You know how sometimes whenever a new movie comes out and the studio decides to NOT lift the review embargo until the exact day the movie comes out? That’s usually a sign that the studio has ZERO faith in the film they just poured millions of dollars into and hope they could swipe it underneath the rug from any kind of negative publicity in the hopes of making any sort or profit of said film before it hits digital and streaming. There might always be an exception (*cough* Oppenheimer) but whenever a studio usually does that, NINE times out of ten, they know they got a dud on their hands.
Project Hail Mary has been the exact opposite of that. Amazon has given the film PLENTY of attention and early press releases before it hit theaters everywhere this weekend. Only this time, it’s not just for film critics but for film audiences as well! There has not been one but TWO special screenings that has come from AmazonMGM, a studio which absolutely needs a hit after several underwhelming films (Mercy, Crime 101, and that one documentary that shall not be named) to start off 2026. Regardless if this is an act of faith or desperation, you can’t say anyone involved is afraid to show everyone what they got with this latest motion picture.
However, giving a film too much exposure can easily backfire. It can generate overhype and set the film with completely unrealistic expectations of it’s quality harder than any film that wins Best Picture at the Oscars ever could! Or there can be times where all that hype and buzz is absolutely worth it and the film just ends up being a perfectly executed version of the film that it inspires to be that there’s not much to complain about. And I can said with good pride that the film I’m just about to talk aboutis exactly the latter of what I’m talking about.
Project Hail Mary is an incredibly well made, extremely well acted, and very well paced sci-fi thriller that works (I imagine) not just as a faithful adaption of the critically acclaimed book from Andy Weir (The Martian) but it also stands strongly as it’s own cinematic experience and a thematically moving think tank surrounding art and science . There is not a single second that is boring or uninteresting, Ryan Gosling is pitch perfect in the lead role as Grace and has great chemistry with his so-called co-star (which I’m not going to spoil in case no one is aware of that character yet), it has a perfectly controlled tone that knows when to be funny, serious, and moving when it’s absolutely required, and even if you can see the inspiration from your favorite sci-fi flick from the 2010s (Gravity, Interstellar, The Martian, Arrival, Mr. Gosling’s own First Man! Take your pick!), it is able to have it’s own unique identity while telling a distinct story about the importance of loyalty, friendship, unity, and sacrifice. While it’s certainly not the most flawless film I’ve ever seen and I’m sure there will be nits to be picked from fans of the book, I can’t imagine Project Hail Mary being a better version of itself than what Mr. Lord and Mr. Miller was able to deliver here.
Premise: Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory slowly returns, he soon discovers he must solve the riddle behind a mysterious substance that’s causing the sun to die out. As details of the mission unravel, he calls on his scientific training and sheer ingenuity — but he may not have to do it alone.
I will say straight off the bat that I have NOT read the book that this film is based on. I’m well aware that Andy Weir’s 2021 spiritually successor to The Martian is one of the more beloved books in recent worry, being a New York Times’ best-seller for 28 weeks in a row. However, I purposedly choose to hold off on reading the book BEFORE seeing the movie in order to not spoil the cinematic experience for myself! Even so, while I’m sure there were some changes had to have been made and plot elements that had to be reworked or cut out in order for it to qualify as a feature film, I really get the feeling that is indeed a very worthy adaption of it’s source material.
The main reason I believe that is because it’s clear how much pure confidence is on display from the cast and crew with the making of this film. You really get the sense that it’s trying to capture a special lightning in a bottle that you don’t get from films these days. They are trying to offer you an experience that you possibly couldn’t get from any other film besides this one, even including the other recent sci-fi flicks that it’s clearly inspired by. It’s trying to engage you in ways that you probably never expected, especially when you discover what the main driving force of the film is suppose to be. And it’s even trying to tell a tale about finding that spark of hope within yourself when it seems like no else can. Even if Grace himself is doubtful that he can complete his mission, the cast and crew have more than enough trust in themselves with Project Hail Mary.
