80. “The Weight”
The feature-length directorial debut of Padraic McKinley, known primarily as an editor and producer, the historical survival drama “The Weight” stars Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, and Sam Hazeldine. The drama is a 1933 Oregon-set tale of a widowed father torn from his daughter and forced into a brutal work camp, where a deal to smuggle gold through deadly wilderness tests his morality and his chances of seeing her again.
Release Date: TBD; premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Sundance First Look: 'The Weight' directed by Padraic McKinley, starring Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, and Sam Hazeldine. https://t.co/WIWKne2L47 pic.twitter.com/NFJ3z36o1M
— The Playlist (@ThePlaylistNews) December 10, 2025
79. “Josephine”
Beth de Araújo’s “Josephine” is a thriller-drama starring Gemma Chan, Channing Tatum, Philip Ettinger, Syra McCarthy, and newcomer Mason Reeves, following an eight-year-old girl whose life unravels after she witnesses a brutal assault in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. As her fear curdles into paranoia and acting out, the adults around her struggle to contain the fallout, extending the unsettling social horror de Araújo explored in “Soft & Quiet.”
Release Date: TBD; premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Sundance First Look: Beth de Araújo's “Josephine” starring Mason Reeves, Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Philip Ettinger, Syra McCarthy, and Eleanore Pienta. https://t.co/WIWKne2L47 pic.twitter.com/aM4bSGHJPi
— The Playlist (@ThePlaylistNews) December 10, 2025
78. “The Gallerist”
Director Cathy Yan (“Birds of Prey”) returns with “The Gallerist,” a dark art-world comedy produced by MRC. The ensemble includes Natalie Portman, Jenna Ortega, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Sterling K. Brown, Zach Galifianakis, Daniel Brühl, Charli XCX, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Co-written by Yan and James Pedersen, the film follows a power-driven art dealer navigating rivalries and scandals during Miami Art Basel. With Portman and Ortega squaring off in what’s described as an intergenerational morality duel, Yan blends satire, excess, and ambition into a portrait of contemporary creative capitalism.
Release Date: TBD; premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Sundance First Looks: Natalie Portman In ‘The Gallerist,’ Dave Franco In ‘The Shitheads,’ & David Wain’s ‘Gail Daughtry & The Celebrity Sex Pass’ https://t.co/YaFqJJH6eu pic.twitter.com/m0FYVa8pvW
— The Playlist (@ThePlaylistNews) December 10, 2025
77. “Brides”
Chloe Okuno, the breakout indie filmmaker behind “Watcher,” directs “Brides,” a gothic vampire thriller starring Olivia Cooke as Sally Bishop, a newly married woman who travels with her husband to a secluded 1960s Italian villa owned by a mysterious count. Replacing Maika Monroe in the lead role, Cooke is joined by a supporting cast that includes Alessandro Nivola, Carla Juri, and Vicky Krieps. Written and produced by Okuno, the film reimagines the Dracula myth through a feminist lens, exploring repression, autonomy, and forbidden desire amid opulent, blood-soaked surroundings. Following her breakout with “Watcher,” Okuno trades urban paranoia for baroque dread, crafting a sensual, subversive tale of seduction and resistance.
Release Date: TBD via NEON.
‘Brides’: Olivia Cooke Replaces Maika Monroe In 1960s Italian-Set Vampire Pic From NEON & Chloe Okuno https://t.co/GbjBjmLUPL pic.twitter.com/K1rLwOukMu
— The Playlist (@ThePlaylistNews) May 28, 2025
76. “Blood on Snow”
Following up the “Masters of the Air” series he primarily directed, “No Time To Die” filmmaker Cary Joji Fukunaga directs “Blood On Snow,” an upcoming crime thriller adapted from Jo Nesbø’s novel and co-written by Nesbø and Ben Power. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Eva Green, Emma Laird, and Ben Mendelsohn, with Pilou Asbæk, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, and Mickey Sumner rounding out the cast. The premise centers on a hit man who falls for his client’s wife, the very person he has been assigned to kill, spinning moral ambiguity and icy suspense around a classic noir setup.
Release Date: TBD.
‘Blood On Snow’: Pilou Asbæk Joins Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Benedict Cumberbatch, & Eva Green In Crime Thriller From Cary Fukunaga https://t.co/vWyra33nSy pic.twitter.com/J0QXpJ4Q7U
— The Playlist (@ThePlaylistNews) July 29, 2025
As the first half of our Most Anticipated Films of 2026 comes to a close at 75, the big takeaway is how director-forward the year already looks. From auteurs returning after long gaps to genre filmmakers expanding their canvases, the slate is defined less by category and more by voice—prestige dramas, bold experiments, and hard pivots in tone all rub shoulders with studio-scale swings.
Part Two drops tomorrow (hahahaha!) with the remaining 75 titles, including more international heavy-hitters, late-year wild cards, and the kind of festival-positioned films that tend to define the conversation once the calendar flips from summer spectacle to awards-corridor intensity. Bookmark this page if you like, and we’ll add a link here when it’s published. Thanks for reading and being a patron of our site!
READ MORE: PART TWO: The 150 Most Anticipated Films Of 2026
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
