Tickets for 70mm IMAX screenings of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey went on sale in July 2025, a full year before the film opens, and many shows sold out almost immediately. That tells you how 2026 moviegoing works: big releases are planned months ahead, and the movies that are out this week change every Friday. Below you’ll find the 2026 theatrical slate by month, where the late-2025 holiday hits stand now, and the quickest way to check what’s actually on a screen near you tonight.
Key Takeaways
- New wide releases land almost every Friday. The big summer 2026 dates are Toy Story 5 (June 19), The Odyssey (July 17) and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31).
- December 18, 2026 is the date to circle. Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three open the same day.
- Late-2025 holdovers moved fast. Avatar: Fire and Ash, Zootopia 2 and Marty Supreme led the holiday season. Most big releases now reach digital rental within one to three months.
- For tonight’s showtimes, use a theater app or Fandango. Release calendars, this one included, can’t tell you what your local multiplex booked this week.
- Brooklyn has strong alternatives to the chains. Nitehawk, BAM Rose Cinemas and Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Brooklyn mix new releases with repertory and special events.
How to Check What’s Playing This Week
A release calendar tells you when a movie opens. It can’t tell you whether your local theater still has it, how many shows a day it gets, or whether it’s been pushed to the tiny auditorium at the back. Studios set the opening date. Theaters decide everything after that, based on how the film sold in its first weekend.
For a live answer, go to the source. The AMC, Regal and Cinemark apps show current showtimes by location. Fandango and Atom Tickets pull listings from most chains into one search. If you use the AMC app, look for the “Now Playing” and “Coming Soon” tabs. Turn on location access in your browser or phone so it sorts theaters by distance.
Independent theaters usually skip the aggregators, so check their own sites. In New York that covers Film Forum, Metrograph, IFC Center and Nitehawk, which tend to program their best stuff with little notice.
Subscription programs change the math if you go often. AMC Stubs A-List, Regal Unlimited and the Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass all charge a monthly fee for multiple films. Each service handles premium formats and surcharges differently, so read the terms before signing up. Prices vary by market and change often.
Limited vs. wide release
When a movie is listed as “in theaters,” that can mean 4,000 screens or four. A wide release opens nationally on day one. A limited release starts in New York and Los Angeles, then expands over a few weeks if it earns good word of mouth.
Awards-season films and A24 titles often go limited. New Yorkers get these first, usually at the Angelika, the AMC Lincoln Square or the Paris Theater on West 58th Street. If you live elsewhere and a film you want “came out” two weeks ago without reaching you, this is why.
The 2025 Holiday Holdovers
The 2025 holiday season was one of the strongest in years. Its biggest titles carried into early 2026, and some are still on screens in smaller runs. Here’s where they stand and how they move from theaters to home viewing.
Avatar: Fire and Ash (December 19, 2025)
James Cameron’s third Pandora film opened December 19, 2025 from 20th Century Studios. It runs over three hours and introduces the Ash People, a volcanic Na’vi clan led by Oona Chaplin’s Varang. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña and Sigourney Weaver return.
If you can still catch it in 3D or a premium format, do. Cameron builds these films for the biggest screen you can find, and they lose a lot on a laptop. Avatar: The Way of Water reached Disney+ about six months after release, which suggests a similar timeline for this one. Our Avatar: Fire and Ash explainer covers the cast and story setup.
Zootopia 2 (November 26, 2025)
Disney opened Zootopia 2 over Thanksgiving 2025. It became one of the biggest animated releases ever, with especially huge numbers in China. Jared Bush and Byron Howard returned to direct. Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman are back as Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, and Ke Huy Quan voices Gary, a pit viper with a mystery attached.
For families, it’s the safest holdover pick. Like most Disney animation, it lands on Disney+ a few months after its theatrical run. Our Zootopia 2 coverage traces how the sequel grew out of the 2016 original.
Marty Supreme (December 25, 2025)
Josh Safdie’s first solo feature since The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008) opened on Christmas Day through A24. Timothée Chalamet plays Marty Mauser, a 1950s New York table tennis hustler loosely inspired by real-life champion Marty Reisman. Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary and Tyler, the Creator co-star.
New Yorkers have extra reason to see it. The film was shot around the city, and Safdie’s eye for old Manhattan streets is the same one he and his brother Benny brought to Good Time and Uncut Gems. The pacing is frantic and the lead performance is grimy. You’ll know within ten minutes if it’s for you. Our Marty Supreme piece covers the cast and the real history behind it.
