

It’s the third feature directed by Emerald Fennell, following “Promising Young Woman” and “Saltburn,” both of which were quite the crazy adventure! “Promising Young Woman” wound up as my top movie of the COVID year of 2020. I wasn’t quite as high on “Saltburn,” but it was still quite fun! I like a director who takes risks and doesn’t care to play things safe. If not every one lands, that’s OK. I appreciate the swing. I don’t know much about the original 1847 novel this is based on, but the movie is officially stylized with quotation marks and is labeled as a loose adaptation, so it appears Fennell has a Valentine’s Day adventure in store for people.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die – February 13

Paired up with Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” for the holiday weekend is Gore Verbinski returning to direct a movie for the first time since 2016’s “A Cure for Wellness.” And he’s got Sam Rockwell starring in an action comedy as a man from the future who travels to the past to recruit the patrons of a local diner to help combat a rogue artificial intelligence. The movie premiered at Fantastic Fest this past September and had a positive response, so it looks like quite the romp! There’s other movies coming out this weekend, too, but we’ll get to those later.

How to Make a Killing – February 20

This one was all about the trailer for me. February can be another dumping ground month for studios, so with the smaller releases, I can be naturally skeptical, especially when you get a bunch crowded on every weekend. I pressed play on the trailer for this one and was immediately won over. Either this will be a hidden gem or the trailer team deserves an award, because this looks like a fun, high energy Edgar Wright film. It’s not. It’s John Patton Ford, director of “Emily the Criminal,” a 2022 film that many liked. Glen Powell and Margaret Qualley headline the cast and A24 is the distributor, so that checks enough boxes to make me intrigued.

Scream 7 – February 27

Easily my most anticipated of the month. And perhaps one of my most anticipated of the year. “Scream” is an all-time favorite horror film for me. And impressively, now seven movies in, they’ve not made a bad entry yet, which is almost unprecedented for a horror franchise. A friend and I have gone through the entire franchise several times in the last couple of years, so we’re super excited for the seventh film. The franchise hit a bit of behind-the-scenes turbulence that resulted in the previous cast exiting, but their method of recovery was to bring back Sidney Prescott and Stu Macher, the latter of whom definitely did not die in the first movie and looks like he’s returning as Ghostface in this seventh movie on a revenge tour, which was the initial idea behind “Scream 3” before the Columbine shooting completely changed the whole production. But now the writer of the first four, Kevin Williamson – whose idea that was in the first place, is the director of “Scream 7” and I’m pretty sure he’s brought back his idea that was never used. Matthew Lillard is cast in the movie. That’s not a rumor or a secret. Also, his voice is in the trailer. They’re officially hiding the details of his role, which... good. But you now know my theory. We’ll see if they have any secrets hidden up their sleeve.

The Bride! – March 6

My first repeat from last year as this was initially slated for September 2025, before they moved this away from awards season, away from Halloween, and into a box office friendly March instead. This is Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of “The Bride of Frankenstein,” which stars Jessie Buckley as the Bride and Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s Monster. Perhaps it was a good choice to postpone as it got breathing room from Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” last year, which wound up very popular and got 9 Oscar nominations. This movie will now feel like a follow-up (even though it’s not) instead of a directly competing Frankenstein movie. It’ll also be in theaters when Jessie Buckley wins her Oscar on March 15 for “Hamnet,” so that’s more positive timing. Maggie has her brother Jake cast in the movie as well, along with Annette Benning, Penélope Cruz, and Peter Sarsgaard.

Hoppers – March 6

The next original Pixar movie for all of you to ignore after the world collectively made “Elio” Pixar’s lowest-grossing movie yet, not counting “Onward,” which only had 2 weeks in theaters before COVID shut down the industry – or the ensuing three that went straight to Disney+. Yeah, it’s been a rough few years for Pixar financially, but in my personal opinion, they haven’t lost a step in regards to quality. They’ve just had an unfairly damaged reputation that I blame mostly on Mother Disney for the handling of their releases. Props to Pixar for still committing to originals despite all of this. I have no reason to doubt Pixar at this moment, which is why I will be pushing for “Hoppers” to be seen and why I am disappointed that “Elio” did so poorly. That was a good movie, too. But don’t worry, for those of you who will only see sequels, “Toy Story 5” will be coming this summer as well. “Inside Out 2” has been Pixar’s one financial success post-COVID, so don’t tell me I’m wrong when I say people refuse to see original movies that they ironically complain don’t exist.

Project Hail Mary – March 20

Based on the novel by Andy Weir, who was the author of the book “The Martian” that got adapted into the 2015 film by Ridley Scott, “Project Hail Mary” has a screenplay written by Drew Goddard and is directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directing duo responsible for “The LEGO Movie” and “21 Jump Street,” as well as the producers of both Spider-Verse films and “The Mitchells vs. the Machines.” Sometimes all you need to do is list the all-star cast and crew of a movie and that’s more than enough for me. If all of that is like a foreign language to you, Ryan Gosling is the lead star and it’s another epic space adventure. I’ve also heard nothing but extreme praise for the novel itself. That should be enough to reel everyone in!

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come – March 20

“Ready or Not” was a huge surprise back in 2019. An absolutely thrilling horror comedy about a bride who gets married… only to immediately find she’s married into a crazy cult family that are now all trying to kill her. Super fun. Check it out if you haven’t. The directing duo behind this, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, went on to make the fifth and sixth Scream movies, as well as another fun horror comedy, “Abigail.” So they know how to have fun! And now they’ve returned to property that helped them breakout in the first place. It’s not a movie I expected to get a sequel, but when I heard about it, I was immediately sold!

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy – April 17

Rumors have it that Brendan Fraser will eventually be returning for a fourth Mummy film. This is not that. In fact, I have my own little rant about the Mummy franchise as a whole that I’ll save for another time. That’s why when I saw a Mummy film on the calendar for 2026, I was almost immediately skeptical, but it was smartly given the title of “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy.” I had to remind myself who Lee Cronin was. He’s the director of “Evil Dead Rise” in 2023, which was awesome. So if he has an idea of what he wants to do with “The Mummy,” I’m intrigued.

Mortal Kombat II – May 8

Another repeat from last year’s list. I was rather upset when they pulled this from the calendar in October almost last minute because I was really excited. I enjoyed the 2021 “Mortal Kombat” remake. And more importantly, that movie promised that the sequel would actually have a Mortal Kombat battle in it. If you’ve seen that movie, you’ll know what I’m talking about. But OK, I guess I’m fine with it being part of the summer blockbuster schedule.

Power Ballad – June 5

John Carney is known for his emotionally moving music dramas. And by that I mean titles like “Once,” “Begin Again,” “Sing Street,” and “Flora and Son.” Not musicals, but character dramas that involve music as a central theme, if that makes sense. Music is a big part of my life, which is why these movies have connected with me. And he has another in store with “Power Ballad,” a movie about a former wedding singer and a fading boy band star, played by Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas, bonding over music and a late-night jam session. Pardon the pun, but this feels exactly like my type of jam. Drama ensues when one of them helps turn the other’s song into a hit and is out to reclaim recognition, but I’ll choose to save most of those surprises for watching the movie itself.