As much as comparisons are going to be made with The Martian (and rightfully so…..in good ways), the main protagonist Ryland Grace is NOT Mark Watney! He’s not someone who has had major experience with space travel or being an astronaut. He’s just a simple teacher who is sent on a mission that can determine the fate of humanity and earth because he simply has nothing left to lose. Project Hail Mary isn’t strictly a story about a man working his way back home, it’s a story about a man working his way so that billions of other earthly live forms (and a very special friend) might have a chance of going back or staying home for the foreseeable future. Even if it’s not a full on direct sequel of The Martian, screenwriter Drew Goddard is able to properly expand the themes of Andy Weir’s work involving sci-fi and space operas once again in ways that will certainly put a smile on the author’s face.
Nothing in Project Hail Mary could have worked as well as it does without Ryan Gosling’s masterful performance as Grace! Much like the tone in the film, he is able to expressive himself exactly the way that the script demands for it whenever he is needed. He has great comedic timing, knows when to transition to being serious and emotional, makes every single dramatic and character beat feel earned, and makes for a overall engaging screen presence that is able to hide any sort of jarring shortcoming that the film might have. And yes, he does have absolutely perfect chemistry with that one special character that I will not mention because it’s a spoiler free review. But, all I will say is this…..Baby Yoda has some SERIOUS competition!
The other MVPs of the film goes to co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. This film makes for the duels’ first directorial feature credit since 2014’s 22 Jump Street. While it’s certainly crazy that it’s been 12 years since these guys have fully directed a film (It’s a shame that Solo: A Star Wars Story didn’t work out but the Spider-Verse films were co-written and produced by the duo, NOT directed!), they make their cinematic return feel worth it. Just like they did with films like The Lego Movie and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, they are able to take this odd and far-reach concept of a man trying to achieve the literal impossible while including it’s own unique brain in it’s head. They know how to get their universally relatable themes about the need for connection and working together in a time of crisis while not being afraid to be funny and moving along the way.
In terms of other technical and productive achievements, Project Hail Mary is the complete package. While there’s not a direct sequence that is as aspiring as the very best scenes from Gravity or Interstellar, this is a very beautiful looking motion picture, making the extra bucks for IMAX actually feel worth it. Any shot in space is a treat for the eyes and the transition from IMAX ratio to normal ratio is surprisingly never jarring. The cinematography by Greig Fraser is on-point, the score by Daniel Pemberton is able to be as equally mesmerizing as it is moving with some truly inspiring song choices, and even though this is a story which the events are told out of nowhere, the superb job from editor Joel Negron has every scene flow together very well and makes this daring narrative choice from Mr. Lord and Miller feel completely justified.
It may seems like I’m scratching underneath the surface with this review but that’s because there’s so much AURA here that I don’t want to spoil it for anyone that is curious to see Project Hail Mary this weekend. Not necessarily because there’s any game changing spoilers to be found (outside of the obvious elephant in the room) but because I want your experience to be as fresh and surprising as it was for me.
Project Hail Mary is sci-fi, adaptions, and cinema as it’s absolute best! It’s able to find the best of every possible world that it can and is able to stand strong on any merit that you chose to measure it with. I can nitpick about there being one or two many “funny” scenes and the way the film continuously teases what ending pathway it will chose to take by the end of Act Two and leading into Act Three is a tad jarring but when a film is this well put together, entertaining, and filled with so much optimism despite taking place in a literal dying Earth, how can you let ANY kind of flaw distract you from everything else?!
This will likely go down as one of the best films of the year, an early frontrunner for Best Picture at Next Year’s Academy Awards, and proof that cinema in Hollywood can evolve without the need of a Marvel superhero or a remake of an animated film from 30 years ago to carry theaters for the future. It’s become rarer every day to recommend a film that fully justifies the $15 to $20 ticket price but Project Hail Mary is exactly that!
You ever seen that meme that says “Never Kill Yourself”? I like to imagine the person that came up with that meme was describing the experience of watching Project Hail Mary!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna pre-order the novel now!
There’s a line in Hoppers that is quite the eye roller. You might’ve already seen it in the trailers but it’s when the two doctors, Sam and Nisha, explain to Mabel, the main protagonist, what the actual concept of Hoppers is suppose to be. And it’s during that moment where Mabel says how the concept of a human using sci-fi tech to transferring themselves into a nocturnal animal in the hopes of forming a relationship within the inhabits of a forest and preventing a demise of that said forest from the government is just like the movie, Avatar! It’s in that moment where you think you know which movie you are getting with Hoppers because the film directly tells you it! And for the first half of Pixar’s latest original, that is basically the movie you get.
