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We’re still months away from finishing 2026, but Hollywood has already made one thing very clear about next year.
2027 is going to be crowded.
Marvel is preparing to close the Multiverse Saga. DC is bringing Superman back. Middle-earth is returning to theaters. Nintendo is finally taking The Legend of Zelda into live action. Miles Morales has unfinished business across the Spider-Verse, and Ryan Gosling is heading into a completely new corner of the Star Wars galaxy.
That’s before getting to Frozen III, Shrek 5, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, another Godzilla x Kong movie, the next A Quiet Place and Greta Gerwig’s ambitious return to Narnia.
Some of these dates will almost certainly shift before opening night. That’s simply how a movie calendar this far out works. We’re also deliberately leaving off projects without firm enough release plans, rather than filling the list with movies that might eventually move into 2028 or beyond.
One notable example is The Batman: Part II. Robert Pattinson’s sequel was once part of the 2027 conversation, but Warner Bros. has since moved Matt Reeves’ movie to February 2028.
With that settled, here are the 20 movies currently making 2027 look very interesting.
20. Children Of Blood And Bone
Release Date: January 15, 2027
2027 begins with a major fantasy swing from Paramount.
Gina Prince-Bythewood directs the adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s bestselling novel, which takes audiences into the fantasy kingdom of Orïsha, where magic has been violently stripped away from its people.
The story follows Zélie as she embarks on a dangerous mission to restore what was lost and challenge the king responsible for suppressing magic.
The project has assembled a large cast and is being positioned as a genuine theatrical fantasy event rather than a streaming-first YA adaptation.
Hollywood has spent years searching for another fantasy world capable of sustaining a major franchise. If audiences connect with Orïsha, Children of Blood and Bone could become much bigger than a single movie.
19. The Beekeeper 2
Release Date: January 15, 2027
Jason Statham’s Adam Clay apparently still has people left to sting.
The first Beekeeper became one of those wonderfully straightforward action movies that understood exactly what audiences wanted: Statham looking extremely annoyed while systematically destroying everyone responsible for making a terrible decision.
The sequel brings Statham back while Nobody 2 filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto steps behind the camera.
Jeremy Irons, Emmy Raver-Lampman and Bobby Naderi are among the returning cast, while Pom Klementieff joins the sequel.
Sometimes anticipation doesn’t require a complicated cinematic universe.
Sometimes we just need Jason Statham to get angry about bees again.
18. Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew
Release Date: February 12, 2027
Netflix Premiere: April 2, 2027
Greta Gerwig following Barbie with C.S. Lewis is already one of the more fascinating career moves in modern Hollywood.
Rather than beginning with another adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Gerwig is starting chronologically with The Magician’s Nephew.
The story takes place long before Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy discover the wardrobe and explores the creation of Narnia itself.
The cast includes Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Daniel Craig and Meryl Streep, giving Netflix’s fantasy reboot considerably more star power than a typical streaming production.
The release strategy may be just as significant as the movie. Netflix is giving Narnia a full theatrical window beginning February 12 before bringing it to the streaming service in April.
If Gerwig can translate the sense of wonder that made Lewis’ books endure for generations, this could become the beginning of an enormous new fantasy franchise.
17. The Thomas Crown Affair
Release Date: March 5, 2027
Michael B. Jordan is taking on another movie previously led by Steve McQueen and Pierce Brosnan.
But he’s not simply starring.
Jordan also directs the new Thomas Crown Affair, his second feature behind the camera following Creed III.
The familiar premise revolves around an impossibly wealthy man, a major theft and the investigator attempting to catch him while becoming increasingly drawn into his world.
Adria Arjona joins Jordan alongside an impressive ensemble including Kenneth Branagh, Aubrey Plaza, Lily Gladstone, Danai Gurira and Ruth Negga.
Jordan has described the movie as a reimagining rather than an attempt to simply recreate the earlier versions.
After his recent run as both actor and filmmaker, that alone puts this considerably higher on our radar than the phrase “another remake” normally would.
16. Mike Flanagan’s New Exorcist Movie
Release Date: March 12, 2027
The Exorcist franchise is starting over again.
Normally, that sentence might inspire exhaustion.
Mike Flanagan changes the equation.
The filmmaker behind Doctor Sleep, Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Hill House and The Fall of the House of Usher is writing and directing a completely new story set within the world of The Exorcist.
It isn’t a sequel to The Exorcist: Believer and isn’t being positioned as another remake of William Friedkin’s original.
Scarlett Johansson leads an enormous cast that also includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Carla Gugino and several familiar members of Flanagan’s acting ensemble.
Few modern filmmakers are better at connecting supernatural horror to grief, faith and trauma.
If anyone can justify another trip into this franchise, it’s probably Flanagan.