Other holiday titles worth tracking
- Wicked: For Good (November 21, 2025). Jon M. Chu’s second half of the musical. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande return. Universal releases tend to reach premium digital rental quickly.
- Hamnet (November 2025, limited, then expanded). Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. It’s the kind of film that holds on in art houses well into awards season.
- Anaconda (December 25, 2025). Jack Black and Paul Rudd in a meta-comedy remake of the 1997 creature feature. Pure popcorn.
- Song Sung Blue (December 25, 2025). Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as a real-life Neil Diamond tribute act. A crowd-pleaser that skews older.
- The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (December 19, 2025). The holiday counterprogramming pick for younger kids.
Winter 2026: January to February
January used to be where studios dumped their leftovers. That’s no longer true. The first months of 2026 brought a sequel to one of the best horror films of 2025, a Sam Raimi survival thriller and a much-argued-over literary adaptation.
| Film | Release date | Studio | Who it’s for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple | January 16 | Sony | Horror fans, Danny Boyle diehards |
| Send Help | January 30 | 20th Century | Raimi fans, dark-comedy crowds |
| Wuthering Heights | February 13 | Warner Bros. | Date night, Brontë readers who like a fight |
| GOAT | February 13 | Sony Pictures Animation | Kids and sports-movie families |
| Scream 7 | February 27 | Paramount | Slasher loyalists |
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple comes from Nia DaCosta, directing from Alex Garland’s script. It picks up right after Boyle’s 2025 film, with Ralph Fiennes returning as Dr. Kelson. DaCosta’s Candyman showed she can do gore and social commentary at once. This is the most interesting horror sequel of the winter.
Send Help puts Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien on a desert island as a mistreated employee and her terrible boss. It’s Sam Raimi’s first feature since Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and the trailer suggests he’s back in his Drag Me to Hell mode.
Wuthering Heights is Emerald Fennell’s take on Emily Brontë, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. Expect people to argue about it for months. After Saltburn, Fennell isn’t going to make a polite period piece.
Scream 7 brings back Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, with Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original 1996 film, directing. The franchise has been creatively uneven, but having Williamson back is a real reason to show up.
Spring 2026: March to May
Spring is where the 2026 calendar gets crowded. Studios now treat March and April like an early summer. This stretch has a Pixar original, a Ryan Gosling space epic and two of the biggest nostalgia properties around.
March
The Bride! (March 6) is Maggie Gyllenhaal’s second film as director, after The Lost Daughter. Jessie Buckley plays the Bride and Christian Bale plays Frankenstein’s monster in a story set in 1930s Chicago. It’s weird, ambitious and the most interesting studio swing of the month.
Hoppers (March 6) is Pixar’s next original. Scientists let a girl “hop” her mind into a robotic beaver to communicate with animals. Originals are where Pixar takes its chances, and the studio needs a fresh hit.
Project Hail Mary (March 20) adapts Andy Weir’s novel, with Ryan Gosling as a science teacher who wakes up alone on a spaceship. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller direct. If you liked The Martian, this is the obvious pick of the spring.
April
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opens in early April from Universal and Illumination. The first film earned more than $1.3 billion worldwide in 2023. Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy and Jack Black return. Expect every kids’ matinee in the borough to sell out.
Michael (April 24) is Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic, starring Jaafar Jackson, the singer’s nephew. It’s been delayed and reportedly reworked, which makes it the spring’s biggest question mark. Music biopics make serious money anyway. Bohemian Rhapsody earned over $900 million, so Lionsgate’s bet makes sense.
May
The Devil Wears Prada 2 (May 1) reunites Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt with director David Frankel. It’s the best Mother’s Day group outing on the calendar.
Mortal Kombat II arrives in mid-May after moving off its original October 2025 date. Karl Urban joins as Johnny Cage.
The Mandalorian & Grogu (May 22) is the first Star Wars film in theaters since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. Jon Favreau directs and Pedro Pascal returns. Lucasfilm is betting the TV audience will pay for a ticket.
Somewhere in the late spring, watch for A24’s Backrooms, from 20-year-old YouTube creator Kane Parsons, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. It’s the first theatrical test of whether internet-native horror can sell tickets. Our Backrooms horror guide explains the creepypasta behind it.