Yes, we get to see the main protagonist’s hivemind be transported into that of a realistic beaver robot. Yes, we get to see to see the main protagonist interacted with other beavers and animals among an enchanted forest, which she realizes they are all just as human as her. And yes, we get to see a town’s government try to destroy that forest in favor of their own personal wants and needs for that forest. While that is all competently done in an entertaining enough way, it’s when the second half comes around and pulls the rug from underneath you (everyone will know EXACTLY the moment that I am talking about) that Hoppers fully forms into it’s own unique identity. And that identity makes it the best Avatar movie since well…...Avatar. And even then, it might just be better than that!
Hoppers is a showcase of what happens with Pixar allows themselves to let loose and forge their own path to creativity. The film has it’s own distinct animation style that compliments the storytelling without it being too overbearing or “in your face”, the characters are all likeable with their own relatable goals that anyone can get behind, it’s easily among the funniest Pixar movie in years, and despite prior reports of Disney’s efforts to downplay the themes of environmentalism, it’s able to get that exact message across in as much of a profound way as Pixar was able to in 2008 with Wall-E. It may take it’s time in getting to that exact point in the ways that it was intend but the pay-off by the latter half makes it all the more worth it.
Premise: When scientists discover a way to transform human consciousness into robotic animals, Mabel (Piper Curda) uses the new technology to uncover mysteries of the animal world that are beyond anything she could have ever imagined.
Hoppers is an animated feature with a lot on it’s mind, not so much interested in pushing itself in one certain directions but multiple, imaginative directions. Director Daniel Chong is able to explore the wonders of it’s premise, trying to create a world with logical problems that ben solved with the most logical answers imaginable. We see that perfectly through the main protagonist Mabel, a college girl who is fighting for animal and environmental rights, who wants to make a positive change in her hometown. However, as the film constantly states over and over again, it’s not as easy as it seems because the world itself isn’t one for solving logical problems with logical answers.
As much as Hoppers makes it’s case of being a story about optimism and unity, it’s not naive. It’s able to have that right brain in it’s head throughout the actions made by the characters without needing to contradicts itself to get it’s point across (Alyas, Raya and the Last Dragon!) A good example of this is with the character of King George (Bobby Moynihan), the leader of the beaver monarch. King George is someone that believes that everyone is a good person deep down, something which Mabel clearly disagrees with because of her past experiences with people. As much as she wants to be on King George’s side, she can’t because she know deep down that the ideal world that King George has in his head doesn’t exist. There’s a difference between an idealist and being a realist (something which a certain silver hedgehog from another certain franchise led by furry animal can attest to).
However, just because everyone can’t be a good person doesn’t mean you can at least change who they are if you work hard to do just that. Mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm) may seem like a one-sided greedy mayor on the service but allow him to see a different perspective on the way things function and how it affects others and it might just lead him down a much better path than he expected. It’s further proof on how Hoppers isn’t just a story about how everyone should be kind and good-hearted when they are not but some might just be able to when they are given the perspective of someone from the “other side”, or in this case….a beaver.
This is basically what makes Hoppers a distinct animated parallel to that of Avatar, and in many ways is a better film than any of the three hugely successfully but ridiculously expensive sci-fi opera adventures. While James Cameron was able to use the premise of a human being leaping into the body of another species to tell a story of a man going against the grain of his own kind in favor of helping out an indigenous tribe, Hoppers uses that exact same premise to tell a more complicated and layer story about an interloper who wants to make a positive impact on a community and have it lead to the best of both worlds for both her kind and the endangered animals she is trying to save.