15. Sonic The Hedgehog 4
Release Date: March 19, 2027
The Sonic movies have somehow gone from “Why are they doing this?” to one of Paramount’s most dependable franchises.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 continues that run with Jeff Fowler returning to direct and Ben Schwartz once again voicing Sonic.
The next installment is expected to draw heavily from Sonic CD, which makes Amy Rose and Metal Sonic particularly important additions.
Kristen Bell joins the franchise as Amy, while familiar characters including Tails, Knuckles and Shadow keep expanding a universe that now has an enormous amount of Sega mythology available to explore.
The movies have become progressively more confident about embracing the games instead of attempting to disguise them as generic family comedies.
That’s exactly the direction Sonic fans wanted from the beginning.
14. Godzilla x Kong: Supernova
Release Date: March 26, 2027
Godzilla and Kong are apparently still not finished wrecking extremely expensive buildings.
Godzilla x Kong: Supernova continues Legendary’s Monsterverse after Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire demonstrated that audiences were still very interested in watching gigantic creatures solve disagreements with their fists.
The title alone suggests the scale isn’t getting smaller.
Legendary has described the film as another chapter in the shared universe, with Godzilla and Kong facing a catastrophic new threat.
At this point, the Monsterverse has earned the right to stop pretending these movies need to be grounded.
Give us enormous monsters.
Give them something enormous to fight.
Let the cities worry about insurance afterward.
13. The Legend Of Zelda
Release Date: April 30, 2027
This may be the video game adaptation with the highest degree of difficulty.
Nintendo’s live-action The Legend of Zelda has to translate one of gaming’s most beloved fantasy franchises without losing the mixture of adventure, mystery, exploration and melancholy that makes Zelda different from almost every other major Nintendo property.
Nintendo is producing alongside Sony Pictures, with Wes Ball directing.
After the enormous success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Nintendo clearly understands the value of protecting its characters when bringing them to Hollywood.
Zelda presents an entirely different challenge than Mario.
Hyrule needs to feel like a world rather than a collection of references.
Link needs to work as an actual protagonist. Zelda needs meaningful agency. And whatever version of Ganondorf eventually emerges needs to feel appropriately mythic.
If they get this right, Nintendo may have another enormous theatrical franchise on its hands.
12. Star Wars: Starfighter
Release Date: May 28, 2027
Star Wars is finally moving beyond the Skywalker Saga timeline.
Shawn Levy directs Star Wars: Starfighter, a standalone adventure starring Ryan Gosling and set approximately five years after The Rise of Skywalker.
That makes it the furthest point forward we’ve seen in the theatrical timeline.
Gosling leads an ensemble that includes Flynn Gray, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre and Amy Adams.
Very little about the actual story has been revealed, which may be one of the project’s strengths.
There is no Death Star that needs destroying again. No requirement that every character be related to someone audiences met in 1977. No obligation to fill in another five-minute gap between existing movies.
It’s a new corner of the galaxy with new characters.
For Star Wars, that feels surprisingly refreshing.
11. How To Train Your Dragon 2
Release Date: June 11, 2027
The live-action How to Train Your Dragon isn’t wasting much time reaching the second chapter.
Mason Thames and Nico Parker return as Hiccup and Astrid, while Gerard Butler is once again Stoick.
The sequel adapts the second animated film, which dramatically expands the world by introducing Hiccup’s long-lost mother, Valka, and the dragon-controlling warlord Drago Bludvist.
Cate Blanchett returns to play Valka after voicing the character in the animated movies, an unusual bit of casting continuity between the two versions.
Director Dean DeBlois also returns, meaning the filmmaker who helped shape the animated trilogy remains responsible for translating it into live action.
The second animated movie is where the franchise became substantially bigger and more emotionally ambitious.
If the live-action version follows the same trajectory, this sequel has plenty to work with.
10. Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse
Release Date: June 18, 2027
Miles Morales has been stuck on the wrong Earth for a very long time.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ended on an enormous cliffhanger, leaving Miles trapped in a universe where his alternate self became the Prowler while Gwen began assembling a team to find him.
Beyond the Spider-Verse finally gets to finish that story.
Shameik Moore returns as Miles alongside Hailee Steinfeld’s Gwen Stacy, with Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson directing.
The first two Spider-Verse movies completely changed expectations for what mainstream animation could look like.
That creates an almost unfair challenge for the finale.
It doesn’t simply have to resolve Miles’ story.
It has to follow two movies that already rank among the most visually inventive superhero films ever made.
No pressure.
9. Shrek 5
Release Date: June 30, 2027
Shrek is back.
More importantly, so is Donkey.
Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz return as Shrek, Donkey and Fiona more than 15 years after the last mainline installment.
Zendaya joins the next generation of the family, while DreamWorks has updated the animation style for a franchise that helped define the studio during the 2000s.
