From classical myth to auteur cinema, from major franchises seeking new legitimacy within the cinema to radical rereadings of the founding texts of Western culture: 2026 promises to be a year of transition and at the same time of relaunch for international cinema. A panorama in which highly anticipated returns, high-risk industrial operations and more intimate films that aim to redefine the relationship between story, memory and body coexist. From Nolan to Zhao, from Villeneuve to the new Marvel and DC balances, here is a map of the most anticipated titles, between artistic ambition and commercial gamble.
Hamnet
It is directed by Chloe Zhao, the Oscar director of Nomadland, which this time addresses the novel by Maggie O’Farrell choosing an intimate and sensorial register, far from any temptation of a literary biopic. At the center of the film is the mourning for the death of Shakespeare’s eleven-year-old son, observed above all through the gaze of his mother, played by Jessie Buckley, while the father is Paul Mescal, more lateral, restrained, almost secluded presence. The direction works by subtraction, relying on bodies, nature and the passing of time, with a physical staging of pain, never declared or explained. Shakespeare remains in the background, while artistic creation emerges as an indirect response to loss, the transfiguration of a private experience into universal form.
Odyssey
Christopher Nolan addresses the founding text of the Western tale as a great cinematic epic, but without reducing it to a pure mythological spectacle. Odysseus is not just a hero on a journey, but a figure who passes through time, memory and the moral responsibility of returning. The film is shot in IMAX, largely in real locations, with a declared choice to reduce the use of CGI (Computer generated imagery) to a minimum, in continuity with the idea of a physical and immersive cinema. The cast is among the richest in recent years: Matt Damon is Odysseus, Tom Holland Telemachus, Anne Hathaway Penelope, alongside Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron. The controversy and skepticism were not long in coming, starting from the teaser and the black helmets of the Achaeans, considered by some to be too technological. The release is scheduled for July 16, 2026.
Dune: Parte Tre
With the third chapter Denis Villeneuve closes the narrative arc of the transposition of Dune. The center of the story is no longer the rise of the hero, but the management of power and its consequences. Paul Atreides is now emperor, a prisoner of his own myth and of the messianic expectations that he himself has fueled. They come back Tithee Chalmeme, Zlandiah, Rebecca, Rebecca, Josh Bronin, Josh Broin. Chalamet, who in 2026 is also the protagonist of Marty Supreme, becomes the face of a season in which industrial cinema and auteur cinema overlap more and more openly. For the Dune saga we will have to wait until autumn.
Sirat
The film of Oliver Laxe, nominated for an Oscar for Spain and awarded by the Cannes jury on which he also sat Alba Rohrwacheris a physical and internal journey into the Moroccan desert. Through a nomadic community that lives on the edge of the world, the journey takes the form of a ritual, while the narrative proceeds through sensorial immersions, between collective trance, electronic music and primordial silences. The landscape is an active force that tests bodies and unmasks fragilities; time expands, orientation is lost, the characters look for somewhere else and above all encounter the limit. The film questions the need for community and the desire for disappearance, asking the viewer not to understand but to cross.
Avengers: Doomsday
It is the film called to reunite the Marvel Cinematic Universe after years of dispersion. Marvel called the brothers back Russo as director and confirmed the return of Robert Downey Jr. in a central role, not as Iron Man but as a key antagonist figure. Chris Evans reappeared in teaser materials explicitly designed for the theater, also shown as event-content before the screenings of Avatar: Fire and Ash. The signal is clear: Marvel returns to focus on the shared cinematic experience and the emotional memory of the public. The release is scheduled for December 16th.
The Digger
Alejandro G. signs an openly political film with Tom Cruise hero. According to reports, he plays a man at the pinnacle of global power, responsible for a catastrophe who attempts to rewrite himself as a savior. The film works on the body, on the public image and on guilt, in continuity with the director’s more allegorical and ruthless cinema. It is one of the most anticipated international titles also in terms of festivals. Coming out October 1st.