Disclosure Day – June 12

This is likely to become one of the biggest hits of the year. Or at least one of the most anticipated. After indulging himself with the personal project that was “The Fabelmans,” a movie that I thought was really good, but mostly just connected with film connoisseurs rather than a general audience, Steven Spielberg is back with a big summer blockbuster that seems like it pays homage to his early days as a filmmaker in the 70s and 80s. A big alien-invasion sci-fi epic based on his own original idea, with David Koepp, his “Jurassic Park” screenwriter, writing the script, and Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, and Wyatt Russell as part of the cast. Back in the day, these types of original ideas from big name filmmakers were what ruled the box office rather than the endless slate of franchise films. Spielberg is doing his best to bring that back. Will audiences respond?

Toy Story 5 – June 19

Surprise! After what I said in my “Hoppers” section, you might be surprised to see “Toy Story 5” in the good section as well. As it turns out, I do enjoy the Pixar sequels, especially in a franchise wherein every entry has completely won me over. I just hope that people see the original films as well so Pixar doesn’t stop doing those. But with Toy Story specifically, I remember being the most stubbornly opposed person there was to “Toy Story 4,” even when reviews were excellent. “Toy Story 3” was the perfect ending. And is still my No. 1 Pixar film. Why are they continuing it? But then I saw it and it became the Toy Story sequel I didn’t know I needed. I told myself after that experience that if Pixar had an idea for a “Toy Story 5,” I wouldn’t fight it. And here I am, true to my word. I’m a bit concerned about a few of the things I see in the initial teaser, but I’ll wait for the full trailer before I give a judgment on that.

Supergirl – June 26

With last year’s “Superman” winding up as my No. 2 movie of the year, it’ll come as no surprise to see “Supergirl” on this list. Rather than regurgitate why James Gunn’s “Superman” was everything I was hoping it would be, and why that meant so much to me as a lifelong DC fan, I’ll send you over to my most recent post for that. This iteration of Supergirl is certainly not your Melissa Benoist version of Supergirl that I became quite accustomed to. That CW show from the Arrowverse was really good, by the way. We have Milly Alcock from “House of the Dragon” fame as Kara in a very different version of Supergirl. But James Gunn went directly to the comics for this one and I fully trust that he has a comic book version of this character that he’s wanted to bring to life. It’ll be different than what I’m used to, but in this case I’m trusting the master that he knows what he’s doing. Gunn isn’t directing this one. But he is in charge of this whole universe. He’s tabbed Craig Gillespie as director and that’s a fascinating choice. “I, Tonya” is his most notable film. But if you dive into his filmography, he has quite the resumé of different films, none of which is remotely related to the superhero genre, so I’m curious to see what sort of flair he adds to this movie.

The Odyssey – July 17

If there was one movie this year that would most likely be the consensus No. 1 most anticipated movie of the year, it’s Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey.” And I fully agree. The original source material is one of the oldest stories to be written. Tale as old as time, as they say. It’s inspired writers for centuries at this point. Yet in the modern age of cinema, can you point to one singular adaptation of “The Odyssey” as the quintessential movie version of the story? Sure, many films, TV shows, and episodes have been inspired by “The Illiad” or “The Odyssey” in one form of another. Homer has 69 writing credits on IMDb and that’s only official credits given. There’s probably a lot more. Yet I don’t know if there has been a definitive, quintessential movie adaptation made that everyone can unanimously turn to. Yet Nolan, after finally winning his Oscar, and seeing his movie “Oppenheimer” win best picture, says, “Hold my beer. I’m going to do just that.” And all of us are, like, “Slay it, king!” Because who are we to doubt Nolan? The man can do no wrong. And he decided to shoot the whole movie in IMAX cameras. All I can say is purchase your tickets as soon as you can because they are going to sell fast. And you don’t want to miss out on what could be the movie event of this decade.

Evil Dead Burn – June 24

If we look back to Lee Cronin for a bit (see the entry in April), his Evil Dead movie, “Evil Dead Rise,” completely revitalized the Evil Dead franchise. I was planning on being completely excited about what he does next with it, until I saw this movie and realized Lee Cronin was NOT the one directing. And that’s mildly concerning. The plot description is currently listed as “plot is under wraps,” so there’s not much I can give you there, outside noting that it’s a brand new cast and described on Wikipedia as the latest standalone entry. So it looks like this one doesn’t have a direct connection to “Evil Dead Rise.” Sam Raimi and Lee Cronin are on board as producers, so it’s not completely detached. All I have left to clue in on with my investigation is seeing who the director is. The answer? Sébastien Vanicek, director of the 2024 spider horror movie “Infested.” OK. That’ll do! Now we just wait for a trailer and more info.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day – July 31

For one of the two big Marvel films of the year, it’s a bit surprising that we know fairly little about this fourth entry in the Tom Holland Spider-Man franchise. Given how the last one ended, this might be intentional. The reset button has been pressed in a very clever way. I thought it was quite rewarding that “No Way Home” finished where traditional Spider-Man often starts, which isn’t something I was expecting with this current version of Spider-Man. And now the options are wide open as to which path to take next. Personally I don’t think the choice of having MJ and Ned completely forget about Peter was ever intended as a permanent thing, just more of a story mechanism to setup the next conflict. But that’s purely personal theory, not inside information. IMDb lists a few recurring cast members from the MCU that will be joining the party this time around. I don’t know if you want to know who, so I’ll leave that for your discovery if you choose. Sadie Sink is in the movie, but she’s said in interviews that she’s not allowed to say who she is. The only other thing that feels confirmed is that Michael Mando from “Better Call Saul” is the movie’s villain Scorpion. There’s been rumor of a Super Bowl trailer coming up, so we might all learn together here soon what Sony and Marvel are up to with this one.

Coyote vs. Acme – August 28

I don’t know if this is going to be a good movie or not. A live action/animated hybrid about Wile E. Coyote gives me bad memories of 2021’s “Tom and Jerry” that was horrifically awful. But this absolutely had to be included here because I’m ecstatic that this is a movie that gets to exist and be watched. If you didn’t follow the story, the movie was completed and ready to be released in 2023… until Warner Bros. canceled it and announced they weren’t going to release it, preferring to claim it as a tax loss instead, like they did with “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Hunt.” This was one of those blood-boiling decisions that just makes a movie fan furious. Long story short, decisions were reversed, the movie was put on the market for sale, and was purchased by Ketchup Entertainment, who will now be releasing it in August. That’s a win for cinema. Regardless of quality, movies deserve to be seen and watched, not canceled and written off as a tax loss by greedy studios. This story is a win for cinema and I’ll be giving it my money by watching it myself in a theater.

Clayface – September 11

After “Superman” and “Supergirl” in James Gunn’s DC Universe, the next movie on the docket is… “Clayface”? In a traditional sense, one would think Batman, The Flash, Aquaman, or one of those other big names from the Justice League would be next in line in building this new universe. But the fact that we get a body horror story about an up-and-coming actor whose face is disfigured by a gangster and turns to a scientist who transforms his body into clay as our next DC movie is a fascinating move. James Gunn is building a whole universe here. He’s telling stories. And he’s giving actual comic book fans a variety of different things to see and enjoy. I feel that’s a healthy approach rather than putting all your eggs in one basket. I learned in a social media class once that there’s a “Boom. Boom. POW!” approach that you need building a successful social media page. And the same goes for a cinematic universe. Not everything needs to be an event-level status with a $200 million budget. Sprinkle in these smaller releases and give fans a variety of things to look forward to. Marvel could honestly take a few notes from that. This character has already shown up in the first season of “Creature Commandos” on HBO Max, so the foundation has been established!

