We Can't Wait. 2026 Cinema. (Part Two: G-P)
Friday, February 6, 2026 at 1:10PM by Nathaniel R
Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi stars in HA-CHAN, SHAKE YOUR BOOTY! which premiered at Sundance.
If you missed part one we are listing titles (alphabetically, we already covered A-F) that we're excited to see in the new film year. While the new film year doesn't truly begin (if you ask us) until the Oscars for lsat year are handed out) we've included a couple of late February and early March titles anyway. Please do add to the list in the comments here if you see something you're excited about that we haven't listed.
Okay, let's move on to part two with lesbian dramas, heist films, dance competitions, an Oscar-centric biopic, a French actress feast, and a couple of A list witches hoping to recast spells at the box office...
GIRLS LIKE GIRLS - JUNE 19. Focus Features
Pop star Hayley Kiyoko directs this lesbian coming-of-age drama. Canadian actress Maya Da Costa, who you might remember from her debut in the miniseries Under the Bridge about traumatized secretive teen girls, and Myra Molloy, a Thai-American actress, co-star.
THE GREAT BEYOND - NOV 13. Warner Bros.
Remember J.J. Abrams? The Producer/Director got lost in franchise world for a while but he's back with his first original since his well received teen-centered sci-fi drama Super 8. Glenn Powell (37) stars and it's about a newlywed couple and a supernatural entity. Not sure which one is the bride but Jenna Ortega (23) and Emma Mackey (30) co-star.
HERE COMES THE FLOOD - TBA. Netflix
Oscar player Fernando Meirelles (City of God, Constant Gardner, The Two Popes) returns with a heist film starring Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Moses Arias.
HOPPERS - MAR 6. Disney/Pixar.
You've surely already seen the trailer which makes this look just delightful -- love the Avatar joke and especially love the character designs from woodland animals to mature lady scientists with wild hair.
HOW TO ROB A BANK. SEPT 4. Amazon/MGM
Mosty interested in this heist film about bank robbers posting their crimes on social media because David Leitch has bonafide action chops (LOVED Atomic Blonde and The Fall Guy). All that and two stars who are let's just say "exceedingly pleasing to the eyes" in Nicholas Hoult & Zoe Kravitz.
I PLAY ROCKY -NOV 13. Amazon/MGM
A biopic centered on young Sly Stallone trying to get Rocky made... which of course went on to win the Best Picture Oscar. Peter Farrelly (Green Book) directs. Amazon seems to be positioning it as an awards hopeful with a Thanksgiving-centered expansion. Matt Dillon is playing Stallone's father and an actor named Anthony Ippolito is playing Young Stallone. Ippolito is working his way through 1970s Italian icons since he already played the young Pacino in the miniseries The Offer which was about The Godfather. This feels like the kind of thing that the Oscars will either completely ignore or go wild for.
HA-CHAN, SHAKE YOUR BOOTY! - TBA
Rinko Kikuchi (Babel) stars in a dance-centered Japanese-language US indie that was well received at Sundance. Wouldn't it be wild if this was another Oscar role for her? She'd be the most unexpected Oscar comeback since Amy Madigan!
Ackie, Paige, and Palmer in I LOVE BOOSTERS
I LOVE BOOSTERS - MAY 22. Neon
Boots Riley, who made an inventive surreal splash with Sorry to Bother You (2018), is finally back with the always watchable Keke Palmer leading the cast in this shoplifting fashion comedy. The delicious supporting cast includes LaKeith Stanfield, Naomi Ackie, Demi Moore, Don Cheaddle, and Taylour Paige and I have a few non-movie-obsessed friends who have already messaged me saying "are we going to this?" so maybe it'll be a hit? Some Star Wars movie is opening opposite it but who cares when you can see this cast and director make chaos in the theater next door!
JACK OF SPADES - TBA
Oscar winning auteur Joel Coen (No Country For Old Men, Fargo, etcetera) returns behind the camera with his three-time Oscar winning wife Frances McDormand in front of it. While he and his brother Ethan have not been Oscar-magnets since they started working solo instead of as a duo, maybe this one will catch on. The new film is a "gothic mystery" set in 19th century Scotland and also stars Josh O'Connor & Damian Lewis.
He-Man returns... in the form of Nicholas Galatzine in MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE
MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE - JUNE 5
Nicolas Galitzine stars in this remake of the 1985 fantasy starring Dolph Lundgren based on the cartoon series. It looks terrible but it might also be great in a self-aware camp fantasy kind of way. We can dream.
MIDWINTER BREAK - FEB 20.
Lesley Manville and Ciarin Hinds play a marital couple unravelling due to a long-held secret in this drama. Manville is always a great watch. Can this be one of those early year releases that springs back up in conversations at awards time?
MOTHER MARY - APRIL 24. A24
Yes, Anne Hathaway again (THREE LEADING ROLES THIS YEAR) in a drama about a female pop star (Hathaway) hoping for a comeback and her estranged best friend / costume designer (Michaela Cole). This was pushed back from last year. Hope you love Hathaway as much as I do because we're getting four films this year (after a drought). Euphoria's Hunter Schafer and Downton Abbey's Jessica Brown Findlay and real life music star FKA Twigs are in the supporting cast.
NARNIA - NOV 26. Netflix
Against my better judgment -- haven't we seen enough film and television adaptations of this franchise? -- and only because its Greta Gerwig behind the camera and wisely NOT The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe again but one of the less adapted novels as the primary source material.
THE ODYSSEY - JULY 17.
