You can make a lot of excuses, but Gremlins 3 being pushed to 2028 is due, quite simply, to the terror of going up against other heavyweights. And if you thought 2026 had been packed with the kind of huge movies that keep theaters full nonstop, just wait until you see what’s coming in the next few years, because we’d almost be better off buying a tent and moving into a movie theater. Yes, really. Don’t believe it? Then grab pen and paper and pay very close attention.
2027
5 February – Ice Age: Boiling Point. We’d gone more than 10 years without an Ice Age movie, and at last Disney has decided to correct course by giving us the seventh film in the saga. We’ll have to see whether the combination of nostalgia and quality is enough for it to survive expectations!
12 February – Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. Barbie director Greta Gerwig is once again adapting one of the most important young-adult sagas in the history of literature. It looks incredible, Netflix has pinned all its hopes on it being a hit, and it’d be strange, frankly, if the start of this new trilogy sank.
5 March – Gatto. Anything Pixar does is worth celebrating. But if on top of that it’s made with carefully crafted animation, love for detail, and loads of fresh visuals, even more so. After Hoppers, there shouldn’t be any doubt. They’re still the kings.
12 March – The Exorcist: Martyrs. You may be asking yourself, “Another Exorcist movie?”. And yes, but with a twist: Mike Flanagan, the master of horror in American cinema, is writing and directing. For that alone, it’s already worth seeing what promises to be an absolute delight.
19 March – Sonic 4. Look, it’s Sonic 4. By now we know the deal.
26 March – Godzilla x Kong: Supernova. Same as with Sonic 4: it’s the third time these two monsters have teamed up, this time facing a new threat. Guaranteed hit.
30 April – The legend of Zelda. Until we see the first trailer, it’s understandable to have doubts about how they’ve brought the magic of Nintendo and Hyrule to the big screen. Personally, I trust the universe the Big N is building… even if they have no choice but to make Link talk at some point (or give it a justification)
6 May – The Resurrection of Christ: Part 1. People have been talking about this movie for years, including a psychedelic script written by Nick Cave, but what we’ll get will be a respectful Mel Gibson version that will try to hook Christian audiences with what many have described as an acid trip with Jesus as the lead. We’ll see.
28 May – Star Wars: Starfighter. Star Wars’ last chance in theaters before surrendering to the obvious reality of a new trilogy. We’ll have to see whether the combined power of the saga, Ryan Gosling, and Shawn Levy is enough to keep audiences from feeling the usual fatigue that sank The Mandalorian and Grogu.
4 June – John Rambo. Have you ever wanted to see the prequel to First Blood, with Rambo played by Noah Centineo? Well, that’s what we’re getting. We’ll see whether it turns out horrible or something worth watching.
11 June – How to Train Your Dragon 2. The sequel to the live-action film and remake of the animated sequel from 13 years earlier. The first one was, honestly, wildly entertaining as a mere carbon copy so, well, why not?
18 June – Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. At last the third part of the animated fantasy starring Miles Morales is here! Yes, they promised it years ago, but better late than never. If you ask me, this is the highlight of the year without a second’s hesitation.
30 June – Shrek 5. Nobody liked the trailer and it’s rumored that DreamWorks has changed the entire movie because Twitter guessed the ending right. 1 billion guaranteed at the box office.
9 July – Man of Tomorrow. It could be the end of James Gunn’s DC Universe or a new beginning. The only thing we know is that, from the look of it, they’re going to cram in characters like crazy in the hope that one of them sticks and the superhero universe survives instead of dying for a second time.
23 July – A Minecraft Movie: Squared. Well, I mean, it was inevitable, right? If the first one was a smash hit, the logical thing is to bring the whole team back again to once more deliver a message about how beautiful imagining is from one of the least imaginative adaptations in history.
30 July – A Quiet Place III. The end of the saga (at least the one directed by John Krasinski) arrives 7 years after the second installment. You already know the deal: monsters that attack when they hear noise, a more or less united family, and a new character or two to close out the franchise before it’s too late.
13 August – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2. The original was wildly fun, original, groundbreaking, and has sadly been left behind. With any luck, this sequel will bring back the urge to see more Turtles. The years go by for them, but they’re still younger than ever. Cowabunga!
3 September – The Simpsons, the new movie. Are people excited? I don’t know, honestly. It’s arriving late, when the series is in a slump, and nobody really knows whether it’s going to serve as a celebration, a closing, or a definitive change. In any case, we’ll be there to see it, because it doesn’t look like they’re going to make any more for a good long while.
24 September – The Blair Witch Project. After years with the franchise forgotten about (despite a couple of reboot attempts), it seems they’ve finally gotten their act together to genuinely terrify us by remembering the beginnings and forgetting sequels, remakes, and even video games. In the end, it was all simpler than that.
1 October – The great beyond. 8 years after the ninth Star Wars installment (oof), JJ Abrams returns to cinema, with his first original movie since 2011. He’s doing it with an elite cast led by Glen Powell and Jenna Ortega. Science fiction, fantasy, and that trademark quality. I’m sold.