When it comes to the other aspects as well, Hoppers is still quite rock solid. While the animation style won’t be to everyone’s taste (especially if the “civil” reaction to the animation style of Turning Red had anything to go by), it has enough novelty in it’s own cartoony style that benefits the way it tells it story in ways that are both funny and effective. The voice cast is quite strong, with Piper Curda and Jon Hamm being the main standouts as the main protagonist and antagonist respectively, with other worthy work done by the likes of Bobby Moynihan, Dave Franco, and Merryl Steep respectively. And despite having plenty of moments of levity, emotion, and even some shock value (again you will know EXACTLY the one turning point scene I’m talking about, it’s able to have a perfectly controlled tone that never contradicts one scene or the other. Oh, and it’s ALWAYS nice to hear SZA’s voice when doing music.
I won’t said that Hoppers is an instant Pixar masterpiece on par with the likes of Up,Inside Out, Coco, or Soul. As I said, the film takes a while to get it’s engine going, playing like the standard “human turns into animal” premise the trailers depicted it as along with one or two cringeworthy lines about how aware and “meta” it is of the kind of premise it is taking inspiration off. It’s once things are put into place and the film starts throwing more twists and personal dilemmas into it’s conflicts that the film become more than meets the eyes. It’s a film you have to be patient wait but I assure you, your patience will be awarded by the halfway point.
After last year’s Elio, it seemed like Pixar was no longer able to make original and thought-provoking animated films with a distinct message of it’s own without it getting gutted like a fish by the higher-ups of Mickey Mouse. However, Hoppers, seems to prove otherwise. It’s prove that Pixar is still allowed to make original films that are smart, wacky, funny, complex, and enough relatable and charm that it might just become a hit among mainstream audiences. While it might fall just short of a classic, Hoppers is prove that perhaps we can make a difference! Enough said!
Scream 7 is the first installment in this franchise that attempts to answer questions that it never really intended to when production first started. After Spyglass fired Melissa Barrera over “personal matters” and allowed Jenna Ortega and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon to walk, this seven entry now finds itself addressing social commentary about what happens when a franchise royally s**ts the bed so hard that it has no choice but to bring back the legacy characters that everyone loves and lean balls deep into nostalgia. Unlike with most franchises that has to use that template because of past screw-ups in front of the camera, this film has to use that template because of past screw-ups BEHIND the camera! And oh man, are the results EMBRASSINGLY on screen!
Scream 7 plays like an apology letter to the franchise for excluding Sidney Prescott from the last movie and an outright hostile takeover (And I’m NOT just talking about the one which Paramount had just accomplished) of the previous two movies. Imagine if they made a fourth Creed movie that brought back Sylvester Stallone but left out Michael B Jordan and spend the entire runtime saying sorry for leaving Rocky out last time. This film is all about how great Sidney Prescott is, how the original movies with her are the best of the best, and how the previous two films felt more like Stab movies than Scream movies and…..basically nothing else.
The whole film has a choppy feel to it throughout it’s entire runtime, none of the returning characters or callbacks feel earned, the new characters that are introduced don’t make much of an impression, it brings up current topics that it has no business in exploring or commentating on, and it never fully justifies why Sidney Prescott is back at the forefront that makes the whole behind the scenes drama with Melissa Barrera feel worth it. While Neve Campbell is still as great as ever (and has aged like a FINE wine) and there a couple of solid kills scattered throughout, Scream 7 is the first installment in this beloved horror franchise that never seems like it has a stab point to make.
Premise: When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the town where Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter becomes the next target
As stated previously, the most tone deaf element of Scream 7 has to do with the handling of Sidney Prescott and why she’s the main focus once again. It plays in the exact same fashion as every other modern series when they feel the need to go into full course correction mode after previously divisive and/or poorly received installments (Anyone that is able to write a review for Scream 7 that does NOT mention The Rise of Skywalker gets an achievement unlocked!) sank its reputation and feels the need to address it.
The problem here is that Scream (2022) and Scream VI were NOT divisive and/or poorly received installments. Both installments got solid reviews and fan reception while making just as much money as you could make for this franchise. It was able to successfully pass the series baton to a new generation of Scream queens and actually bothering to blaze a path forward for this long-running horror franchise. It’s only because of studio politics that forced this film to have a massive half a million dollar rewrite and needing to pay Neve Campbell her due to come back. It’s not course correction because the previous two films that put the spotlight on Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega were rejected by the fandom or mainstream audiences, it’s course correction due to pure incompetence from Spyglass.