Resident Evil – September 18

Normally a new “Resident Evil” movie would be nowhere near my best list. I’ve never seen any of the movies and I’ve been given no indication that it’s a franchise I need to catch up on. People enjoy the games, but I’m not a gamer, so that’s not an angle I take either. No negative feelings towards people who are, of course. So why in the world is “Resident Evil” making an appearance here? Because Zach Cregger has decided this is what he wants to do next. “Barbarian” and “Weapons” are his latest two movies he’s directed. And both of those were pretty darn good. Remaking “Resident Evil” is not something that studios paid him a bunch of money to do. It’s his genuine choice of what he wanted to do, from what I hear. So move over Paul W.S. Anderson and Johannes Roberts (directors/writers of the previous movies), Zach Cregger is in town. And he’s going to do a proper version of this game franchise. I don’t know what that entails or what my specific expectations are, but I have the faith that he’s going to get it done.

Forgotten Island – September 25

This is the latest original animated film from DreamWorks Animation. As a whole, DreamWorks has always been a bit all over the place in regards to quality and success. The definition of a hit and miss studio. But I’ve been generally pretty pleased with their original films, especially ones that have hit in this late September slot. I’m thinking of “Abominable” and “The Wild Robot.” And post-COVID they’ve actually done pretty good. They surprised everyone with “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” They did pretty well with “Dog Man” and “The Bad Guys.” Many have enjoyed their “Trolls” sequels. I don’t have a whole lot of information about this movie, but the premise seems like a winner. Two best friends find themselves stranded on the mystical world of the forgotten island of Nakali. Their only way home might come at the expense of a lifetime of memories and emotions. I’m not sure exactly what that means. It’s slightly vague. But it sounds like something worth seeing. And again… original animation. Pixar, DreamWorks, and Disney all have original films for you to see. Don’t complain about endless sequels if you don’t support their original films when they do come out. As you can tell, I’m quite passionate about that.

Digger – October 2

Fall season equals movie festival season. Movie festival season equals awards season. I love awards season. Honestly I care less about what actually wins the awards, but awards season is great because there’s a lot of great movies that get released. Often the most prestigious films of the year. Yet as I said in the beginning, we don’t know what those movies are at this point in the year, thus making it hard to do justice in a yearly preview. What I do know is that Alejandro G. Iñárritu has a movie coming out that’s been buzzed about for a while now. Iñárritu won best director two years in a row in 2015 and 2016 for “Birdman” and “The Revenant.” And he’s only released one movie since then, “Bardo” in 2022, which went straight to Netflix. I’m certainly curious about this one. Tom Cruise is in the lead and it’s being described as a black comedy where the most powerful man in the world embarks on a mission to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything. I wouldn’t mind if they changed the name of the movie. It sounds way too close to a certain other word, but that’s the only complaint I have here.

The Social Reckoning – October 9

If you’re a major cinephile, you’re almost contractually obligated to refer to “The Social Network” as one of the best movies of the 2010s. I guess I’m breaking contract because I’m going against the grain there. I thought it was a good movie, but I’m a little annoyed that “the most important movie of our generation” is mostly fictional. Sorry, I have a biopic problem and many biopics have this weird issue with telling the truth in their movie. But I am curious about Aaron Sorkin, the screenwriter for “The Social Network,” doing a follow-up movie. I don’t know if “sequel” is the right term. Perhaps “companion piece.” There’s certainly a lot in the social media world that’s happened since 2010. No, David Fincher is not involved. He’s busy doing a spin-off movie to “Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood,” a movie I would’ve included here if I had any idea when Netflix is planning on releasing it. Back to “The Social Reckoning,” though, Jeremy Strong is Mark Zuckerberg this time around, with a story that seems like it mainly involves Mikey Madison as Frances Haugen and Jeremy Allen White as Jeff Horwitz. And that duo has some Facebook investigating to do.

Remain – October 23

As you’ve likely noticed many times here, sometimes all you need is a director’s name for you to be sold on an upcoming movie that’s coming out. And I’m sure that many will fully understand when I say this is M. Night Shyamalan’s new film. I’m always curious to see what he has in store next. And even when it’s a miss, he’s someone I always appreciate him for at least taking a big swing. He’s a director who doesn’t like to play it safe. And speaking of that, “Remain” is a collaboration between him and Nicholas Sparks, author of “The Notebook.” Apparently the two met in 2023 to brainstorm ideas. They came up with “Remain,” which is described as a supernatural romantic thriller – a movie genre name that I don’t know if I’ve ever typed up, from a duo I didn’t ever expect to become a thing. Jake Gyllenhaal stars in the movie as a grieving man who meets a mysterious woman. Not only does Shyamalan have this as a movie coming out, but Sparks has released it in novel form this past October. You can go read it right now while you wait for the movie!

Godzilla Minus Zero – November 6

I’m always on board for a new Godzilla movie. We’ve had them consistently since 1954. I’ve certainly not seen every single one, of which there are nearly 40 by now. But I’ve enjoyed most of them that I have seen. Of the many that I have seen, I’m honestly not sure I’ve seen one that is better than “Godzilla Minus One” from 2023. It was in my top 5 for that year and there was a moment where I considered it for the No. 1 spot. They managed to do something few of these movies have been able to pull off. Create an emotional, human story where you care deeply for your human protagonists. When Godzilla comes marching in, there is true terror as you actually feel for the lives of these characters you’ve come to love. Toho is actually fairly particular with their Godzilla movies. They don’t make them to cash in on money. They make them when they have an idea of what to do next. And if the same team that did “Godzilla Minus One” has an idea for a direct follow-up to that movie, you better believe I’ll be on board.

Hexed – November 25

I’m a broken record at this point. I’m a strong advocate of original animated films. Pixar, DreamWorks, and Disney all have original animated films on the schedule this year. “Hexed” is Disney’s original. If you want Disney to continue to make more original films, you have to prove that to them with your wallet. Currently “Zootopia 2” just became the highest grossing animated film ever out of Hollywood at the worldwide box office, passing up “Inside Out 2” from the year before (both are behind “Ne Zha 2” from China, hence the Hollywood distinction). If “Hoppers” fails from Pixar and “Hexed” fails from Disney, what lessons are Disney and Pixar supposed to learn from that? We don’t know a ton about “Hexed” at this point, but the premise states it’s about an awkward teen that learns he might have magical powers, revealing a hidden magical realm. That seems fun enough to enjoy yourself and take the kids to around Thanksgiving or Christmas, right?

Narnia – November 26

I’m not sure what the official title of this will be, whether it be the full title of “The Chronicles of Narnia” or shortened to the more simple “Narnia” title. I’m also not sure about if they’ll have the subtitle of “The Magician’s Nephew,” but that’s what this is. Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Narnia. And it’s “The Magician’s Nephew” that she’s starting with. Greta Gerwig has not made a bad movie yet. I’ve loved all three of her films so far (“Lady Bird,” “Little Women,” “Barbie”) and Narnia is the thing that she wanted to do next, not something that a money-hungry studio hired her to do. I get that there’s some questions and debate over certain casting choices and other decisions, but Greta has given me no reason to doubt her at this point. So I’m more than happy to… fire up Netflix and give this a watch. Although I hope they put this out in enough theaters first because I’d rather watch it there.

