The movies to watch in 2026: Crackers like Hamnet, Marty Supreme, Wuthering Heights heading to cinemas

There’s nothing like being immersed in a great film, without your phone, without any distractions, just excellent storytelling.

Make 2026 the year you flock back to the cinema because there are some cracker films coming our way that you’ll want to see on the biggest screen.

Christy (January 8): Directed by Australian filmmaker David Michod, it stars Sydney Sweeney in the biopic about Christy Martin, a former professional boxer who put women’s boxing on the map, but was at home battling demons including her husband and trainer.

Nouvelle Vague (January 8): Richard Linklater is so prolific, he made two films in quick succession and the other is Nouvelle Vague, a black-and-white semi-nostalgia piece about the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s masterpiece, Breathless. It’s mostly in French, with Guillaume Marbeck as Godard and Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg, a gorgeous portrait for artistry and vision in action.

Hamnet (January 15): This stunning piece of art comes from Nomadland filmmaker Chloe Zhao and is filled with poignancy and emotional truth, elevated by a superb performance from Jessie Buckley. It tells the story of Agnes, the wife of William Shakespeare, and the loss suffered by their family.

No Other Choice (January 15): This biting social satire from South Korea features a bravura performance from Lee Byung-hun, who you might know as the Front Man from Squid Game. Here, he’s much more chaotic, as a recently retrenched worker going to extremes to re-enter the job market. The film comes from Park Chan-wook, the man behind Old Boy, and it is energetic, violent and very funny.

Marty Supreme (January 22): Timothee Chalamet could well be looking at his first Oscar for this committed performance as Marty Mauser, a 1950s ping pong champion and hustler whose belief in his own greatness is only surpassed by his ability to get into trouble.

The Secret Agent (January 22): The Brazilian military dictatorship rears its head again in cinema, this time in this political thriller starring Narcos’ Wagner Moura. He plays a former professor trying to outrun an unfair persecution. The Secret Agent has been widely acclaimed and is a serious Oscar contender.

It Was Just An Accident (January 29): The winner of the 2025 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, this Iranian film by respected director Jafar Panahi (currently facing arrest for “propaganda” activities) explores the cycles of violence and vengeance. The story is about former political prisoners who come upon a guard who tortured them behind bars.

Blue Moon (January 29): In modern cinema, few actor-director relationships have been more fruitful than Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater. In Blue Moon, the pair reunite to tell the story of Lorenz Hart, the Broadway songwriter in the twilight of his career, on the night his former collaborator, Richard Rodgers, opens a dazzling new production.

Is This Thing On? (February 5): Anyone who’s been paying any attention knows Will Arnett is more than a deliverer of pithy one-liners, but even then, Is This Thing On is a revelation. Directed by Bradley Cooper, and co-written by Arnett, the film sees him play a dad in the middle of a divorce who finds an outlet when he starts doing stand-up comedy. A stunning performance full of pathos.

Wuthering Heights (February 12): Controversial from the moment of the first paparazzi photos from set, Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights will undoubtedly be irreverent and spiky. The Saltburn director and leads Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi already have people talking – and blushing.

Crime 101 (February 12): Director Bart Layton seems to have a thing for tricksters, having previously made a documentary The Imposter as well as the heist movie American Animals. Now, he’s teamed up with Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Halle Berry for a film about a jewel thief and the detective chasing him just as he goes for the big score.

Jimpa (February 19): A semi-autobiographical and very personal project from South Australian filmmaker Sophie Hyde, Jimpa stars Olivia Colman as Frances, a woman who visits her estranged father (John Lithgow), who left the family when he came out as queer. The reunion sparks Frances to ask questions about her own parenting of her transgender child.

Pillion (February 19): Star Alexander Skarsgard has called his movie Pillion a “dom-com”, referring to the queer BDSM relationship at its centre, between that of a gentle and unassuming young man and a Nordic god who dons a leather jacket and straddles a motorcycle like nobody’s business. Harry Melling also stars.

How to Make a Killing (February 26): From the tastemaker studio A24 and the filmmaker behind Emily the Criminal, this is being billed as a black comedy thriller. It features Glen Powell in the lead as a disowned scion of the multi-billionaire family fortune who decides to start knocking off the heirs in his way.

Scream 7 (February 26): There were so many behind-the-scenes dramas with Scream 7 including the sacking of Melissa Barrera, and then Jenna Ortega and director Christopher Landon both quit. Neve Campbell confirmed she was returning to the franchise after not being paid enough for the previous instalment, and writer Kevin Williamson stepped up to direct the slasher, his first in the series he created.