Thankfully, Neve Campbell still has it as Sidney Prescott. She has never given a half assed performance in any one of these movies and is still fully committed here. She is given an actual mother-daughter dynamic to play with this time around, an aspect that Scream (2022) absolutely hand-waved, with Isabel May (A.K.A. Tim McGraw’s daughter in 1883 and 1923) as Sid’s daughter, Tatum (Try not to think too much about the Scream timeline to avoid a brain malfunction). It’s during these moments where the film become the closest to have an actual beating heart to it and gets the best performances out of these two.
Unfortunately, the film can never escape the stormy raincloud that has been raining above it since the departure of Melissa Barrera. The absence of the Carpenter sisters is never addressed and you could almost swear you can swap these characters with two other ones in the movie and nothing much change. You can just put Sam in the same role as Tatum and Tara in the same role as Mckenna Grace’s character or Michelle Randolph’s (A.K.A. Billy Bob Thornton’s daughter in Landman) character in the opening sequence and you basically get the exact same movie. I don’t mean to harp on the studio politics surrounding Scream 7 too much but it just goes to show you how much Paramount and Skydance shot themselves in the foot here.
While the newer characters and returning cast members from the last two films do have plenty of young talent that seems like they are having fun, they all remain rather disposable cannon fodder. Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are giving less to do here than the last two movies with the latter not even given the chance to deliver her deliciously ham-fisted speech that’s suppose to go into detail what modern day tropes this latest Scream installment is suppose to be mocking. Mckenna Grace and Celeste O’Connor seem to be only here because they have become more popular actresses among Gen Z that you just had to thrown in here. Joel McHale plays the straight forward police officer well but doesn’t have any chemistry with Neve Campbell as her distinct husband. It’s really saying something when the new cast members that give off the best impression are the ones that show up in the opening scene just to get killed by Ghostface.
In terms of returning characters from the original Scream movies, they might be even more underwhelming. While it’s always great to see Courtney Cox’s Gale and ESPECIALLY Matthew Lillard’s Stu, their presence somehow manages to feel even more like an afterthought than the legacy characters in Scream (2022). It particularly uses Stu to address a major global crisis we are all dealing with right now and…..then proceeds to do literally NOTHING else with it. Not only is there no shock value to Stu’s return because the film proceeds to explain right out of the gate why Stu is suddenly back with NO unique twist to it, the methods to his presence makes even less sense with the way the film explains it. I know tech is pretty good in our own world but there no way it’s THAT good as it is in Scream 7.
And in case you are wondering about the Ghostface actors, they are all hands down the worst killer reveals in the entire franchise. While it might leave you with a big “Oh!” in an interesting way at first glance, it falls completely apart the moment you even start to think about their motives and how little sense they actually made. It’s about the most random people you can imagine and have the most tacked-on connections to Sid imaginable, given the indication that this franchises has run out of ideas on how to shock people with who Ghostface is. When even the killer in last year’s I Know What You Did Last Summer have a more justifiable motive, you know something went completely wrong here.
Kevin Williamson makes his return to the Scream franchise after writing the first two Scream movies and Scream 4 while getting a chance for his seat in the director’s chair. Even if the whole film has a feeling that the whole thing was cobbled together at the last second (which I can’t imagine why), he is able to stage the stabbing and killing as best as he could. There’s a handful of real and effective stabbing scenes spread throughout, with the main standout being the opening sequence and the final stand by Sid herself. I’m not even gonna pretend they make even the most logical sense as to why each Ghostface scene is happening but to give the film credit where it’s due, it’s sequences of blood, gore, and kills do work whenever they need to.
Scream 7 is the first movie in the franchise that feels like it belongs more in the world of Stab than it does Scream. For all the faults of Scream 3 or the last two installments, they still did feel like proper Scream entries that was able to get the points they were trying to get across worth it. Scream 7 doesn’t even attempt to be as fun or intriguing as the weakest of Scream movies. Aside from trying to carry favor to Neve Campbell and those that rejected Scream (2022) and Scream VI because they actually dared to push the series forward, I can’t recommend this movie to anyone unless you are a Scream fanatic.