Madden – November 26

I’m normally quite skeptical of biopics these days. Most of them have become cinematic Wikipedia articles rather than real movies with a three-act structure, character development, and strong themes to take away. But this is Nicolas Cage playing John Madden. And that sentence alone has me extremely curious. That seems crazy enough to work? Christian Bale will be his running mate, Al Davis, with Kathryn Hahn, John Mulaney, and Sienna Miller also in supporting roles. David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook,” “American Hustle”) is the director. And he’s certainly an interesting filmmaker. Cinephiles and awards pundits often love his work. I sometimes do. But yeah, Niholas Cage as John Madden is the hook here for me. This is currently slated as an Amazon Prime release on Thanksgiving. I’m not sure if they have plans for a theatrical release or not.

Violent Night 2 – December 4

If you’re a “Die Hard” fan and you haven’t seen “Violent Night,” you need to fix that as soon as possible. I don’t think you have to wait until Christmas to do so. “Violent Night” is essentially “Die Hard”… with Santa Claus. David Harbour plays a grumpy, battle-hardened Santa who has to fight a bunch of mercenaries who have taken a wealthy family hostage on Christmas Eve and thus “save Christmas.” I don’t need to know exactly what they’re planning with this sequel, this is the type of action franchise where they could make 10 of them and I would happily enjoy myself every time, as long as enough effort was put in. And if it helps, Santa in this movie’s mythology was a former Norse Viking before he became Santa.

Untitled Jumanji Sequel – December 11

I feel like I’ve had this movie on one of these lists before. Or at least seen it floating around the release schedule. I remember prior to the 2017 movie, everyone hated the idea of a Jumanji remake. But then they saw the movie and it became an instant classic, proving that with the right idea, along with a good cast and crew who are fully committed, a remake of a classic film can certainly work out, especially if it’s more along the lines of a legacy sequel like “Welcome to the Jungle” was. Anyways, “The Next Level” came out two years later in 2019, and you would think a third movie would follow shortly after to keep the momentum going, but we did have a global pandemic and a writer’s strike that suddenly make seven years ago feel like a lifetime. But they’ve finally got the trilogy capper coming out. The full gang is back together for one final ride in the Jumanji world. Or so they say. Never believe Hollywood when they say something is a final chapter, especially when it’s Sony and they don’t have a ton of huge franchises to work with. Either way, I’ve enjoyed these Jumanji movies, so if this hits this release date, I think that it’ll make for a fun December.

Avengers: Doomsday – December 18

It’s an Avengers movie. And the Russo Brothers are back to direct. One does not simply leave an Avengers movie out of the “Good” section in a preview like this. Although I will say that I do have a bit of trepidation about this one, simply because I worry about Marvel acting out of desperation here. I’ve remained one of the few defenders of the MCU in the post “Endgame” world. It’s gotten way too much undeserved hate and I’ve been quite annoyed that hating Marvel has become trendy. After last year’s slate of “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Thunderbolts*,” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” I’ve seen an exciting vision of the future of the MCU that has a real solid foundation. Yet I fear that instead of being committed to this new vision, ignoring the noise, and simply making a good movie, Marvel has started to be reactionary instead. Like bringing back Robert Downey Jr. to play Doctor Doom instead of casting someone new or having the first character teaser focus on the return of Steve Rogers. “Infinity War” and “Endgame” left things off on a beautiful note, while still leaving plenty of avenues open for the future. Are we going to undo everything we resolved just to win back old fans or are we going to take the new paths and build this universe up again. I don’t know. And that scares me a little bit. But still… this is an Avengers movie with the Russos returning. And we have the X-Men on board. And we’re setting up “Secret Wars” in 2027. So there should be plenty to be excited about. I just hope they stick the landing.

Dune: Part Three – December 18

I’m honestly not convinced that this movie is coming out on the same day as “Avengers: Doomsday.” That seems foolish. I know “Barbenheimer” was a huge thing and now people are hunting for the next version of that. “Dunesday” is what the internet is calling this one? But still, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” were very different movies for different audiences. The combination worked. A “Dune” and an “Avengers” are targeting the same audience and you know that Marvel is not budging. I think it would be smart to move this up to November or push it back to March 2027. But if Warner Bros. commits to this date, cool. Works for me. I do double features just about every week. I just worry about everyone else. Regardless of all of that, though, Villeneuve has done very well with these Dune movies and now he has the challenge of tackling “Dune: Messiah.” I haven’t read the books, but I hear mixed reactions about “Messiah.” Thus I think it’s fascinating that they recently announced that this will specifically be titled “Dune: Part Three,” which seems like they have tinkered with a lot to make this work. Three Dune movies is always what Villeneuve has stated that he’s wanted to do, so this is yet another case of me fully trusting that he knows what he’s doing. I’ve not seen a bad movie from him yet.

Werwulf – December 25

Finishing up with the good section, we’re going out with a bang. I don’t know for sure if this is my most anticipated for the year, but “last the best” would certainly fit. If you ask me who my current favorite director is (meaning a director that is still working today), I might say Robert Eggers. He makes a very specific niche brand of film that is 100 percent up my alley. “The Witch” remains one of my favorite modern horror films, if not my No. 1. “The Lighthouse” and “The Northman” were a lot of fun, too. But with this movie, I reflect directly to his most recent outing, “Nosferatu,” which was my No. 2 film of 2024 – very close to being No. 1. If Eggers wants to go from Dracula to Werewolf, that seems like a very natural progression that seems like it will work out perfectly to what I want. Take the werewolf lore and bring it back to its dark and disturbing roots in the most Robert Eggers way possible. We’re in 13th Century England as some villagers witness a local folklore becoming a terrifying reality. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is top-billed on the cast list, but we also have Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, and Ralph Ineson returning from previous Eggers projects. He likes reusing former cast members and that group certainly looks like they’ll be perfect for a werewolf-themed period horror film.

The Bad

Greenland 2: Migration – January 9

Gerard Butler loves doing his disaster flicks. If he’s having fun with that, then that’s fantastic. You only live once. Do what you enjoy doing, Gerard! I’ve honestly not been super motivated to watch them, though. I was a bit surprised to see a “Greenland 2” on the schedule, though. I didn’t realize the first one did well enough to justify a sequel. As it turns out, it did decent internationally, but didn’t get a theatrical release in the U.S. It went straight to PVOD here during COVID. I never saw it, but apparently it was better than expected. Which… OK. But does that mean a sequel was necessary? Is that what audiences wanted? Turns out the answer was no. It lost out to “Primate” on its opening weekend, opening in fifth place with just $8.4 million. It’s now mostly gone from theaters. Reviews weren’t good, either.

Mercy – January 23

Even before this was released, this looked like the most generically dull January sci-fi flick. It was actually a surprisingly good January overall, in regards to quality. But the stereotype of the January dumping ground month still held true for a few titles. Chris Pratt, the world’s most generically unlikable white dude, has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the new A.I. judge he once sponsored after he’s been convicted of killing his wife. Sorry, I don’t intend to be mean in these sections, but I’m just so done with Chris Pratt right now. He’s extremely one-note and not a versatile actor, yet Hollywood keeps casting him in EVERYTHING and I’m tired of it. Color me not surprised at all when this got labeled as a throwaway streaming title at best that somehow got a theatrical release. A 24 percent Rotten Tomatoes score from critics is about what I expected. Background noise if it shows up on Netflix at some point, which makes it fitting for a January release.