Sentimental Value
Joachim Trier he signs a family drama that revolves around the relationship between art and emotional bonds. In the cast Renate Reinsve, uno Stellan Skarsgård formidable and Elle Fanning. The film reflects on the risk of using private life as artistic material and on the constant conflict between ambition and care. It is one of the most solid European titles of the period, already considered crucial in the international critical discourse, with concrete prospects towards the Golden Globe and Oscar. In theaters from January 22nd.
The Wizard of the Kremlin – The origins of Putin
Adaptation of the novel by Giuliano da Empolidirected by Olivier Assayas and presented at the last Venice Film Festival. Paul Dano (also fresh from the debate sparked by Tarantino on his interpretation of it The oilman) plays the oligarch narrator, while Jude Law And Vladimir Putin e Alicia Vikander completes the main cast. The film analyzes Russian power from the point of view of its architects, working on language, manipulation and the construction of consensus. In theaters from February 12th.
Michael
The official biopic dedicated to Michael Jackson is conceived as a major Hollywood event film, with the full involvement of the Michael Jackson Foundation. The narrative structure follows a chronological path that crosses the first part of the artist’s life, from his very rigid childhood in the Jackson 5 to the construction of the global myth. The direction is by Antoine Fuquathe screenplay by John Logan. Michael is played by his nephew Jaafar Jackson, a choice that focuses on physical and performative continuity rather than imitation. The film has full access to the original music catalog.
Wuthering Heights
The new Wuthering Heights signed by Emerald Fennell tackles the novel by Emily Brontë without romantic mediations, focusing on emotional violence, class resentment and the destructiveness of desire. Margot Robbie è Catherine Earnshaw, Jacob Elordi Heathcliff. The staging is physical, sensual and harsh: the moors become a mental space rather than a naturalistic backdrop. No idealization, but a clear rereading without extenuating circumstances.
The Bride!
Second film as director of Maggie Gyllenhaal, it is a radical rereading of the Frankenstein myth that shifts the focus to the figure of the Bride. Set in 1930s Chicago, it mixes melodrama, noir and musicals. Jessie Buckley he plays a creature who immediately rejects the imposed destiny, while Christian Bale is a tragic and aware Creature. Music becomes an instrument of subjectivity and identity affirmation. A film about autonomy and the rejection of the moral order.
Marty Supreme
First feature film directed solo by Josh Safdie, con Timothée Chalamet hero. Loosely inspired by the figure of Marty Reisman, Borderline and charismatic ping-pong champion, the film – in which he also presents himself in a relaunch role Gwyneth Paltrow in the role of a retired diva who attempts to return to the theater – tells of the obsession with victory and the impossibility of separating identity and performance. Chalamet undergoes an extreme physical transformation, the result of four years of training. It’s the other side of his season, more nervous and urban than Dune.
Toy Story 5
Fifth chapter of the Pixar saga that began in 1995, to be released in 2026. The voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return. Directed by Andrew Stanton with McKenna Harris. At the center, the comparison between traditional toys and contemporary technology: screens, artificial intelligence, digital entertainment. More than a sequel, a reflection on the present of childhood and the experience of the theater.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
Film adaptation of the television spin-off, with Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver. The film expands the narrative universe beyond streaming, returning Star Wars to explicitly cinematic terrain.
The Chronicles of Narnia – The Magician’s Nephew
First chapter of the new Netflix course directed by Greta Fortno. Adaptation of the 1955 novel by C. S. Lewistells the story of the birth of Narnia itself. In the cast Daniel Craig, Emma Mackey e Carey Mulligan. A mythological fantasy designed for the big screen, despite the project’s streaming origins.
The Devil Wears Prada 2
The sequel updates the world of fashion and publishing in the digital age and the crisis of printed paper. They come back Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt e Anne Hathaway. The Milanese filming has already attracted attention.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Part of the new DC Universe led by James Gunn e Peter Safran. Directed by Craig Gillespiecon Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El. It is not a traditional origin story, but the portrait of an already formed character, consistent with the comic by Tom King and Bilquis Evely.
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