Christopher Nolan directs so you know people will be eager for it. But will they go for it? Longtime readers know that I'm fairly agnostic about Nolan and he's not an automatic draw for me. But trying to follow up Oppenheimer should be interesting.
ON THE ROAD / EN EL CAMINO - TBA
A gay erotic thriller from Mexico that was well received at Venice. It won both the Orrizonti and the Queer Lion so we're impatient to gaze at it.
THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK - TBA
John Turturro's Oscar role? Early buzz suggests a campaign will follow its Sundance popularity. He's backed by three mainstays of Hollywood ensembles: Jamie Lee Curtis, Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito. Plus the still underutilized Tatiana Maslany (whose career has been hard to figure lately... the projects appear to be so random!)
PAPER TIGER - TBA.
I keep hoping to see what so many critics see in writer/director James Gray who nearly always wins sensational reviews only to be summarily ignored during awards season. Anyway, Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson co-star and I'm excited about the unexpected Marriage Story reunion as they were fantastic together. Miles Tellers plays Driver's brother and the siblings are somehow mixed up with the Russian mafia.
PARALLEL HISTORY - TBA
Two-time International Feature Film winner Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, The Salesman) returns for a French-language drama starring literally 3 of the 6* greatest living French actresses: Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, and Virginie Efira. I am so so so there and praying it's closer to the quality of the auteur's Iranian dramas rather than his only previous French-language drama (The Past).
* the others being Adjani and Binoche and Seydoux... but if you put them all in the same film it would surely trigger some kind of actressexual apocalypse.
POWER BALLAD - JUNE 5. LIONSGATE.
John Carney directs Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas in this music dramedy about songwriters and an unexpected hit single. Carney's movies are always good / enjoyable but he has yet to equal Once.
PRACTICAL MAGIC 2 - SEPT 18. WARNER BROS.
Confession: I only ever saw the original movie about sibling witches (Nicole Kidman & Sandra Bullock) once and that was in the theaters 21 long years ago. I liked it just fine. But apparently Milennials are obsessed so it's getting a legacy sequel. I should probably rewatch the original before this hits. Anyone in ? Should we maybe do a retrospective on the first one?
PROJECT HAIL MARY - MAR 20. Amazon / MGM
The always loveable Ryan Gosling stars in this sci-fi adventure about one man and an alien trying to save their worlds. Busy German star and Oscar nominee Sandra Huller is in support. The trailer is a lot of fun and it looks like it might actually be an all-quadrant hit for the directing duo of Lord & Miller.
Reader Comments (10)
As nice as Pracitical Magic was not every film needs a sequel and legacy ones are cynical cash grabs based off internet love,sorry state of affairs for Hollywood.
Excited for Demi in I Love Boosters.
I am fatigued by The Odyssey already despite Charlize's comeback because in 2026 she has that Taron Egerton mountaineering thriller on Netflix due in April.
I'm hit-and-miss on Nolan but far prefer his non-sci fi output (Dunkirk, Oppenheimer, his Batman movies) so I'm somewhat intrigued by his taking on The Odyssey, as it may combine the best elements of those. I'm a little worried Damon is miscast, however.
I enjoyed Practical Magic back in the day, but Mr Ripley's right that it's likely an unnecessary cash grab. I can think of multiple unnecessary sequels that, while far inferior to the originals, were better than they had any right to be (2010, Psycho II, The French Connection II), but I can't imagine a comedy that doesn't feel superfluous 25+ years after the original.
I’d totally add Olivia Wilde’s "The Invite" to this group after its great Sundance buzz. I’m so excited to see Penélope Cruz doing comedy again!
Yes The Invite was terrific! Probably my favorite Penelope Cruz performance in the English language.
Discover Pharmaqo Labs, your trusted online store for injectables, orals, HGH, peptides, and SARMs. Shop high-quality performance and wellness products with secure worldwide delivery, competitive pricing, and reliable support to help you achieve your fitness goals.
Narnia, Mother Mary, and Project Hail Mary are among my most anticipated. Like Mr. Ripley, I am excited for Demi's follow-up to The Substance, I Love Boosters. And I'm sure I'll end up seeing The Odyssey even though Nolan does nothing for me (at least this cast has a cross-generational mix of great actresses).
YES!
Project Hail Mary
Practical Magic 2
Yes… with some hesitation
How To Rob a Bank, Jack of Spades, Paper Tiger: Really like the director and the actors, but hesitant about the story
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty: more dance movies!
Mother Mary: a regalia of actresses, I wonder how it will turn out
I Love Boosters: I want to see more of Naomi Ackie and Taylour Paige, but for me, a little of Keke Palmer goes a long way.
Yes (with an enormous eye roll)
The Odyssey
Odysseus/Ulysses is a character that is supposed to be wily, clever, and quick-witted. So, major miscast in the main role.
I admit I like my mythology to be technicolor, well lit, lively, juicy, quick paced and fun. I fear this version will be overcast, greyed out, stodgily serious, and ploddingly paced.
Hello everyone, I found this platform in the USA after a podcast mentioned AI versions of famous personalities and how people interact with them. That idea sounded odd but interesting, so I gave it a shot. What stood out was how respectful and controlled the experience felt. Spending time with celebrity joi ai on Joi AI was surprisingly entertaining, especially because conversations stayed relaxed and customizable. I liked being able to steer topics freely and step away anytime, which made the whole thing feel comfortable rather than awkward.
Every time I return to Sprunki Retake, I notice new patterns and sound interactions I didn’t catch before. That replay value makes it more than just a quick distraction.