Return to Silent Hill – January 23

Audiences were not thrilled with their return to Silent Hill. I’m not too terribly surprised that a horror sequel released 20 years after the first movie and 14 years after the second movie ended up being critically panned. But I am slightly surprised at how bad the reviews actually were. “Silent Hill” isn’t necessarily the most well-regarded film, but it has enough of a cult following that claim it as a faithful adaptation of the very popular game franchise. “Silent Hill: Revelation” six years later was nearly universally panned, so it makes sense as to why the franchise died. But the original director returned for “Return to Silent Hill” and based this movie on the second game, so I assumed some might enjoy this. But its 17 percent critics score was almost as bad as the 8 percent score of the second movie. It’s nice to know that I’m fine with skipping this one and focusing my catch-up efforts on other movies.

Melania – January 30

This one likely belongs in a category of its own. Look, I can roll my eyes about a slanted political documentary and pretend it doesn’t exist. I’m certainly not going to give any Melania Trump documentary my time of day, especially not when Melania apparently had final say in just about everything that happened. The worst way to do any documentary is to have your subject matter control exactly how they want their story to be told. That completely leaves out nuance and objectivity. But no, what put me over the edge is learning that Brett Ratner is the director here. Yes, the man who was accused of rape, as well as sexual assault and harassment, back in 2017 by multiple women. He was rightfully ostracized by Hollywood and hasn’t directed a movie since. Until now. Oh, and to make it worse, several photos were released of Ratner with Jeffrey Epstein as part of the Epstein Files. But sure, he gets chosen to direct a movie again. I have many colorful words I could use to describe my feelings here, but I’ll forgo. Needless to say there’s a lot of people that should be ashamed of themselves for letting this happen. Let’s move on.

The Strangers: Chapter 3 – February 6

They’re on Chapter 3, already? I honestly forgot that Chapter 2 even came out last year. After Chapter 1 was universally panned in 2024, I assumed that they would give up on Chapter 2 and 3. I guess kudos for persistence. They committed to a trilogy and they released every chapter. Out of pure curiosity, I’ve almost decided to catch up on the franchise leading up to this new trilogy, because some people actually enjoy the earlier entries. But you’re probably not too surprised to learn that it’s not been super high on my priority list, though. Maybe if these new movies were even slightly higher than 21 percent and 14 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviews for Chapter 3 haven’t been released as of me typing this, but I don’t imagine it will be much higher.

I Can Only Imagine 2 – February 20

I enjoy being the proper mediator of Christian films. Some people will hate the movie just because it has any sort of Christian themes or messaging, while others will cry out blasphemy if you even think about saying one negative critique about their flawless Christian masterpieces. The answer is often somewhere in between and it’s fun exploring the truth. On that note, “I Can Only Imagine” is one of the good ones. I’ve recommended it to many people who are interested in an actual good Christian film that’s both competently made and has good messaging. But I’m incredibly confused as to why we’re getting a sequel. The story has been told. I’m not sure what more you can add. This is not an angry entry. Just a confused one.

Reminders of Him – March 13

Until proven otherwise, my current philosophy is to avoid anything related to a Colleen Hoover novel. “It Ends With Us” was a very icky mess. It very poorly handled some serious subject matter that made it a lot more than just a dumb romance film. And that’s just within the movie itself. There’s a continuing ongoing legal battle that I don’t even want to attempt to dive into here. And I heard “Regretting You” from last year wasn’t a whole lot better. This is the sign of a bad author writing trashy novels that don’t deserve the attention. Again, maybe this will turn around and there will be some better adaptations or lessons learned, but until then, it was an instant no from me with both “Reminders of Him” and “Verity.” I don’t have the latter as a separate entry because it feels redundant to type the same thing twice. But that one has an October 2 release date. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… or three or four times...

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – April 1

You know, I told myself if this franchise introduces Waluigi and Daisy, I might be curious, so long as they have a decent voice actor that pulls it off well. Which has been a part of the problem here. Generic white dude as Mario did not work. And as much as I love Anya, she made zero effort to sound like Princess Peach. Jack Black was the one person to understand the assignment. I was also actually somewhat happy at the idea that the sequel was rumored to be “Super Mario World,” because that’s my favorite Super Nintendo game. If we have to have empty nostalgia bait, that might at least bring a few smiles to my face if we actually throw it back to my game. But alas, the official title was revealed as them jumping straight to “Super Mario Galaxy,” which should’ve been the third movie, not the second. I suppose it pleases the Gen-Z crowd that movie this is targeted at, which makes sense. But that means they’ll never reverse course to an older game. And I see no Waluigi or Daisy in the trailers. Not even Wario. We got Rosalina, which is something. Look, no one on the planet expected me to be excited about this thing. And I thought more people would be on my side of the argument, so the dialogue has become exhausting to me. I’m trying, though. Give me some credit.

Michael – April 24

There’s an easy conversation and a hard conversation when it comes to this Michael Jackson musical biopic. The easy conversation is me simply copying and pasting my argument against musical biopics in general. This movie seems to be walking right into all my negative critiques in that regard. The harder conversation revolves around the fact that the latter part of Michael’s life was riddled with controversy and allegations. How does a movie about his life handle those conversations? Does it even address them at all? What even is the right way to approach this? I don’t have all those answers. But I have zero confidence that this movie is going to handle any of it correctly. And a lot of my suspicions were confirmed when I found an Instagram video from Michael’s daughter Paris who is very much against this movie. Yikes. Yeah... there’s going to be a much longer conversation that I plan on having about this on a future date, so let’s bookmark this and come back to it later because there’s not enough room for it here.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 – May 1

It’s tradition for us to start the summer movie season with a Marvel movie! But this summer we are breaking tradition because “Avengers: Doomsday” moved to December. Instead we get what feels like the most out of left field sequel to start off the summer. This reminds me of last year’s “Freakier Friday,” a comedy sequel that doesn’t really need to exist, I don’t think. At least they have the same cast and crew back, so maybe it’s a crowd pleaser. And honestly I don’t hate the idea of this. It just belongs here because it needs to prove its existence. Belated comedy sequels have a very poor track record.

The Mandalorian & Grogu – May 22

The trailer to this movie makes me feel nothing. And I’m a Star Wars defender, not a hater. I’ve loved or enjoyed most things under the Disney Star Wars umbrella while it’s the cool thing to hate everything. But “The Mandalorian” Season 3 wasn’t very good. Instead of going back to the drawing board and trying to figure out why people loved the first two seasons and giving us a proper Season 4, we get a movie. Which basically amounts to just one three-episode arc strung together instead of a full season, which just makes me feel like we got short-changed. Also, and this feels weird to see, but I’m kinda growing weary of Grogu. They had a beautiful two season arc with Mando and Grogu, but now it feels like they’re just squeezing every penny they can out of Grogu reaction shots instead of writing a forward-moving story. And that included undoing the Season 2 finale… in a separate show. There’s so much Mandalorian lore that you can dive into here, but instead they’re just monetizing cute Grogu shots instead of giving us that.

Minions 3 – July 1

Low-hanging fruit, I know. But where is this supposed to go? Believe it or not, there was a time where I defended the Minions movie. Not as a good film, but something to laugh to if you wanted 90 minutes of Minion gags. But now this franchise as a whole has been going on since 2010 and we’ve had seven total films – four in the main series and now a separate trilogy of just Minion films. And only the first two Despicable Me films were actually good. Has the world had enough Minions yet or are we going to continue enabling Illumination? As long as the cash is flowing, they don’t care.