The biggest reason for optimism may actually be Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
That film proved the Shrek universe could evolve visually and emotionally without abandoning what audiences enjoyed about the originals.
If Shrek 5 learns the same lesson, this could be more than another nostalgia sequel.
8. Man Of Tomorrow
Release Date: July 9, 2027
James Gunn’s Superman is already coming back.
Man of Tomorrow reunites David Corenswet’s Superman with Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor for another major DC Universe story written and directed by Gunn.
The developing story has Superman and Lex forced into an uneasy alliance when an even larger threat arrives.
Lars Eidinger has joined the cast as Brainiac, immediately giving Superman one of the most significant villains from his comic history to confront.
Rachel Brosnahan returns as Lois Lane, while the film also continues expanding the interconnected DCU around Metropolis.
Gunn has repeatedly emphasized that this isn’t simply being approached as a traditional numbered Superman 2.
Whatever terminology DC uses, however, audiences are getting more Corenswet Superman.
That’s enough to make Man of Tomorrow one of 2027’s biggest superhero releases.
7. A Quiet Place Part III
Release Date: July 30, 2027
The Abbott family’s story is finally continuing.
John Krasinski returns to write and direct A Quiet Place Part III, which brings Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe and Cillian Murphy back to the post-apocalyptic world established by the first two films.
A Quiet Place: Day One successfully expanded the franchise by showing the invasion from another perspective, but Part III returns to the characters whose survival started everything.
The second film left Regan discovering that high-frequency sound could be broadcast as a weapon against the creatures.
That changes the equation considerably.
The question is no longer simply whether humanity can survive.
It’s whether humanity can finally begin fighting back.
6. The Bluey Movie
Release Date: August 6, 2027
Parents may already be emotionally preparing themselves.
Bluey has become one of the rare children’s shows capable of entertaining young viewers while quietly devastating the adults sitting beside them.
The feature film brings the Heelers to theaters with creator Joe Brumm writing and directing.
Melanie Zanetti and David McCormack return as Chilli and Bandit, with Bluey and Bingo naturally at the center of the adventure.
Moving from seven-minute episodes to a feature-length story is a considerable structural challenge, but the series has already demonstrated through longer specials that it can handle bigger emotional arcs.
If the movie captures what makes the show special, theaters are going to be filled with children having a wonderful time while their parents pretend they have something in their eyes.
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2
Release Date: August 13, 2027
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem finally remembered something surprisingly important about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
They’re teenagers.
The animated reboot leaned into adolescent awkwardness, sibling chemistry and a deliberately rough visual style that made the Turtles feel fresh again.
The sequel now has the opportunity to deliver on one of the first movie’s biggest teases.
Shredder.
After spending the first film largely outside the Turtles’ traditional villain hierarchy, introducing their most famous enemy should raise the stakes considerably without losing the youthful personality that distinguished Mutant Mayhem.
There have been countless TMNT reinventions.
This is one of the versions we actually want to see continue.
4. The Simpsons Movie Sequel
Release Date: September 3, 2027
Homer is coming back for seconds.
Two decades after Springfield was trapped underneath a giant dome, the Simpsons are heading back to theaters.
The sequel to 2007’s The Simpsons Movie arrives at an unusual moment for the franchise.
The television series has been running for nearly four decades, meaning the writers have already produced hundreds upon hundreds of stories involving Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie.
That makes finding an idea large enough to justify another theatrical movie the real challenge.
Plot details are still being kept under wraps, which only makes the project more interesting.
Twenty years is a long time to wait for another Spider-Pig.
3. Frozen III
Release Date: November 24, 2027
Anna and Elsa aren’t finished.
Disney’s Frozen III arrives eight years after Frozen II, bringing Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad back to Arendelle.
Disney has already revealed that the third movie is part of a larger story substantial enough to continue into Frozen IV, meaning audiences shouldn’t necessarily expect every mystery to be wrapped up before the credits roll.
The franchise remains one of the most valuable properties Disney Animation has created this century.
The first film became a cultural phenomenon. The second made more than $1.4 billion worldwide.
Now the challenge is finding another reason to return beyond simply producing another version of “Let It Go.”
With years of development behind it and a fourth installment already planned, Disney clearly believes it has found one.
2. The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum
Release Date: December 17, 2027
Middle-earth is going back to one of its strangest inhabitants.
Andy Serkis directs and stars in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, returning to the character whose performance helped revolutionize motion capture more than two decades ago.
Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are once again creatively involved, giving the movie a direct connection to the filmmaking team behind the original Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The story draws from material surrounding the search for Gollum during the years leading toward The Fellowship of the Ring.
That means the movie occupies a familiar period without simply remaking one of Tolkien’s novels.
The biggest question is how much of the original cast can logically return and how the filmmakers handle characters who existed during this period of Middle-earth’s history.
