The Most Anticipated Movies of Late 2026: From Godzilla to Arrakis

Every year the multiplex saves its biggest swings for the last eight weeks of the calendar, and 2026 is no exception. This holiday season brings the return of the most acclaimed Godzilla in decades, a Hunger Games prequel built around a fan-favourite mentor, a new original from Walt Disney Animation, the Avengers' first team-up since Endgame, the conclusion of Denis Villeneuve's Dune trilogy, and a werewolf picture from the director of Nosferatu.

Below are the six theatrical releases we are circling, in release order. Every date listed here has been announced by the studio or distributor; dates can still move, so check your local listings before you book.

Godzilla Minus Zero — November 6

Takashi Yamazaki, who wrote, directed and supervised the effects on 2023's Godzilla Minus One, returns for a direct sequel. That film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, the first Asian production to take the prize, and proved that a monster movie could be a genuinely moving post-war drama about guilt and survival.

Minus Zero opens in Japan on November 3 and in North America on November 6 via GKIDS, the first time a Japan-produced Godzilla film has reached both markets in the same week. Toho has said it is the first Japanese production filmed for IMAX. The trailers bring back Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe and pick up the story in 1949, two years after the first film. If Minus One made you cry at a kaiju movie, this is your first priority of the season.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping — November 20

Francis Lawrence, who directed four of the previous Hunger Games films, adapts Suzanne Collins's 2025 novel from a screenplay by Billy Ray. The story jumps back 24 years before Katniss to the 50th Hunger Games, the second Quarter Quell, and follows 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy of District 12, played by newcomer Joseph Zada.

The supporting cast is stacked: Ralph Fiennes takes over as President Snow, with Jesse Plemons, Elle Fanning, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, McKenna Grace, Maya Hawke, Whitney Peak and Kelvin Harrison Jr. Readers know Haymitch's story is the darkest in the series, which is exactly why this one is worth the wait. Lionsgate is releasing it in theaters and IMAX.

Hexed — November 25

Walt Disney Animation Studios' Thanksgiving release is an original fantasy comedy directed by Fawn Veerasunthorn and Jason Hand. Hailee Steinfeld voices Billie Doe, a teenager who discovers she has magical powers that pull her out of suburbia and into Hexe, the world of witches.

The voice cast also includes Rashida Jones, Jodie Foster, Walton Goggins, Tracey Ullman and Stephen Fry. An original story, rather than a sequel or remake, is reason enough for animation fans to show up, and it is the obvious family pick for the long holiday weekend.

Avengers: Doomsday — December 18

Joe and Anthony Russo, who directed Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, return to the franchise, and Robert Downey Jr. returns to Marvel in a new role: Victor von Doom. The trailers released this summer bring together the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Thunderbolts, Wakanda's heroes and members of the X-Men, with Channing Tatum's Gambit and Ian McKellen's Magneto among the faces glimpsed.

Whatever you think of the recent Marvel slate, a Russo-directed Avengers film with Downey as the villain is the event release of the year.

Dune: Part Three — December 18

Denis Villeneuve concludes his adaptation of Frank Herbert's saga with a film drawn from Dune Messiah, which picks up years after Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) has seized the throne of the Imperium. Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Florence Pugh and Jason Momoa are among the returning cast; Anya Taylor-Joy plays Alia, and Robert Pattinson joins as the shapeshifting conspirator Scytale.

It opens the same day as Avengers: Doomsday, but IMAX is running "insider" screenings from December 14, starting in IMAX 70mm film only. We have a full preview of the film here.

Werwulf — December 25

Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse, Nosferatu) follows his last Christmas horror hit with a period werewolf story set in 13th-century England, co-written with the Icelandic novelist Sjón, his collaborator on The Northman. The dialogue is reported to match the English of the period.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe (all Nosferatu veterans) lead the cast with Ralph Ineson. Eggers again worked with cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, shooting on 35mm film. Focus Features releases it in the US on Christmas Day; Universal handles the UK on January 1, 2027. Not your typical holiday family outing, but for horror fans it is the best gift on the calendar.

Our Pick

If you can see only one, make it Dune: Part Three on the biggest screen you can find. If you want a surprise, Godzilla Minus Zero is the one most likely to sneak up on you.