Summer 2026: June to August
Summer 2026 is the heaviest stretch for event movies in years. Plan your premium-format tickets early. The Odyssey presales showed that waiting until opening week can leave you with front-row seats in a standard auditorium.
June
- Masters of the Universe (June 5). Amazon MGM’s live-action He-Man, directed by Travis Knight (Bumblebee). Nicholas Galitzine plays Prince Adam.
- Scary Movie (June 12). The Wayans brothers return to the spoof franchise they started in 2000. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back. Fans have called it Scary Movie 6 for years, and our explainer covers how it finally got made.
- Toy Story 5 (June 19). Woody and Buzz versus tablets and screen time. Pixar’s biggest summer release, and the kids’ movie of the season.
- Supergirl (June 26). Milly Alcock stars in DC Studios’ follow-up to James Gunn’s Superman, directed by Craig Gillespie.
July
Minions 3 opens around July 1 for the Fourth of July weekend. Illumination’s July releases are about as close to guaranteed hits as anything in Hollywood.
Moana (July 10) is Disney’s live-action remake, with Dwayne Johnson back as Maui and Catherine Laga’aia as Moana. The animated original came out in 2016. A remake ten years later is either efficient or cynical, depending on your view.
The Odyssey (July 17) is the movie of the summer. Nolan adapts Homer with Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron. Universal says it’s the first feature shot entirely on IMAX film cameras. If you’re in New York, the AMC Lincoln Square IMAX is the screen to aim for. It ran Oppenheimer in 70mm and drew moviegoers from across the tri-state area.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31) brings Tom Holland back as Peter Parker, now forgotten by everyone he loves after No Way Home. Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi) directs. Zendaya returns, and Sadie Sink joins in an undisclosed role. Our Spider-Man: Brand New Day guide tracks the cast and plot details as they’re confirmed.
August
August usually brings horror and mid-budget counterprogramming after the July blockbusters. It’s often the best month to catch the July films again in premium formats, once the opening crowds have moved on.
Fall and Christmas 2026
The back half of the year belongs to two December releases, but the run-up has a few dates worth knowing.
Street Fighter (October 16) is Legendary’s new live-action take on the Capcom fighter, directed by Kitao Sakurai. The cast includes Andrew Koji, Noah Centineo, Jason Momoa and Cody Rhodes. The 1994 Jean-Claude Van Damme version is a camp classic, which sets a low bar.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (November 20, 2026) adapts Suzanne Collins’ 2025 novel about a young Haymitch Abernathy. Francis Lawrence directs again. It’s set during the 50th Hunger Games.
Then comes December 18, 2026. Avengers: Doomsday, from Joe and Anthony Russo with Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, opens the same day as Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three. Expect that matchup to dominate box office talk all fall. Both will fight for IMAX screens heading into Christmas. If you care about format, book the moment presales open.
Picks by Mood
Not everyone wants to scroll a 40-title calendar. Here’s how to narrow it down.
For kids and families
Zootopia 2 is the best holdover. Looking ahead, the safe bets are Hoppers, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Toy Story 5 and Minions 3. If your kids are older and want something with more of an edge, Supergirl and Spider-Man: Brand New Day are your summer plans.
For horror fans
The year opens strong with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and Scream 7. Backrooms is the wild card. If you want something truly upsetting rather than a fun jump scare, our ranking of the most disturbing horror films is a better fit than any multiplex slasher.
For adults who want something with heart
Hamnet, Song Sung Blue and Project Hail Mary each have a big emotional payoff without going syrupy. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is the comfort-watch of the spring.
For the cinephile
The Bride!, Wuthering Heights and Marty Supreme are the 2025 and 2026 titles people will still be arguing about at the bar after the show. Pair them with whatever Film Forum or Metrograph is running that week.
Event Cinema: Concerts, Sing-Alongs and Anime
Some of the biggest box office surprises of the past few years weren’t traditional movies at all. Theaters now book concert films, live viewings and fan events, and these can take over a weekend.
The clearest recent example is KPop Demon Hunters. The Sony Pictures Animation film debuted on Netflix in June 2025. Netflix then ran a sing-along theatrical version on August 23 and 24, 2025, and it topped the domestic box office that weekend. A streaming movie beating the theatrical releases on their own turf was a first. The film still streams on Netflix. Our KPop Demon Hunters explainer covers why it hit so hard.
