Turns out, reports of the death of theatrical may have been greatly exaggerated.
Summer blockbusters like Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey and Toy Story 5 have Hollywood on track for its best year at the box office since 2019.
And with big franchises like Avengers, Dune and The Hunger Games returning in the coming months, ticket sales in North America could top US$10bil (RM40bil) for the first time since before the pandemic.
But it’s not all sequels, prequels and reboots.
Expect a plethora of horror films, original animated movies and awards-season contenders, too.
Here’s a list of feature films showing in cinemas now till the end of 2026.
Note: Release dates and film availability are subject to change.
When: Oct 1
What: Dakota Johnson plays a writer hired to complete a best- selling book series after its author (Anne Hathaway) is incapacitated.
When: Oct 8
What: Robert Pattinson plays Chris Hansen, the NBC News journalist who will stop at nothing to catch a predator – or two or 20.
When: Oct 1
What: Maybe avoid this one if you have arachnophobia. The film takes place at an apartment builidng which is quarantined after mysterious deaths. But, this is not a viral outbreak. It is a catastrophic infestation of venomous spiders spreading rapidly through the building.
When: Oct 1
What: Choi Min-sik is the retiree who gets back to working life by starting out as an intern for a startup company. Han So-Hee co-stars in this Korean remake of the Hollywood film.
When: Oct 8
What: Tom Cruise transforms into a fat old rich guy in Alejandro G. Inarritu’s latest, playing an oil tycoon trying to save the world from an environmental catastrophe of his own making.
When: Oct 8
What: Jessica Chastain pulls double duty as a mother whose young daughter befriends a demon that looks just like her.
When: Oct 15
What: Jeremy Strong takes over the role of Mark Zuckerberg in the long-awaited sequel to The Social Network. This time, Facebook faces scandal when a whistleblower (Mikey Madison) exposes its secrets to a reporter (Jeremy Allen White).
When: Oct 15
What: A scuba diver (Austin Abrams) swallowed by a sperm whale has one hour of oxygen to figure out how to get out alive.
When: Oct 15
What: Ready, set, fight! The 1980s video game phenomenon returns to the big screen, with Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Callina Liang and Jason Momoa as your favourite World Warriors.
When: Oct 22
What: DC goes full horror as a rising Hollywood actor (Tom Rhys Harries) is horribly disfigured and transformed into a revenge-seeking Gotham villain.
When: Oct 22
What: A Thai remake of the beloved Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore movie 50 First Dates with Nadech Kugimiya and Nicha Yontararak (aka Minnie from K-Pop group i-dle) playing the leads.
When: Oct 22
What: Taika Waititi directs Jenna Ortega as Klara, an android companion who sets out to mend the troubled family that brings her home.
When: Oct 29
What: Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esme Creed-Miles star in the latest big-screen take on Jane Austen’s Regency-era classic about sisterhood, resilience and romance.
When: Nov 5
What: Dr Seuss’ mischievous feline (voice of Bill Hader) returns to the big screen, this time in animated form. His mission: help a pair of siblings adjust to their new town.
When: Nov 5
What: The sequel to Godzilla Minus One picks up two years later as the Shikishima family settles into postwar life. Then you-know-who comes back.
When: Nov 5
What: The Indian fantasy action- adventure, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Yash and Sai Pallavi, draws from a 5,000-year-old epic. It follows a young prince and princess as they embark on a legendary journey after their marriage and subsequent exile.
When: Nov 12
What: Johnny Depp plays everybody’s favourite Scrooge, who gets the wake-up call of a lifetime when three ghosts visit him on Christmas Eve.
When: Nov 19
What: It’s back to Panem for the sixth entry in the franchise. This one follows Haymitch Abernathy’s run in the 50th Hunger Games, decades before he became Katniss Everdeen’s mentor.
When: Nov 19
What: Nicholas Hoult and Pete Davidson lead a group of Robin Hood-style bank robbers who livestream their heists for the world to see.
When: Nov 26
What: A high school outcast (voice of Hailee Steinfeld) discovers she has magical powers, sending her on a journey to the wondrous world of witches.
When: Nov 26
What: Like father, like son-in-law. Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is the overprotective dad in the fourth entry in the Meet The Parents franchise, as he and his father-in-law (Robert De Niro) become suspicious of his son’s new fiancee (Ariana Grande).
When: Dec 3
What: Santa Claus, action hero, returns. This time, St Nick (David Harbour) tries to get off the naughty list by saving Christmas for mall merchants under the thumb of an evil crime boss.
When: Dec 17
What: The Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four join forces when the all-powerful Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr) threatens the multiverse. Joe and Anthony Russo direct.
When: Dec 17
What: Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya are joined by Anya Taylor-Joy and Robert Pattinson in the final chapter of Denis Villeneuve’s epic Dune trilogy.
When: Dec 24
What: The real world and Jumanji world become intertwined as the teenagers who got sucked into the video game suddenly see their avatars (Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan) appear in their town.
When: Dec 31
What: Even the angriest bird has to keep calm when he becomes a dad. Synopsis goes: Red has to survive the chaos of fatherhood while also having to save the world. – Advance Local Media/Tribune News Service