15 October – The Mummy 4. One of the most anticipated movies of the year: Brendan Fraser’s return to The Mummy after many years away from Hollywood. The creators of the new Scream saga are at the helm, so, with any luck, they’ll know what they’re doing.
24 November – Frozen 3. Another 1 billion guaranteed, if not more. They’re so sure of its success that the movie will form a diptych with Frozen 4. It’s still not clear what they’re going to tell, but with any luck it makes us forget the terrible Frozen 2. Because, now we can say it, wow is it bad.
17 December – Avengers: Secret Wars. Is there really anything else to say? Analysts believe it’ll be the first movie to go past 3 billion dollars at the box office, although it’ll depend, of course, on how much (or how little) we like Avengers: Doomsday. We want 3 billion for them either way.
17 December – The Lord of the Rings: The hunt for Gollum. Is there an appetite for more Middle-earth, even if it’s practically made up? We’ll know in a bit over a year. I, frankly, wouldn’t count on Andy Serkis being capable of making a good movie, but nostalgia is very, very powerful.
17 December – The Housemaid’s Secret. The third one competing on this day is the second installment of The Housemaid. The first one was a wild ride as fun as it was absurd, and it has every chance of becoming a successful franchise in Hollywood. Please and thank you.
2028
14 January – Longlegs 2. On this list I’ve very consciously skipped over Paranormal Activity and Conjuring movies, because at this point they’re taken for granted. But Longlegs 2 has something special: the first part was a small, misunderstood masterpiece, after all.
18 February – The Batman II. We’ve been talking about it for years, and in a year and a half we’ll finally get it. Everyone has promised that it’ll make a 180-degree turn from the first part and that it’s going to surprise us in every way. At this point, though, Pattinson will already be getting up there in age to keep playing the “young” Bruce Wayne.
3 March – Elden Ring. With the great Alex Garland at the helm, I can already hear the whining from fans of the saga because they didn’t include one encounter or they skipped one story line. With any luck, Garland will do the same as Zach Cregger with Resident Evil and they’ll get used to the fact that not everything has to pander to fans.
10 March – Ghost market. We still know little about Pixar’s new movie, but… a ghost story put through their filter? Then of course I want to see it.
17 March – Fast Forever. If I had to bet on one movie that’s never going to come out, it’d be this one. They haven’t started shooting, they’ve been talking about the script for years, and it seems like nothing is really fully locked down. Vin Diesel says he cries every time he reads it, but I think he cries because he knows he’ll never be able to finish his franchise.
7 April – The Beatles. Four Beatles movies released at the same time. As an experiment, it’s incredible. As a way of making the studio lose a huge amount of money, too.
5 May – X-Men. Is there life for Marvel after Secret Wars? Do people want to see X-Men again? With what team? With what tone? The truth is I’m pretty excited: after the Multiverse disaster, maybe they can get back on track.
12 May – Final Destination 7. I never would’ve said it, but the sixth installment is the best in the saga thanks to singular black comedy and wildly fun twists shot with tremendous effectiveness. Having hype for a seventh installment wasn’t in my plans, but look.
26 May – Lilo & Stitch 2. Nobody knows whether Disney has adapted the direct-to-video animated sequel or whether they’ve finally decided to do something original. The only thing that’s clear is that after the success of the first one they weren’t going to sit still.
26 May – The Resurrection of Christ, Part 2. God help us.
2 June – Days of Thunder 2. Nobody knows whether Tom Cruise will manage to pull off a Top Gun: Maverick or whether, on the contrary, his star power will start to fade with the sequel to a movie that’s neither a cult classic nor especially nostalgic. If the rumor that Brad Pitt will play his F1 character is confirmed, though, it’ll make billions.
16 June – The Incredibles 3. The second installment didn’t come close to the first, but who knows? Maybe instead of making just one more sequel because of a contract with Disney, Pixar has decided to show its creators’ pride with a worthy third installment. Yes, I don’t really believe it either.
30 June – Call of Duty. The “Look, why not” of video-game adaptations for the big screen. If Super Mario Bros made a pile of money, maybe Call of Duty will too, right?
28 July – Ghost Rider. Ryan Gosling taking Nicolas Cage’s place in Marvel’s adaptation of an iconic character. The idea came from Gosling himself, who after Barbie and Project Hail Mary is, basically, a box-office draw. If we make it to the movies without our heads burning from the heat, we’ll see him light up the big screen.
8 September – Gladys. Who wants to see the prequel to Weapons, with Cregger having stepped away from the director’s chair? Exactly, what I thought: nobody.
22 September – Dynamic Duo. Two Robins, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, in the first Batman movie of the DC Universe. That said, it’ll be animated and nicely detached from the rest of what James Gunn has done, just in case heads need to roll ahead of time.
6 October – Gremlins 3. We had agreed that ’80s nostalgia had already gone stale, right? Well, we’ll have to see whether Chris Columbus is capable of reviving interest in a saga that has been dead and buried for far too long.
15 December – Black Panther 3. Marvel has decided that if X-Men and Ghost Rider fail, at least it’ll still have its faithful T’Challa. It’ll work for them, ending 2028 on a high note, make no mistake.
And now don’t start calculating how much you’re going to spend on popcorn, because yes, it might add up to the down payment on a flat.