K-pop live viewings have a longer track record. HYBE has brought BTS to cinemas before, through Permission to Dance on Stage – Seoul: Live Viewing in 2022 and the concert film BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas in 2023. With BTS back in 2026 behind the new album Arirang and a world tour, keep an eye on your theater’s event listings. Ticketing for these events usually runs through the chains and Fathom Entertainment and often opens with little notice.
Anime has grown into a theatrical force of its own. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle opened in September 2025 to the biggest domestic debut ever for an anime film. Crunchyroll and Sony now treat major anime releases like any other wide opening.
Where to See Movies in Brooklyn and NYC
Big chains have the most screens and the premium formats. Neighborhood theaters often have the better night out.
- Nitehawk Cinema (Williamsburg and Prospect Park). Dinner and drinks served to your seat, new releases alongside midnight screenings and themed brunch series. The Prospect Park location sits in the restored Pavilion building on Prospect Park West.
- BAM Rose Cinemas (Fort Greene). First-run indie and international releases, plus some of the best repertory programming in the borough.
- Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Brooklyn (City Point). Wide releases with Alamo’s strict no-talking, no-texting rule, plus quote-alongs and themed events.
- Film Forum, Metrograph and IFC Center (Manhattan). Where limited releases open first and classics come back on 35mm. Go here if you want to see a restoration with an audience.
- AMC Lincoln Square (Upper West Side). The best IMAX in the city for anything Nolan, Villeneuve or Cameron.
A note on repertory: classic Christmas movies like It’s a Wonderful Life and Die Hard come back to local screens every December. They pack the house reliably, and they’re often a better holiday night out than whatever is opening that weekend.
When Theater Movies Hit Streaming
Once a movie leaves the theater, the question becomes how long until you can watch it at home. There’s no single rule. Each studio negotiates its own windows, and the pandemic shortened them for good.
Here’s the general pattern for 2025 and 2026:
- Premium digital rental (PVOD). Many wide releases reach Apple TV, Prime Video and Fandango at Home for rental or purchase within 17 to 45 days. Universal’s agreement with AMC lets it go to PVOD after 17 days for smaller openers and 31 days for bigger ones.
- Subscription streaming. Studio-owned services follow. Disney titles go to Disney+, Universal titles to Peacock, Paramount titles to Paramount+, and Warner Bros. titles to HBO Max. This step usually takes two to six months.
- Blockbuster exceptions. Bigger films often stay exclusive to theaters longer because they’re still earning money there. Don’t expect The Odyssey or Avengers: Doomsday on your couch a few weeks after opening.
Netflix is a special case. Its films usually get a brief qualifying run, often at the Paris Theater in Manhattan, before going to the service. Greta Gerwig’s Narnia film, which Netflix plans to open in IMAX before streaming, will test how much theatrical life a Netflix title can have.
FAQ
What movies are out in theaters right now?
It depends on the week. New wide releases open nearly every Friday, and smaller films expand on their own schedules. Your local AMC, Regal or Cinemark app, or Fandango, shows exactly what’s playing near you today. The month-by-month slate above tells you what has opened and what’s coming soon.
What’s the biggest movie of summer 2026?
On paper, it’s Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey on July 17, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day on July 31 close behind. Toy Story 5 (June 19) and Minions 3 (July 1) will likely be the biggest family draws. IMAX 70mm Odyssey presales sold out a year in advance, which tells you how much demand there is.
Is Avatar: Fire and Ash still in theaters?
It opened December 19, 2025, and ran through the holidays and into early 2026. By now most theaters have moved it to fewer showtimes or dropped it. Check your local listings. Going by The Way of Water, expect a Disney+ release roughly six months after its theatrical debut.
When do new movies come out each week?
Most wide releases open Friday, with preview screenings Thursday evening. Holiday releases sometimes break the pattern. Christmas Day openings like Marty Supreme and Anaconda, and Wednesday openings before Thanksgiving like Zootopia 2, are the common exceptions.
How long do movies stay in theaters?
A typical wide release plays for four to eight weeks. Hits run longer and flops can lose most screens by week three. Limited releases can play for months in art houses if word of mouth holds up. Brooklyn’s BAM and Nitehawk often keep strong indies longer than the multiplexes.
Where can I watch KPop Demon Hunters?
It streams on Netflix, where it debuted in June 2025. Netflix also ran a sing-along theatrical version in August 2025, and it topped the weekend box office. Netflix might bring it back to theaters again, so watch event listings at your local theater.
