LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — With the holidays here and 2025 rapidly coming to a close, many begin to look forward to the new year. Whether your New Year’s resolutions vary from cutting fried food to learning an instrument, somewhere on that list should be a trip to your local movie theater. Though the movies of 2025 were impressive, 2026 is projected to be one of the biggest years at the box office. While the list below is not exhaustive, it features five of the many must-see movies on the big screen next year. 

“Wuthering Heights” – Feb. 13, 2026

“Saltburn” director, Emerald Fennell, has taken on another grand project; this time, adapting Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, known to many as “the greatest love story of all time.” Starring Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, the film’s star-studded cast already has fans on the edge of their seats. Fennell’s adaptation aims to emphasize the seemingly inexplicable pull the two characters have on each other throughout the entirety of their lives. 

Holding such a renowned place in literature, many remain skeptical of the tone of the movie transmitted from the trailers. Some have criticized it as appearing “raunchy” or too provocative; however, Robbie has defended Fennell’s approach as epically romantic.    

“I think people will be surprised…These epic romances and period pieces aren’t often made by women,” Robbie said when asked about the film in a British Vogue cover story.

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” – May 1, 2026

“The Devil Wears Prada” sequel is finally underway and set for release 20 years after the original. Returning to the stage, both Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep have reprised their lead roles as Andrea “Andy” Sachs and Miranda Priestly, respectively. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci are also set to reunite, joined by their new co-stars Rachel Bloom and Lucy Liu. 

Tackling current issues of today’s society, the film centers around the decline of traditional magazine publishing. Miranda Priestly is tasked with saving her fashion empire by partnering up with her ex-assistant, Emily Charlton, who is now the head of a major luxury brand. While confronting serious themes in media and fashion, the film is still expected to have the same glamour and witty humor as the original.

“The Odyssey” – July 17, 2026

The adaptation of Homer’s epic poem has been taken on by none other than two-time Academy Award winner Christopher Nolan. Alongside the esteemed director is an equally impressive cast, featuring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson and more. The movie will explore the legendary hero, Odysseus, and his treacherous journey home after the Trojan War. Filming for 91 days, the cast and crew strived to shoot using as many real elements as they could, even filming in the open ocean. 

“It’s pretty primal! And yeah, it’s vast and terrifying and wonderful and benevolent… we really wanted to capture how hard those journeys would have been for people,” Nolan said in an interview with Empire Magazine.

Known for his extraordinary greatness in the film industry, Nolan aspires to continue to stretch the boundaries of cinematic storytelling. Coming off a major success with his 2023 film “Oppenheimer,” which won seven Academy Awards, many have extremely high expectations for his next work.  

“The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” – Nov. 20, 2026

Set to release only a year after Suzanne Collins published her novel, this film is a prequel to the original “Hunger Games” trilogy and a sequel to the “Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds & Snakes.” Francis Lawrence has returned as the franchise’s primary director and is joined by the project’s star, Joseph Zada as a young Haymitch Abernathy, previously portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the original trilogy. The plot follows Abernathy in his fight for survival in the 50th Hunger Games, where instead of two, four tributes are drawn from each district.  

Zada is joined by McKenna Grace, playing Maysilee Donner, one of the two female tributes from District 12. Also among the cast are Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket and Ralph Fiennes as President Coriolanus Snow. Diving deeper into the character of Haymitch and providing more insight into the Capitol’s cruelty, “Sunrise on the Reaping” seeks to add greater moral weight to the original “Hunger Games” trilogy.

“Avengers: Doomsday” – Dec. 18, 2026

Closing out the 2026 blockbuster lineup is “Avengers: Doomsday,” the fifth installment of the “Avengers” movie saga. Joe and Anthony Russo are back as directors, and are accompanied by many tenured Marvel Cinematic Universe actors, such as Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan and Robert Downey Jr., this time playing the nefarious villain, Doctor Doom. “Doomsday” is set to bring together multiple different teams in the MCU: the Avengers, the Wakandans, the Fantastic Four, the New Avengers and the X-Men; these heroes are all fighting against the universal threat of Doctor Doom. 

“I don’t know if I can say very much about (the movie) … We’ll see who makes it or who doesn’t,” MCU veteran Sebastian Stan said at his recent appearance at Tokyo Comic-Con.

After the release of “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019, which grew to be the second-highest-grossing film of all time, the theaters have not seen an “Avengers” movie since. Therefore, it’s an understatement to say many are curious to see if “Doomsday” will live up to the franchise’s legacy.