The Testament of Ann Lee (February 26): The Shakers did more than make sturdy furniture, they were a radical religious movement born out of Ann Lee’s determination to spread her faith after unspeakable personal tragedy. With a transcendent performance from Amanda Seyfried, the hypnotic musical is certainly different to your average song-and-dance flick.

The Bride! (March 5): If you thought the recent Frankenstein was a turgid, maximalist adaptation with no nuance (or was that just me?), then redemption for Mary Shelley may come in the form of The Bride!, which is set in 1930s gangster Chicago and focused on the creature’s companion. Maggie Gyllenhaal directed this madcap-seeming film with Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale as the leads.

The Voice of Hind Rajab (March 5): The winner of the Grand Jury prize at the Venice Film Festival where it received a remarkable 23-minute standing ovation at its premiere. It portrays the true-life story of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl who is pinned under a car in Gaza during an attack by Israeli Defence Forces, and the Red Crescent workers trying to mount a rescue.

Project Hail Mary (March 19): Andy Weir loved to write about a lone man in space. He did it with The Martian and followed it up with Project Hail Mary. It stars Ryan Gosling as an amnesiac survivor trying to save the world. The screenplay was written by Drew Goddard, who also adapted The Martian, while the film was directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the duo behind Spider-Verse and The Lego Movie.

Hoppers (March 26): Imagine if The Animals of Farthing Wood fought back against property developers the way Kevin McCallister did against would-be robbers. Now, add a 19-year-old girl and a science experiment that allowed her to “hop” her consciousness into an animal robot to help stop the humans.

Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 2): Is it a movie or a cynical brand extension? It barely matters because familiar spectacle is the whole point. This sequel sees Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad venture off into outer space. Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy and Charlie Day reprise their voice roles.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (April 9): It’s been seven years since the first movie which is plenty of time to build excitement for this sequel. Samara Weaving’s Grace MacCaulley has been pulled back into the deadly game of killed-or-be-killed with a bunch of super-richies when her younger sister is put at risk. New cast members include Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Cronenberg.

Michael (April 23): Despite a rejigged ending that ends in the 1980s, before Michael Jackson was publicly accused of child abuse, this biopic starring nephew Jafar Jackson as the music icon will undoubtedly attract plenty of controversy.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 (April 30): After an enthusiastic and unrelenting flow of paparazzi photos when the sequel was in production, you have to wonder if we’ve already seen the film’s entire costume collection. With the return of Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, where will we find our sartorially obsessed characters in a world of fading media power?

The Sheep Detectives (May 7): A comedic mystery in which a shepherd is found murdered and his flock decide to solve the crime, having learnt all about whodunits from their former master’s bedtime stories. Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson and Nicholas Braun play some of the human characters while the voice cast includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston and Patrick Stewart.

The Mandalorian & Grogu (May 21): This will the first big-screen Star Wars adventure since The Rise of Skywalker in the pre-pandemic days, but who better to be our stewards than Mando and Baby Yoda? The feature follows on from the streaming series as the bounty hunter and his charge try to aid the New Republic against Imperial warlords.

Masters of the Universe (June 4): This will be quite the nostalgia trip for some Gen X-ers, a live-action He-Man movie from the filmmaker who did Bumblebee and the brilliant but under-seen Kubo and the Two Strings. It’ll be an origin story of how He-Man took back the Power Sword of Grayskull in the battle against Skeletor. Starring Nicholas Galitzine, Jared Leto and Idris Elba.

Disclosure Day (June 11): Steven Spielberg’s long-awaited mystery project sees the master filmmaker return to the genre that made him famous: an alien sci-fi epic. The cast includes Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colman Domingo and Eve Hewson. We are not alone.

Toy Story 5 (June 18): The end of Andy’s childhood was an existential threat but there’s a bigger foe out there: technology. The toys are facing their obsolescence with the arrival of the one thing they seemingly can’t compete with, a screen.

Supergirl (June 26): She’s messy! She’s spiky! She’s Supergirl! After a cameo in the rebooted Superman, his cousin Kara Zor-El gets to be the centre of her own story as she contends with her place in a world. Adapted from the Woman of Tomorrow comics run, the character will be played by Australian actor Milly Alcock.

Moana (July 9): Despite being one of Disney’s more recent animation features, Moana is as much beloved as some of its classics. So, a live-action version was inevitable. Australian actor Catherine Laga’aia booked the title role while Dwayne Johnson returns as Maui. The movie was helmed by Thomas Kail, who is best known for directing the Hamilton stage production.