In my review for Scream VI back in 2023, I said that the next movie needed to up it’s game on the spoofs and meta commentary in order for the series to continue moving strong or else the fatigue will set in. While I’m sure the opening box office numbers will say otherwise, Scream 7 confirmed my worst fears in spectacular fashion. It’s a combination of corrupted studio politics and producers and what happens when a franchise is too in love with it’s past that it can’t bother to push forward for the future. As much as I’m a fan of this franchise, it’s probably time to put it to rest.
Remember when Sam Raimi kinda sorta tackled the spiritual prequel to The Wizard of Oz? You don’t! Well, that might just be for the better! The decision to try to tackle the lore of Oz using the story template of Army of Darkness is a neat idea on paper but very iffy in execution. From the obvious green screen effects to the bizarre casting choices (James Franco as Oz?! Really?!) to the baffling treatment of the witches themselves, Oz: The Great and Powerful offers Sam Raimi as his safest and weakest! This feels like the only film on this list where it felt like literally ANYONE other than Sam Raimi could have directed it. There’s some entertaining bits scattered throughout and is certainly watchable but you are better off just watching the original Wizard of Oz or the Wicked films if you want your cinematic fix in the Land of Oz!
15.) Crimewave
Following his first notable success with The Evil Dead, Raimi decided to take matters into his own hands with his follow-up Crimewave, a slapstick comedy about an innocent man accused of numerous murders. Unfortunately, the studio had other plans. Bruce Campbell wasn’t aloud to be casted as the lead role, Raimi’s personal composer and editor was replaced entirely, and you can really tell the inexperience that young Raimi had when it came to production and being able to make a film with a studio breathing down his neck. The good news is that several elements from this film would make way to later productions from Raimi down the road, leading directly to Evil Dead II. There’s a handful of moments that capture Raimi’s visionary lightning in a bottle but not enough to hide the compromised mess that Crimewave is.
14.) For Love of the Game
Here’s the one time that Raimi tried to make his own sports movie! He even went as far as to cast baseball movie star veteran Kevin Costner and even got the late great broadcaster Vin Sully (RIP!) to come in the booth! The end results however are just okay! The baseball scenes themselves work well enough and there’s enough of a beating heart to keep him from being in any way detestable. However, the sluggish pacing, by-the-numbers storytelling, and a shockingly bloated runtime (This is two hours and 18 minutes long!), keep For Love of the Game from being an all-time sports classic. Still, for those that are fond of baseball movies and your typical baseball movie cliches, this should do you just fine.
13.) The Gift
With what was his last indie project before promoting himself to blockbuster territory with Spider-Man (2002), Raimi made a supernatural thriller about a fortune teller getting roped in a small-town murder investigation (Doesn’t that ring a small bell from earlier?). This contains a stacked cast with Cate Blanchett, Katie Holmes, Hilary Swank, Michael Jeter, future Spider-Man stars J.K. Simmons and Rosemary Harris, and Keanu Reeves, in EASILY his most unlikeable role to date (And I mean that in the best way!) The main issue has to do with the main protagonist being overly stupid, making for the worst psychic and detective you can possibly imagine. Even if that’s part of the joke here (which it isn’t), it doesn’t make the experience that much better. The Gift has an intriguing premise that never feels like it lives up to it’s 100% potential!
12.) The Quick and the Dead
Raimi decided to dip his toe into the western genre and the results are mostly pretty good. Aided by the proper cast with Sharon Stone, Gene Hackma, Russell Crowe Leo DiCaprio, and many others, pretty sharp direction that manages to feel properly Raimi, and the characters manages to all be quite intriguing and entertaining in their own right. It does suffer from an overlong middle stretch and the film’s entire build up is strictly on a quick draw tournament, which results in a crap ton of build up to not a ton of payoff. The Quick and the Dead still makes for a fun time and is worth checking out if you are a sucker for a solid western.