Moana – July 10

We’ve now entered a new phase of the Disney remake – diving into the 2010s and mining all of those movies. It feels way too early to justify that. “Moana” was a 2016 release. It will just barely be hitting its 10-year anniversary at the end of the year. What is there to even add by turning it into yet another carbon copy remake? I didn’t even care much for “Moana” in the first place, but that feels irrelevant here. Continue making more animated sequels before you regurgitate it into live action for no good reason outside of cashing in on one of the worst trends. But honestly, I blame the consumer here just as much as Disney, if not more. I spent much of the “Good” section begging you to go see the original animated films on the schedule. Because the last couple of years they’ve gotten ignored… while the live action “Lilo & Stitch” became a $1 billion global box office hit. If “Moana” becomes another $1 billion hit this year, consider “Tangled” and “Frozen” live action remakes announced. “Tangled” is already in production. I can guarantee you that they are brainstorming “Frozen.” And speaking of enabling, Disney won’t stop until people stop paying for these. If you want more original films, then support more original films. Prove to Disney with your wallet. Because Disney doesn’t care about social media reaction or reviews. They care about box office receipts, and right now those box office numbers are showing them that people want sequels and remakes, not original films.

Insidious: The Bleeding World – August 21

As a big horror fan… I did not care one bit for “Insidious.” I know, weird, right? Maybe I’ll give it another chance and actually watch some of the sequels, but we’ll see what type of mood I’m in come late summer. If I’m bored enough, it could keep my attention. But I don’t anticipate that being a huge priority, especially since the general consensus around most of these “Insidious” sequels hasn’t been too terribly positive.

Sense and Sensibility – September 11

Suddenly after typing several of the previous entries, it feels weird having this still on here. Worst case scenario this is a harmless new adaptation that people don’t see and forget about. But the 1995 movie directed by Ang Lee was a 7-time Oscar nominee for a reason. People really like that movie. If we’re going to do another adaptation of the popular Jane Austen novel, we should have a good reason to do so. If it was a situation similar to Greta Gerwig doing “Little Women” again, while having her own unique take, I could buy it. But this new adaptation is from Georgia Oakley, a director I’ve never heard of who has only made the 2022 film “Blue Jean” that I have not seen. This is not an angry entry. This is another “prove it to me” entry.

Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat – November 6

The last time we tried to adapt this particular Dr. Seuss book, it didn’t go so well. In fact, I’m almost mad at this movie for reminding me that the 2003 Mike Myers movie exists. This certainly can’t be any worse, but I don’t know if I have a ton of confidence that this will be too much better, either. This works as a kids book. It’s a tricky thing to try to adapt into a cohesive kids’ movie, though. I’ll give it credit that the trailer gives it a “better than expected” vibe, but then it ends with a whole bunch of numbered “Things” instead of just Thing 1 and Thing 2, which made me think they’re turning those into their version of the Minions. Suddenly I was worried that this actually was Illumination. Thankfully it is Warner Bros. Animation instead, but yet Warner Bros. Animation has struggled to produce much quality since “The LEGO Movie,” so it just feels like the ceiling here is “cute kids movie” and not much more. But perhaps that’s all it needs to be.

The Angry Birds 3 – December 23

We finish the “Bad” with another perplexing entry. “The Angry Birds Movie” in 2016 was not good. Yet they made an “Angry Birds Movie 2” in 2019, anyways. Not only was that also not good, but it did not make money. $41.7 million domestically off of a $65 million budget. Best you can say is maybe they broke even with the international dollars, but this is not exactly a franchise where much of anyone was begging for a third entry. So… why are we getting a third movie? Seven years after the second one? Angry Birds was a fun mobile game, but even then I feel the world moved on from that a decade ago. So what sort of trend are we trying to cash in on here?

The Maybe

Shelter – January 30

Boom. Boom. Pow. Pow. Kick. Punch. Bang! It’s the first quarter of the year and that means there’s a Jason Statham action movie to watch, like “The Beekeeper” in 2024 and “A Working Man” in 2025. This one he’s a recluse on a remote island. Saves a girl from the sea. A series of events then happen that causes him to face his past and launch an attack on his former organization. These movies are like going to McDonald’s for lunch. No one is going to claim it’s the best restaurant, but you know exactly what you want and sometimes that’s exactly what you need. Comfort food, if you will. I haven’t actually prioritized seeing these movies, but one of these days when it’s quiet, I might put them on, kick back, and have fun.

GOAT – February 13

Steph Curry has a basketball movie coming out. In a manner of speaking. It’s an animated movie with animals playing basketball. Steph is one of the voices and is also the producer on the movie. He’s obviously busy playing in the NBA right now, but at some point in the offseason, I’m assuming, he recorded his voice work and helped push the movie forward. It’ll provide an animated alternative for the younger folk, counter-programming “Wuthering Heights” and “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.”

Crime 101 – February 13

A crime thriller starring a pair of Avengers (Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo) along with Halle Berry and Barry Keoghan. Hemsworth is the heist master who is being chased by police and teams up with Halle Berry to pull off a huge heist, while Ruffalo is the lead detective trying to catch him. The all-star cast and heist premise is certainly intriguing, but I also have to confess that it’s easy to make a generic and forgettable version of this. Early year release in January or February is the perfect place for a studio to drop one of these if they don’t have high confidence in it. And as you’ve seen, Valentine’s Day weekend is fairly crowded. This is where you rely on who made the film. And the director here is Bart Layton. And I don’t know who that is, so I’ll have to see what he has in store.

Cold Storage – February 13

Oh, look! Another February 13 release. I believe that’s five, now? If I’m being honest, this one looks like it will be the lowest on the totem poll. And speaking of throwaway, yet fun action flicks, Liam Neeson is another one who, like Jason Statham, loves doing these smaller action films that get scattered throughout the year and mostly forgotten about. However, this one involves a highly dangerous fungus escaping from a secret laboratory. The two young employees, played by Joe Keery and Georgina Campbell, are rushing to stop it before mankind becomes extinct. And they team up with what looks from the trailer like a very crazy and eccentric Liam Neeson who is having a lot of fun. It could be crazy enough to stand out a bit in comparison to many of Neeson’s other more generic affair.

Psycho Killer – February 20

Much like “Crime 101,” here we have a concept that’s right up my alley. Woman’s husband gets murdered, causing her to go on a mission to hunt down the killer, only to discover it’s a serial killer who calls himself the “Satanic Slasher.” IMDb has it tagged as six different types of horror films (body horror, folk horror, monster horror, psychological horror, supernatural horror, slasher horror). It seems like someone on IMDb was bored or confused, so I have no idea what direction this goes. But “Longlegs” was my favorite movie of 2024, so I’m always looking for hidden gems like this. But lesser known director, lesser known cast (although Georgina Campbell starring in two movies in two weeks), and February release makes me hesitate rather than being blindly excited. But I certainly have tabs on it.

undertone – March 13

Upon initial sort, I put a whole bunch of smaller horror films in the “Good” category. Then I realized that category had way too many entries. I mean, I wound up with plenty as is, but there was a lot, so I ended up being more selective, especially in regards to these entries that have a lesser known creative team. The last few years have been great for horror and it has me excited that it could be yet another banner year, but I have to rein in my expectations a bit because there is a lot of forgettable horror, too. This one came out of Sundance and it is stylized in lowercase. A slow burn horror centered around a paranormal podcast host. Plenty of love out of Sundance, which has me hopeful, but I do have to be a little hesitant of the festival high. Every movie is a new masterpiece when you’re attending a festival. So I suppose this is me being the movie mediator again. But I’ll certainly keep you updated throughout the year in regards to which horror films hit!

