If you’ve found yourself avoiding movie theaters ever since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, then Disney’s 2026 movie lineup is going to encourage your triumphant return. You might think you know what to expect this year, given how many sequels, adaptations, and remakes will be lighting up the big screen, but what about the blood-splattered horror flick starring a Mean Girl? Or the survival drama involving a scuba diver and a ravenous whale? Or the return of the worst boss in cinema that’s been 20 years in the making?
All of these stories – and many more – fall under the Disney banner this year, making 2026 one of the company’s most diverse years in recent memory. Last year saw Zootopia 2 become the company’s highest-grossing animated film of all time, joined in the billion-dollar club by Lilo & Stitch and Avatar: Fire and Ash. Deadline reports that Disney has been #1 at the global box office for nine out of the last 10 years, and 2026’s roster – which includes everything from pulse-pounding originals to sequels with the power to reignite entire franchises – promises to continue that trend. As an avid consumer of all things Disney, I can’t wait to experience the company’s upcoming offerings, ranked here by how likely they are to make audience members squeal in their seats.
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‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ – May 22
In order to get the most out of The Mandalorian & Grogu, viewers must meet one of two criteria: they must either love Star Wars, or be in love with cinema’s “daddy,” Pedro Pascal. Both are sure to get butts in seats, especially following The Mandalorian’s three-season success on Disney+. For anyone who doesn’t fall into either camp, there’s Grogu. The lovable “Baby Yoda” has turned out to be one of Disney’s cleverest creations, spawning a global craze in 2019 that resulted in a major merchandise uptick for the company as well as swift Season 2 and 3 renewals.
It only makes sense, given their popularity, that Grogu and his Mandalorian protector are thus starring in their own movie, which will continue their father-son bond as they fight Imperial warlords, come face to face with Jabba the Hutt’s spawn, and have lunch with Sigourney Weaver. The official trailer hints that the film will offer traditional Star Wars fare, which could make it hit-or-miss like so many of the IP’s recent offerings (Star Wars: Ahsoka and Star Wars: The Bad Batch, anyone?). Star Wars’ barrier to entry and arguable declining quality are the primary reasons why this film isn’t lower down on the list, but anyone who has frequented that land far, far away will likely be foaming at the mouth for this installment.
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‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ – July 31
Sike! This one is technically not a “Disney” film, but rather a Marvel movie distributed by Sony Pictures. Confused? Breathe. Disney owns Marvel and Marvel needs as many wins as it can get this year, so I’m sneaking this one in like Rocket Raccoon with a cybernetic eye. If Marvel has one winning card in its deck, it’s Tom Holland, who is back for round four of Peter Parker’s solo-movie series following the devastating events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Though the plot is still largely TBA, Brand New Day will see Peter navigating a new life in New York City that no longer includes MJ, Ned, or Aunt May. The latter’s death means he’s officially on his own, and his best friend and girlfriend forgetting his identity thanks to Doctor Strange’s spell means he’s starting over just as much as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is.
Like another Marvel film that may or may not have made this list, Brand New Day has the potential to reshape Marvel’s future. If it can provide the fan service of former Spidey flicks while setting the stage for an exciting series’ future, then it could easily be one of the biggest films of 2026. This would be great news for Marvel, but not so much Disney, which has two other notable originals coming out this year that it obviously hopes will top the charts. Sadly, if 2025’s Elio taught us anything, it’s that riskier projects like Hoppers and Hexed aren’t guaranteed to bring in the kinds of audiences that established franchises do. Spider-Man’s return is going to rake in some of 2026’s biggest revenue, even if Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire aren’t involved this time. Holland’s presence alone is going to have Marvel fans cheering in their seats, given how reliably watchable he is and how invested viewers are in Peter’s journey. Now that this necessary shout-out has been made, let’s talk about whales.