11.) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Arguably the most divisive MCU installment since Iron Man 3, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a film that uses it’s set pieces and effective imagery to flirt with and mock the kind of fandom that cares more about filmmakers making their bizarre fan theories coming true instead of making a genuine work of art. It doesn’t quite reach it’s ambitions with the characterization being paper thin, a script that doesn’t seem to care about what happened during WandaVision, and not taking as much advantage of the actual multiverse as much as say the Spider-Verse films do but Sam Raimi’s unique horror-like style is on full display here. The set pieces that work here are some of the best in the entire MCU, Benedict Cumberbatch feels completely at home as Stephen Strange (even if he has absolutely zero chemistry with Rachael McAdams), and Elizabeth Olsen is an absolute force to be reckoned with as the Scarlet Witch, making even the most out-of-character moments for Wanda feel completely in character. As much as one can complain about the issues with the script and the leaps of logic presented here, one can’t deny that the moments where Sam Raimi is allowed to go full Sam Raimi is what saves Multiverse of Madness from being in the absolute bottom of the barrel of the MCU!
10.) Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3 has more flaws than it does characters and subplots but it has more heart to it than most people are willing to admit. As everyone and their mother has pointed out about this movie, there’s just too much going on it. It feels the need to cram in every single idea it can think off that it has to defy logic, have previous events being retcon, and letting it’s characters do uncharacteristic things to make it all happen. However, most of the thing that worked well with the first two movies such as the wonderful action, breakneck pacing, great music and heard hitting emotional beats work very well. Not to mention, the themes surrounding forgiveness and finding the humanity in others is a wonderful message for a Spider-Man movie and helps make the whole trilogy come full circle. When watching Spider-Man 3 back-to-back with the first two movies, it does make for a rather satisfying experience. I’m not gonna act like this isn’t the weakest of the trilogy but it’s no where near the abomination that people claimed it was back in 2007.
Also, Bully Maguire FTW!
9.) The Evil Dead
The film that put Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell on the map as the forces of nature in Hollywood, The Evil Dead is the beginning of something truly special for the horror genre! Inventing his own camera tricks and cost-cutting filmmaking techniques, Raimi is able to create something truly unique on his first go-around despite all odds in financial shortcomings against. The gore effects are impressive, the flashy camerawork works like wonders, and Bruce Campell’s Ash Williams is an instant horror icon. However, there are still plenty of imperfections throughout when it comes to controlling the tone, balancing the gore and humor, and Campbell going through some growing pains as a leading man. The Evil Dead offers plenty of promise for a future beloved filmmaker and star but the best had yet to come for Raimi, Campbell, and the horror genre in general.
8.) Send Help
Can we point out how much of a miracle that a film like Send Help exists? In an age of sequels, reboots, remakes, and legacy-quels conquering the film landscape and sucking up the remaining creative energy that Hollywood might still have, films like these are becoming more diamonds in the rough in the film industry. Thankfully, someone at 20th Century Fox or Disney was wise enough to give a blank check to the godfather of horror and superhero movies in Sam Raimi, his first original horror film since 2009’s Drag Me To Hell! Send Help is yet another worthy addition to Raimi’s Hall of Fame of Horror! It’s able to capitalize on it’s simple yet effective premise thanks to it’s two charismatic leads, it’s incredibly visionary direction, unapologetically excessive gore, and a script that will keep audiences on their toes the whole way through. Even if it can be rough around the edges that it knocks it down to the middle-of-the-pack of Raimi’s filmography rather than up there with the likes of Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness, it’s still an absolute blast of a motion picture that is definitely worth seeing on the big screen.
7.) Drag Me To Hell
After spending nearly a full decade with Spider-Man, Raimi returned to the horror genre with 2009’s Drag Me To Hell! This is an old school scare fest about a bank clerk who has grand ambitions but gets cursed and terrorized by it in the form of demons. When it comes to horror and straight up NASTINESS, this is Raimi at his most brutal. There is nothing more delightful here than see characters constantly being torture for the benefit of the audience’s pleasure. We also see what is easily the most HAUNTING imagery in Raimi’s filmography, the kind of imagery that lived rent free in my head when I saw the commercials for this film when I was a kid and is still on my mind now. Not everyone will be fond with what Drag Me To Hell offers but if you have an appetite for unhinged horror, this will deliver you a complete meal.