The Breadwinner – March 13

Nate Bargatze is one of my favorite current comedians. If you haven’t watched the SNL skit “Washington’s Dream,” and it’s Part 2, watch it now. It’s the perfect type of silly, dry humor. Yet there is a difference in stand-up comedy, sketch comedy, and movie comedy. Nate does the former two perfectly, but will it translate into the movie realm with this slapstick comedy about him being a really bad dad? I hope so.

They Will Kill You – March 27

This movie looks like an absolute riot. Woman takes a job as a housekeeper a New York City high-rise, only to learn that everyone in the building is now trying to kill her. It’s designed as a death trap and she’s the offering. She has to figure out how to escape and fight everyone off in the process. Another case of a newer writer/director. I’m ready for this to be their breakout hit. I can only hope the movie itself is as good as the trailer makes it out to be.

In the Grey – April 10

New Guy Ritchie film! It comes out in April and they’ve not yet released a trailer, which has me a little concerned. Guy Ritchie is a fascinating filmmaker with a wide variety of styles he indulges himself in. He’s very hit and miss, but rarely boring. This one is about two extraction specialists who plan a route of escape for a female negotiator. It also stars Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza Gonzalez, and Rosamund Pike, so that’s certainly a cast that gets my attention. April is another one of those months like January or February where studios sometimes drop undesirable releases, so you have to do a bit of sifting through everything, but hidden gems certainly can be found!

Hunting Matthew Nichols – April 10

My initial thought when I saw this title was, “Who is Matthew Nichols and why are we hunting him?” The answer is that it’s a found footage, mockumentary style of horror film. Trailer makes it look like it’s a true crime documentary, which is likely the point. Story is about a woman who has decided to go on the hunt for her brother, who went missing 23 years prior. Reading through the development, director Markian Tarasiuk was inspired by true crime documentaries on Netflix, “as a satire to some degree,” he says. Think “The Blair Witch Project” or “The Ring.” The movie has traveled around to all sorts of different small film festivals, dating back to 2024 and now gets it’s chance to hit theaters for general audiences in April.

Normal – April 17

Bob Odenkirk takes a job as a substitute sheriff in a small Midwestern town called Normal, Minnesota, seeking an escape from some previous turmoil in his life, only to learn that this town is, of course, anything but normal. And now we have another Bob Odenkirk led action thriller, which is the main draw for me personally as I really liked Odenkirk in both “Nobody” movies. This is a fun lane for him after many years of playing Saul Goodman in both “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.” It also helps that this is directed by Ben Wheatley, director of the likes of “Free Fire,” “High-Rise,” and “The Kill List” in the 2010s. The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to a fairly positive response and will be taking a stop at the South by Southwest Film Festival before hitting theaters in April.

Hokum – May 1

While most people will be seeing “The Devil Wears Prada 2” as the summer opener, I will most likely be checking out the horror film “Hokum,” which stars Adam Scott from “Severance” as a horror writer who is simply visiting an inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, only to find that the property is said to be haunted by a witch. This movie comes from Damian McCarthy, director of “Oddity,” which got strong remarks back in the summer of 2024. “Hokum” is also headed to South by Southwest in March, so I’ll be able to get an idea of what to expect from this before going in.

Deep Water – May 1

NOT the 2022 film starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, if you decide to search this title on IMDb. That title is referring to deep water in a metaphorical sense. A toxic relationship and an impending divorce, while suddenly becoming the prime suspect in a murder case. No, these deep waters in this Aaron Eckhart film are more simple and literal. Sharks. A group of international passengers are forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested water. I don’t know how sharky this shark movie gets, but I’m a sucker for a good shark movie. I can even have fun with a bad shark movie, if I’m in the right mood. I’ve happily watched all the “Sharknado” movies, so I guess I’m an easy target.

Obsession – May 15

A “be careful what you wish for” style of horror film with an extremely effective and simple teaser that simply includes a young man trying to call a support line, wondering if he can alter his wish. He’s wished for his crush to fall in love with him and now he’s second guessing that. I don’t know everything that comes along with this, but I can make a few guesses based on that idea alone. What I do know is that this also premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year to strong remarks, so it looks like there’s a few solid indie horror options coming up. At least one or two of them are bound to be pretty good, right?

Masters of the Universe – June 5

This feels like a movie that should’ve come out 20 years ago, a live-action “Masters of the Universe” film. And if it feels like this has been rumored or talked about for about that long, it’s because it has. 2009 was when this was first announced as being in production, and it passed through many hands before finally landing in the hands of Amazon MGM, with Travis Knight as director. If there’s someone who can make 80s nostalgia work, Travis Knight is the man. His “Bumblebee” is still probably the best live-action Transformers movie. He’s also CEO of the stop-motion animation studio Laika, and the director of “Kubo and the Two Strings” inside that universe. So that gives me more confidence than I otherwise would have. Yet there’s still the question of whether He-Man and Skeletor can still interest audiences in 2026 or if the world has more or less moved on. I’ll also be honest and say that I wasn’t one who actually watched the animated show when I was younger, but if a proper adaptation comes out of this, I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to it. Nicholas Galitzine landed the role of He-Man. OK. Jared Leto is Skeletor. Ew. But the rest of the cast also includes Idris Elba, Alison Brie, Kristen Wiig, Morena Baccarin, Camila Mendes, and many others. So they definitely went all out in the cast realm.

Scary Movie 6 – June 12

The style of raunchy humor that the Scary Movie franchise relies on is not really my personal cup of tea, but I do feel obligated to make mention that this is coming out this summer for those who have loved these movies. They planned it well, coming shortly after “Scream 7” in February, which I imagine was likely intentional. But “Scary Movie 5” was released way back in 2013, so it’s been a while since there’s been an outing with this franchise.

Young Washington – July 3

A movie about George Washington coming out on the fourth of July weekend. That’s certainly well-timed and intentional. I imagine it’ll successfully attract an audience over the holiday here in the states, at least for Angel Studios standards. Speaking of them, I have an odd ambivalence towards them as a studio, so I don’t care to see too many of their films. I don’t really care to do a deep dive into that here, but chat with me at some point if you want the details. I don’t know what my plans regarding this movie will be. I’ll have to see what I think when we get closer to this date, but it at least felt worthy of mentioning this movie’s existence.

Cut Off – July 17

A Jonah Hill directed movie. I’ve always found him to be a fascinating actor as he established a name for himself primarily doing comedy, but has the ability to tackle drama when he wants to, and has two Oscar nominations to his name to show for it. He has directed a handful of movies already, so this is not new. “Mid90s” in 2018 was his first feature and he’s had a couple more since. But still, actors turned director always get my curiosity. It’s fun to see if their talent and experience in front of the camera can translate properly to behind the camera. And actually, Jonah Hill is doing both in this movie. It’s about two rich siblings who are cut off from their parents and Jonah Hill stars alongside Kristen Wiig and Nathan Lane. And actually, another two-for-one entry, Jonah Hill also has a second directed movie coming out called “Outcome.” That one doesn’t have a solid release date as of me typing this, but Jonah Hill stars in that one, too, this time alongside Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz. So it could be a pretty big year for him.