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‘Whalefall’ – Oct. 16
Disney is typically known for making dreams come true, but 2026 will also see it become the courier of nightmares. Whalefall is quite literally what would happen if Pinocchio was a scuba diver who got swallowed by Monstro and only had an hour to escape before his oxygen ran out. In other words, no thank you. Throw Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin into the mix, and you’ve got pure cinema.
No one would blame you for wanting to miss this one – especially if demonic whale films have previously scarred you for life like they have this author, hashtag Moby-Dick – but it can’t be denied that watching a live-action character try to fight his way out of the belly of a beast will be a nail-biting sight to behold. Brolin needs no introduction, and Abrams remains a versatile actor with credits ranging from Paper Towns to Dash & Lily and This is Us. We’ve seen him do comedy, romantic comedy, and high drama, so naturally, it’s time to see what he can do underwater.
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‘Send Help’ – Jan. 30
Whoever decided to cast Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien opposite each other in an office-drama-turned-survival horror flick deserves a raise, or at the very least, a muffin. These are two of our most gifted actors in a film directed by The Evil Dead’s Sam Raimi. Need I say more?!
Send Help is not a sequel or an adaptation, nor is it anything close to traditional Disney fare, which instantly makes it one of the most intriguing films of 2026. It’s a wholly original look at what happens when you cast two actors with unlimited emotional depth as characters facing the worst possible scenario, and that alone is worth the price of admission. It’s Working Girl meets Lord of the Flies – Castaway meets Misery – and it’s the kind of character I’ve been waiting for McAdams to play. We’ve all known what she’s capable of since her knockout performances in films like Mean Girls, Red Eye, and The Notebook, but this role will find her at her most maniacal, requiring colors we’ve never seen from her before. Send Help could easily propel her into the next phase of her career if it delivers on the trailer’s promise, and with a January arrival, it has the potential to start the year off on a strong cinematic foot.
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‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ – May 2
This is not a drill, people – the character Meryl Streep should have won an Oscar for is back, so do not move at a glacial pace as you catwalk to the theater. The fact that we’re actually getting this sequel speaks to Streep’s unparalleled talent as well as the power of the people. The Devil Wears Prada is one of the most compulsively watchable films ever made, and 20 years of viewers’ undying love for it all but required that a sequel be made. Get ready for even more star power than the original, though, because in addition to the returns of Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, The Devil Wears Prada 2 also stars Sydney Sweeney, Lady Gaga, Kenneth Branagh, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu, Simone Ashley, and B.J. Novak.
The star-studded roster alone is reason enough to see the film, but most fans will be curious to see if the sequel somehow manages to recapture lightning in a bottle. The fact that Prada’s core actors, original screenwriter (Aline Brosh McKenna), and original director (David Frankel) are all back strengthens its odds, and the fact that Adrian Grenier’s controversial Nate will be missing in action is the cherry on top of the cerulean cake. The only films likely to attract even more viewers are the fifth entry in a beloved Pixar franchise, a live-action musical starring Hollywood royalty, and the biggest cinematic event of the year.
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‘Toy Story 5’ – June 19
It’s impossible to follow perfection, which is why Toy Story 4 fell kind of flat with audiences back in 2019. Regardless, Toy Story remains Pixar’s most beloved and long-lasting IP, with the fifth film in the franchise setting a record for the animation studio. Continuing its trend of exploring contemporary issues via unforgettable characters like Woody and Buzz, Pixar will use Toy Story 5 to examine the effect technology has had on traditional toys. Yes, this means we will be watching the characters get frustrated by children looking at screens – on a screen. Hey, it’s better than AI slop, right?
