When he’s run out of things to write, Dan operates a YouTube channel where he dives into more depth on all things movies, TV, and pop culture.
2026 has flown by, and left some fantastic sci-fi and fantasy content in its wake. On the movie side of things, we were treated to films like Project Hail Mary and The Odyssey, while TV stepped up with shows like A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Lanterns.
But the year isn’t over yet. In fact, 2026 is planning to blast us with a lot of sci-fi/fantasy movies and shows you can’t afford to miss.
Godzilla Minus Zero
Coming November 6
Godzilla Minus One was one of the unexpected success stories of 2023, the only entry in the long-running Godzilla franchise to win an Academy Award. It took the series back to its roots and told a story about the titular giant lizard attacking Tokyo in the wake of World War II. Godzilla Minus Zero will follow up on that story, with Takashi Yamazaki returning to write, direct, and supervise the spectacular special effects.
- Release Date
-
November 6, 2026
- Runtime
-
135 minutes
- Director
-
Takashi Yamazaki
Cast
-
Ryunosuke Kamiki
Koichi Shikishima
-
Minami Hamabe
Noriko Oishi
-
Min Tanaka
Kanji Murakami
-
Hidetaka Yoshioka
Kenji Noda
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3
Coming November 11
Amazon’s sprawling Lord of the Rings TV show is set thousands of years before characters like Bilbo Baggins and Aragorn are even born, in the Second Age of Middle-earth. It tells the story of the war between the elves and Sauron (Charlie Vickers), who in this third season will finally get around to forging the One Ring.
The Rings of Power hasn’t always lived up to expectations, with some accusing the show of not being worth the considerable sum of money Amazon has spent to make it. That said, the show has become more confident as it’s gone on. The third season will begin after a time jump and leap right into the thick of things, which the producers hope will attract some new viewers.
- Release Date
-
September 1, 2022
- Network
-
Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
-
John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip
Cast
-
-
-
Charles Edwards
Lord Celebrimbor
-
Markella KavenaghNori Brandyfoot
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Coming November 20
The initial quartet of Hunger Games movies wrapped up in 2015 with Mockingjay – Part 2, but the franchise has proven surprisingly durable since then. In 2023, the prequel movie The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes cleaned up at the box office. This next film, Sunrise on the Reaping, is also a prequel, although it doesn’t go quite as far back into the past.
Sunrise on the Reaping revolves around a young Haymitch Abernathy, played by Woody Harrelson in the original movies and by Joseph Zada in this new film. We’ll see him participate in the 50th Hunger Games, where he is pitted against other teenagers in deadly games for the amusement of the rich dandies in the Capital.
People still seem interested in the dystopian horror of The Hunger Games franchise. Let’s see if Sunrise on the Reaping can keep that up.
- Release Date
-
November 20, 2026
- Runtime
-
158 Minutes
- Director
-
Francis Lawrence
Cast
-
Mckenna Grace
Maysilee Donner
-
Joseph Zada
Haymitch Abernathy
-
Whitney PeakLenore Dove Baird
-
Jesse PlemonsPlutarch Heavensbee
Blade Runner 2099
November 25
Speaking of dystopias, here’s a twist on a classic. Blade Runner 2099 is the first live-action TV series in the Blade Runner franchise, set in a future where artificial humans called replicants walk among us. In fact, by the time of Blade Runner 2099, replicants have taken over and relegated humans to second-class status. Michelle Yeoh plays Olwen, a replicant herself. She is also a Blade Runner, someone who hunts down rogue replicants and, now, human beings. Her partner is Cora (Hunter Schafer), a human pretending to be a replicant.
The show doesn’t lack for acting talent, but we’ll see soon enough if it has enough style and substance to continue Blade Runner’s legacy.
- Release Date
-
2026 – 2026-00-00
- Network
-
Prime Video
- Showrunner
-
Silka Luisa
Dune: Part Three
Coming December 18
With Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two, writer-director Denis Villeneuve took a famous sci-fi book long thought to be un-filmable and turned it into a major success. He and his impressive cast return for Dune: Part Three, which will adapt Frank Herbert’s 1969 novel Dune Messiah. It will also mark Villeneuve’s last time working in the franchise. This is the climax of the movie trilogy he’s been making since his first Dune movie in 2021.
Dune Messiah is a difficult book to adapt, but considering how good the first two movies were, Villeneuve has earned our trust. Timothée Chalamet returns as Paul Atreides. In the first two movies, he was a rebel. Now, he’s the emperor of the known universe, and a terrible tyrant responsible for the deaths of billions of people. It looks like an ambitious final entry.
- Release Date
-
December 18, 2026
- Director
-
Denis Villeneuve
- Writers
-
Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Frank Herbert
Cast
-
Timothée Chalamet
Paul Atreides
-
Florence PughPrincess Irulan
-
Anya Taylor-JoyAlia Atreides
-
Avengers: Doomsday
Coming December 18
Dune: Part Three will open opposite Avengers: Doomsday, making for an entertaining head-to-head match. There hasn’t been an Avengers movie since Endgame in 2019, which also happens to be the highest-grossing film of all time. That’s a lot to live up to. Can Doomsday rise to the occasion?
The movie will feature a lot of legacy characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, plus some newer additions who haven’t been in a big team-up movie yet. The headliner is Robert Downey Jr., who kicked off the MCU with Iron Man in 2008. This time, he’s playing the villainous Doctor Doom.
- Release Date
-
December 18, 2026
- Runtime
-
165 Minutes
- Director
-
Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Cast
-
Robert Downey Jr.
Victor von Doom
-
Pedro PascalReed Richards / Mr. Fantastic
-
-
Vanessa KirbySue Storm / Invisible Woman
Harry Potter
Coming December 25
The Harry Potter movies may not be that old, but HBO is adapting J.K. Rowling’s beloved book series anew with this TV show, which the network expects to last years. Dominic McLaughlin plays the titular boy wizard, who is plucked from his life of obscurity to learn the craft of magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The Harry Potter series has come in for its fair share of criticism in recent years, but a lot of people remain attached to the story, so expect the show to be a big hit. Also expect a lot of interesting chatter about it before, during, and after.
- Release Date
-
2026 – 2026
- Showrunner
-
Francisca Gardiner
- Directors
-
Mark Mylod
Cast
-
Dominic McLaughlin
Harry Potter
-
Arabella Stanton
Hermione Granger
-
Alastair Stout
Ron Weasley
-
Janet McTeerMinerva McGonagall
Werwulf
Coming December 25
Robert Eggers is one of the most distinctive filmmakers working today. From The Witch to The Lighthouse to Nosferatu, his movies are dark, twisted, and always set in the past, with washed-out color palettes and tones so heavy you might walk out of the theater an inch shorter.
Set in the 14th century, Werwulf will follow a mute medieval farmer (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who must hide his identity as a werewolf from a royal hunting party tasked with culling wolves. Expect a straightforward horror film that’s deep and dense and haunting. It’s a perfect piece of Christmas counter-programming.
- Release Date
-
December 25, 2026
- Director
-
Robert Eggers
- Writers
-
Robert Eggers, Sjón
Cast
-
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Uncredited
-
-
-
Always room for more
We didn’t even get to everything here. On November 20, Disney+ will premiere the third season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, based on Rick Riordan’s popular book series. On November 25, the studio will debut its new animated movie Hexed in theaters. And if you want to venture a bit off the beaten path, the first entirely AI-generated movie, the sci-fi film Gods Don’t Give Gifts, opens in select theaters on December 4.
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