The Odyssey (July 16): Christopher Nolan’s next film is literally an epic – a foundational, Homeric epic. Matt Damon plays the titular hero whose journey home from the Trojan War is waylaid and delayed as he tries to reunite with his beloved Penelope. The cast also includes Tom Holland, Zendaya, Charlize Theron and Lupita Nyong’o.

Cut Off (July 23): Directed, co-written by and starring Jonah Hill, Cut Off is a comedy that also stars Kristen Wiig, Bette Midler, Nathan Lane and Camila Cabello. It’s about two adult siblings used to the finer things in life struggling to keep afloat after their parents cut them off.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 30): The “Peter Tingle” isn’t done yet with Tom Holland, who suits for his fourth standalone Spider-Man movie, after that epic kind-of crossover event with the former Spider-Men. Thanks to a spell, the world has forgotten who he is, including his best friend and his girl.

Flowervale Street (August 13): From the director of It Follows, David Robert Mitchell, is this sci-fi movie about a family who notices unusual goings-on in their neighbourhood. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, P.J. Byrne and Maisy Stella.

Practical Magic 2 (September 17): It’s been almost 30 years since the original film but there’s some weird re-casting going on with Sandra Bullock’s onscreen daughters, then tweens, now being played by actors who were either a baby or not yet born when the first film came out. Maybe there’s something witchy in the air, or maybe it’s Hollywood. Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest will all reprise their roles.

Digger (October 1): The world’s biggest movie star, Tom Cruise, working with a four-time Oscar winner Alejandro G. Inarritu teamed up for this mysterious film that has promised to be a “comedy of catastrophic proportions”. There’s something Cruis-ian about the logline, about the most powerful man in the world desperate to save humanity. But the even bigger factor is that this is the first Cruise movie in almost a decade in which he hasn’t played either Ethan Hunt or Maverick.

The Social Reckoning (October 8): Aaron Sorkin’s much-anticipated follow-up to The Social Network flashes forward to Facebook’s more recent scandals, specifically the explosive evidence in Frances Haugen’s leak which revealed Mark Zuckerberg’s company knew about the harms its platforms were perpetuating. Jeremy Strong takes over the role of the Facebook founder.

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew (November): The first of two Narnia films from Greta Gerwig will star Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan and Daniel Craig, and given the scope and scale of the classic fantasy story, Netflix acquiesced to an IMAX release, which will hopefully be the case in Australia.

Avengers: Doomsday (December 17): After a patchy few years since the most recent Avengers extravaganza, Marvel needs this one to work. For insurance, they’ve brought back Robert Downey Jr, this time to play uber-villain Victor von Doom, who is out to terrorise all the heroes, and there are so very many of them with dozens of names on the cast list.

Dune Part 3 (December 17): This is the final Dune chapter Denis Villeneuve will helm (he has to move onto Bond next) and picks up with Paul Atreides in charge of the empire and Chani off fulfilling her own destiny. Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya and Jason Momoa lead the returning ensemble, now joined by Robert Pattinson.

The Drama (undated): The combination of Robert Pattinson and Zendaya is going to be too irresistible for anyone under the age of 50, especially if when they’re playing a soon-to-be-betrothed couple whose pending marriage unearths some secrets.

Mother Mary (undated): Wow. The trailer will give you chills while the combination of filmmaker David Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Green Knight) and actors Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel promises a wholly original, immersive film. A drama-thriller-horror, Mother Mary is about a pop star and a fashion designer, and the strange bond between them. There’s original songs by Charli XCX, Jack Antonoff and FKA Twigs.

Father, Mother, Brother, Sister (undated): Jim Jarmusch’s latest film won the top prize, the Golden Lion, at Venice, another accolade for the beloved indie director of Only Lovers Left Alive and Dead man. The film is a triptych of stories about families around the world and stars Adam Driver, Vicky Krieps, Cate Blanchett and perennial collaborator Tom Waits.

The Stranger (undated): Albert Camus’s novel, L’Etranger, is widely considered one of the foundational texts of French existentialist literature, a story about a French settler in Algeria who feels nothing about his mother’s death and then goes on to kill a man without remorse. This Francois Ozon adaptation is stark and beautiful and features an entrancing performance from Benjamin Voisin.

Ghostwriter (undated): The title is still a work-in-progress which speaks to the mysterious nature of this upcoming J.J. Abrams movie that is, for now, holding onto its secrets. Filming wrapped some months earlier so it’s not unreasonable to expect it’ll be released in 2026. The cast includes Glen Powell, Jenna Ortega, Samuel L. Jackson and Emma Mackey.