The biggest selling point of this experience is hands-down the reunion of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, who have been providing families with the best animated banter since 1995. The mix of nostalgia, inevitable satisfaction, and temporary child distraction will also be selling points for parents, but, like The Devil Wears Prada 2, some audience members will simply be curious to see if the movie is able to reclaim the magic of the original. Pixar staple Andrew Stanton, who wrote the screenplays for Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and WALL-E (among others), wrote and co-directed this fifth entry, making it the best possible film Pixar currently has to offer. Audience members will also be collectively hoping the studio knocks this one out of the park, returning them to the glory days of Nemo and The Incredibles. Thankfully, Disney has a box office back-up plan just in case Toy Story 5 doesn’t stick the landing, and it’s already primed to obliterate the box office.
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‘Moana’ – July 10
Let’s be real about one thing: the main reason to see Moana is to watch Dwayne Johnson perform “You’re Welcome” in the flesh. OG fans know that it’s the best song in the film, and much of the live-action adaptation’s success rides on Johnson’s ability to embody Maui in person just as well as he voiced him back in 2016. Apart from that, Moana’s core audience is most likely hoping for a frame-for-frame adaptation of the animated original, which only came out a decade ago. The company’s decision to adapt it for live-action comes on the heels of it being one of Disney’s highest-grossing animated films ever. We don’t need it, per se, but its existence will be enough to draw millions of people to the movie theater, thus making the company millions of dollars. It has to, lest Disney finally retire its ambitious live-action initiative.
Johnson, 53, also isn’t getting any younger, so if there was any hope of bringing him back for round two of his most memorable performance, this was it. The official teaser also offers a glimpse of Disney doing something right in a film whose primary setting is open ocean: making the water pleasurable to look at. Too many films – from Pirates of the Caribbean sequels to Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians – make the grave mistake of animating water that is far too murky to see, let alone enjoy. Given that water is an actual character in Moana, it appears that Disney has rightly considered this and opted to keep it vibrant and bright like it was in the original. If Lilo and Stitch’s box office success in 2025 is any indication, then Moana is sure to be one of Disney’s biggest films of the year – but not the biggest.
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‘Avengers: Doomsday’ – Dec. 18
It should come as no surprise that Disney’s most-anticipated release of the year – and arguably the most-anticipated film of 2026, period – can’t be seen until December. That’s when Marvel fans (and former fans) will finally learn if the MCU is capable of replicating its prior Avengers: Endgame-level successes, thus launching a new era for the IP. Avengers: Doomsday is set to bring nearly every living actor into a single film, much like Endgame did back in 2019, but this one is sink or swim for Marvel. A barrage of underwhelming post-Endgame projects has led to rampant superhero fatigue, meaning Joe and Anthony Russo inherited a major task when they took the reins on Doomsday and 2027’s Secret Wars. Still, if anyone is capable of enacting a hard reset, it’s the Russos, which is why the Doomsday clock is already ticking down to its release.
Set to finally unite preexisting characters like the Thunderbolts and Wakandans with the Fantastic Four and Patrick Stewart’s X-Men, Doomsday is going to be the biggest superhero mash-up to date. The real selling point, of course, is Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the franchise, this time in the villainous shoes of Doctor Doom. His comeback marks Marvel’s Hail Mary attempt to steer the ship onto a fresh, more promising course. If everything goes as planned, then the film will achieve just that, offering viewers a direct bridge between Endgame and Doomsday that keeps what has worked for the studio (Loki, Shang-Chi) while conveniently side-stepping what has not (Kang the Conqueror, the Eternals). Chris Evans’ unexpected return as Steve Rogers is also a major selling point, as it confirms the return of Marvel’s Big Three (which also includes Chris Hemsworth). Basically, if this film doesn’t blow minds or entice viewers to return the following year for Secret Wars, then Doomsday could live up to its name and usher in the end of Marvel Studios as we know it. Either way, the film’s star power is sure to keep fans wildly entertained!
Needless to say, Disney’s 2026 releases offer a dizzying array of sequels and originals that are sure to bring audiences back to movie theaters in squeal-inducing droves. Which film are you most excited to see? Are you surprised that Hoppers didn’t make the list? Super Troopers 3? Hexed? Sound off in a comment below!
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