After years of different attempts to expand Tolkien’s world, seeing Jackson, Walsh, Boyens and Serkis collaborating again is enough to make this one of 2027’s most intriguing franchise returns.
1. Avengers: Secret Wars
Release Date: December 17, 2027
Everything Marvel has been building since Avengers: Endgame is supposed to lead here.
Avengers: Secret Wars arrives one year after Avengers: Doomsday and serves as the culmination of Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga.
Anthony and Joe Russo return to direct, with Stephen McFeely writing and Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor von Doom positioned at the center of the larger Avengers story.
Exactly what survives Doomsday remains the biggest unknown.
Marvel has spent years establishing alternate universes, incursions, legacy heroes, the Fantastic Four and returning versions of characters from outside the original MCU continuity.
Secret Wars is where all of that theoretically stops being setup and becomes the story.
The comic title carries enormous expectations of its own.
Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 Secret Wars famously destroyed Marvel’s multiverse and rebuilt reality around Battleworld under the rule of Doctor Doom. Marvel Studios doesn’t need to adapt that storyline exactly, but Doom’s presence makes the connection impossible to ignore.
The potential roster is staggering.
Avengers.
Fantastic Four.
X-Men.
Legacy Marvel characters.
Heroes from alternate realities.
And whatever remains after Doomsday tears everything apart.
Endgame became one of the defining theatrical events of its generation.
Secret Wars now has the nearly impossible job of convincing audiences Marvel can create that feeling again.
That’s exactly why it’s our most anticipated movie of 2027.
2027 Has Some Incredible Box Office Battles
Several dates already stand out on the calendar.
January 15 currently puts Children of Blood and Bone directly against The Beekeeper 2, giving audiences fantasy spectacle and Jason Statham violence on the same weekend.
June is especially crowded.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 arrives June 11, Beyond the Spider-Verse follows June 18 and Shrek 5 lands June 30.
Then December gets completely absurd.
As currently scheduled, Avengers: Secret Wars and The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum both open December 17.
That’s Marvel’s biggest event movie and the return of one of cinema’s most successful fantasy franchises competing on the exact same weekend.
Neither studio may ultimately blink.
If they don’t, movie fans are going to have a very busy Friday.
Video Game Movies Aren’t Going Anywhere
2027 also reinforces just how dramatically Hollywood’s relationship with video games has changed.
There was a time when a video game movie was practically expected to be bad.
Now Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is part of a billion-dollar franchise, while Nintendo and Sony are treating The Legend of Zelda as one of their biggest theatrical releases.
The success of movies based on Mario, Sonic and Minecraft has changed the conversation.
Studios aren’t simply licensing recognizable game titles anymore.
They’re building long-term cinematic franchises around them.
If Zelda works, the number of major gaming properties heading toward Hollywood is only going to increase.
Horror Has Some Major Franchise Returns
Horror may not dominate the 2027 calendar in the same way superheroes and animation do, but the genre has some enormous opportunities.
Mike Flanagan tackling The Exorcist is probably the most creatively interesting.
Rather than continuing a poorly received storyline out of obligation, Universal and Blumhouse effectively handed one of horror’s most famous properties to a filmmaker with a completely different vision.
A Quiet Place Part III is similarly significant because it returns to the Abbott family and John Krasinski after Day One demonstrated that the franchise could expand beyond them.
There are additional horror projects dated throughout the year, including another Paranormal Activity and Universal’s next Mummy film.
Those could easily become additions to this list as more footage and details arrive.
One Major 2027 Movie Is No Longer A 2027 Movie
If you remember seeing The Batman: Part II on older 2027 movie lists, you’re not imagining things.
Matt Reeves’ sequel starring Robert Pattinson had previously occupied a 2027 release date.
Warner Bros. has since moved the movie to February 18, 2028.
That’s exactly why yearly preview articles need to be treated as living guides rather than permanent calendars.
Movies move.
Productions change.
Studios reshuffle weekends.
And 2027 is far enough away that this list will almost certainly look a little different by the time January arrives.
2027 Could Be One Of The Biggest Movie Years In A Long Time
The most encouraging thing about the current lineup isn’t simply the number of recognizable franchises.
It’s the variety within them.
Marvel is attempting its biggest multiverse story.
DC is moving Superman forward instead of immediately rebooting again.
Greta Gerwig is tackling C.S. Lewis.
Mike Flanagan gets The Exorcist.
Michael B. Jordan is directing himself in The Thomas Crown Affair.
Andy Serkis is returning to Gollum.
Nintendo is betting on live-action Zelda.
And Sony finally intends to tell us what happened to Miles Morales.
Not everything will work.
Some movies will inevitably move to 2028. A few supposed blockbusters will disappoint. Something currently sitting much lower on everyone’s radar will probably become one of the year’s best movies.
That’s what makes looking this far ahead fun.
2027 isn’t here yet.
But our watchlist is already getting crowded.