Super Troopers 3 – August 7

This is another “for your information” entry. In researching this post, I honestly forgot that a “Super Troopers 2” had come out. And I’m not sure exactly how fans of the original film reacted to that one, but for better or for worse, there’s a third one for you this summer. In the spirit of honesty, I’ve also not ever seen the original either, but I do know it’s a well-liked film by many. So maybe I’ll have to do my homework on this one leading up to August 7.

Flowervale Street – August 14

Sometimes in life you browse through a smaller indie film, curious as to what it’s about and if it’s worth your time, and that venture results in you landing on the IMDb page, seeing a picture of a dinosaur. And sometimes that discovery alone is enough to spark your curiosity on the film. The plot is described as a family in the 80s starting to notice bizarre happenings in their neighborhood. A vague plot description and at the moment I can’t find any more about it, but you connect the two dots and suddenly realize there’s a movie in the late summer that might result in quite the adventure. It’s directed by David Robert Mitchell, director of “It Follows,” and also stars Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor in the lead roles.

Mutiny – August 21

If you go back and read the very first post in this “Maybe” section, you can mentally copy and paste everything I said there into this entry. Because… SURPRISE!!! In 2026 we get TWO Jason Statham action movies. When the action star is not in January, you can often find him in August. I guess he’s been extra bored while waiting for the production on the latest Fast and Furious movie to finally kick into full gear. “Mutiny” doesn’t have a trailer for me to judge by, but the plot description mentions that Statham’s billionaire boss is murdered in front of him, setting him up to take the fall for it. That leads him to go on the run to uncover an international conspiracy. Yep. Jason Statham action film.

The Dog Stars – August 28

Ridley Scott is a fascinating director in that you never know if his newest movie coming up is going to be among the best of the year or an absolute pile of trash. And he’s pretty good and consistently alternating between those two. And sometimes you get both extremes in one year, like in 2021 with “The Last Duel” (epic) and “House of Gucci” (yikes). What does that mean for “The Dog Stars” this year, a movie set in a post-apocalyptic world where a virus has wiped out most of humanity? Well, his last two movies were “Napoleon” and “Gladiator II,” two movies that wound up quite divisive, so I’ll let you decide what that means for you in regards to where the pattern is. I actually had a lot of fun with “Gladiator II,” but I didn’t really care for “Napoleon.” So I’m poised for the negative track. And a release date on the final weekend of August is a bit of a red flag. But who knows? He does have a good cast of Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin, Guy Pearce, and Benedict Wong, but he’s usually pretty consistent in getting big names to work for him.

How to Rob a Bank – September 4

I’m very curious for the trailer on this one to arrive so that I can see more of what it’s about. As currently described, bank robbers are posting their heists on social media, causing police to chase after them. Generic crime thriller or amusing action comedy? David Leitch is director. His two most recent films were “Bullet Train” and “The Fall Guy,” both of which I really enjoyed. He got his start as one of the “John Wick” directors. He let his partner take care of the rest of the John Wick movies, while he branched off and did the likes of “Deadpool 2,” “Atomic Blonde,” and “Hobbs & Shaw,” prior to the two I just mentioned. So generally speaking, he has a knack for creating a movie that allows people to have fun, so I predict that this should have a fairly safe floor, even though I don’t know how high the ceiling is.

Street Fighter – October 16

We’re currently scheduled for a “Mortal Kombat” and a “Street Fighter” this year. I’m a lot more confident that I’ll have fun with “Mortal Kombat II” this year, as I’ve already previously described. “Street Fighter” is a complete wild card, though. The old Jean-Claude Van Damme movie from the 90s is both one of the worst movies ever, yet almost beloved by many because of that. I’m assuming they’re aiming for at least a slightly more serious movie this time around, but hopefully they don’t take themselves too seriously. Jason Momoa is the lead as Blanka. I want to see him have fun with that. If they copy the notes from “Mortal Kombat,” maybe this can be a bit of silly fun.

Whalefall – October 16

This movie follows a scuba diver who, while looking for his father’s remains, is swallowed by an 80-foot, 60-ton sperm whale and has one hour to get out before his oxygen runs out. I read that premise and, like the shark movie from earlier, it immediately caught my attention. At the very least that’s silly enough to check out or pay attention to. Josh Brolin is listed as the lead and I’m assuming he’s the one that gets swallowed by the whale. The movie is directed by Brian Duffield, who directed the 2023 movie “No One Will Save You,” which I never saw, but heard good things about.

Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol – November 13

I saw this one on the schedule and almost immediately tossed it into the “Bad” section, simply on the principle that we’ve had 9,000 adaptations of “A Christmas Carol” and I really don’t think we need another one. But I decided to at least check out who is doing this one and it’s… Ti West? The director of the recent “X,” “Pearl,” and “MaXXXine” trilogy? That’s a very out of left field combination, but suddenly I’m at least curious as to what angle he has for this one. Adaptations that lean into the darker, borderline horror elements of the story are often more emotionally effective than the comedy versions. A horror director can definitely ride that line effectively. And guess what? Johnny Depp is Scrooge. OK, Ti. You win. We also have Andrea Riseborough, Tramell Tillman, Ian McKellen, Rupert Grint, Sam Claflin, and Daisy Ridley in the cast. I’m not sure their respective roles have been confirmed or not, but suddenly a movie I almost instantly tossed away looks quite wild. I still don’t know if it’s needed, but it definitely has my attention.

The Great Beyond – November 13

An upcoming sci-fi fantasy film directed by J.J. Abrams. I don’t know a whole lot about this, but J.J. hasn’t directed a movie not named Star Wars or Star Trek since “Super 8” back in 2011, so I’m curious about him returning to the realm of the non-franchise film, because I feel he thrives there. The basic plot involves a newlywed couple struggling to survive against a supernatural entity and has Glen Powell, Jenna Ortega, Emma Mackey, and Samuel L. Jackson in the cast. More on this as we learn more, but we’ll see what J.J. has concocted.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping – November 20

I’ve been a fan of the Hunger Games franchise. I didn’t like “Mockingjay Part 2,” but I enjoyed the others in the main series and read all the books back in the 2010s when they were a thing. I didn’t really care for the recent “Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and I didn’t get around to reading that book or this recent book that this upcoming movie is based on. So I guess I’ve been slacking in the Hunger Games realm. But there’s also a case of diminishing interest and diminishing returns for a franchise that maybe should’ve stayed finished. The prequel realm is also a tricky place to navigate. This movie and book centers around the 50th Hunger Games where Haymitch competed in. And I hate to spoil things for people, but he doesn’t die. Because he’s an alive human in the main series. So you have your work cut out for you in getting me to care about this one. I didn’t put this in the negative because I’m willing to give it a shot and be wrong. But I also can’t lie to you and say that I’m excited for this one, either.

Focker-in-Law – November 25

The final entry in this whole post will have us concluding with another “for your information” entry. I’ve not seen “Meet the Fockers.” I’ve never seen it as my brand of humor. I genuinely didn’t know that it was the second movie in the Fockers franchise, following “Meet the Parents” in 2000, which is a remake of a 1992 film of the same name, which I also just learned. I think I heard of “Little Fockers” in 2010. But that’s as far as I go. That means “Focker-in-Law” is the fourth entry in the current franchise and fifth movie overall. If this series is your thing, I genuinely hope you enjoy this new entry. I’ll be seeing other things. No anger or negative feelings. Just different tastes. And that’s OK.