6.) A Simple Plan
This is Raimi favorite for many people and for good reason. A Simple Plan makes for Raimi’s most dramatic work to date, feeling like a spiritual prequel to The Gift. Much like the latter film, this is a tale of betrayal, murder, and folks that are prone to awful mistakes in judging others. This makes for a very effect tale about the cruel nature of greed, aided by a terrific cats of Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton, and Brent Briscoe, very well made production values, the ending is an all-timer, and has conflicts that feel among the most human in a Raimi film that does not involve a certain web swinger. However, this feels Raimi at his most restraint, stepping back from his usual style and camp to make room for a more somber and serious tone. It certainly works well enough but this almost feels like a Sam Raimi film specifically made for those that don’t like Sam Raimi. Even so, A Simple Plan is hard to criticize too much because everything that works ends up working spectacularly well that I can’t recommend it enough.
5.) Darkman
Before doing Spider-Man, Raimi’s very first comic book property he translated into film was no other than Darkman. Even all these year later, it still holds up as a gloriously camp dark superhero film, proving that Sam knew how to tackle superhero material 12 years before tackling the web swinger. This makes for a pretty tragic origin story of a man who had everything in his life but then lost it completely, leaving him nothing but complete vengeance! Liam Neeson is great as the title character, Larry Drake makes for a very memorable antagonist, and the score once again proves that Raimi + Elfman is a match made in heaven! It does have some clunky aspects surrounding the romance and some pretty poor blue screen work but this is still very impressive stuff! If you are a big fan of Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and haven’t check out Darkman yet, I highly recommend it!
4.) Evil Dead 2
Part sequel, part remake, all-time banger! Evil Dead II does want every great horror sequel does, it takes everything you loved about the original and makes them even better. This manages to be better, bloodier, and funnier than the original while also delivering plenty of new scares, gore, and physical comedy of it’s own. Raimi and Bruce Campbell feel completely at home in their roles, the direction is perfectly on point, the set design and make-ups affects could not be anymore perfect, and the frustratingly imperfected parts of the original are nearly gone here with a full budget to help Raimi execute the exact vision he has in his crazy little mind. There are still some dated parts here and there but Evil Dead II‘s influence on the horror genre can not be overlooked. However, there is still at least one more pure horror flick that I feel is absolute 100% unhinged Sam Raimi!
3.) Spider-Man (2002)
The one movie that kick started the modern era of comic book movies and was also the one movie that got me along with plenty of kids of my generation into Spider-Man. This was the first ever superhero movie I’ve ever watch and one of the first movies that I remember having incredibly fond memories of as a child. Even if I’m unable to take off the bluntly obvious nostalgia goggles (I never can!), Spider-Man (2002) is still an amazing film in it’s own right. The origin of Peter Parker turning into Spider-Man is perfectly told, Tobey Maguire is as every bit as likable and iconic as the title character as you can imagine, and Sam Raimi’s unique version of this world is felt perfectly through every single frame. And that’s not even talking about the insanely memorable supporting cast (J.K. Simmons is everything!), extremely quotable lines, phenomenal score, fist bumping action, and the light hearted tone that makes this movie super enjoyable to watch all of these years later. While I’m sure there are those that like to poke fun at the outdated elements of the movie such as the special effects, cheeseball dialogue, and the Power Ranger-looking Green Goblin, they all still feel right at home with what Raimi brings into his style of Spider-Man. Regardless if you feel like this movie has stood the test of time or not, you can’t deny that if it weren’t the success of this movie, there’s a good chance that this subgenre of movies as we know it today would be no where near big as it has been for the past two decades.
2.) Army of Darkness
That’s right! I have Army of Darkness this high on the list and above the first two Evil Dead films! This is the one where Raimi just swing for the fences and shatters them to pieces! From the unapologetically over-the-top tone to the many standout moments of blood and gore, to the perfection of visual storytelling to the masterfully controlled tone from epic scares to goofy comedy to Bruce Campbell never being better as a crazy chainsaw wielding badass, this is horror Sam Raimi at his absolute best! There’s no low budget that limited the first one or the sluggish recap of the second one, Army of Darkness goes all in from minute one and NEVER holds up, taking you on a wild ride the whole way through! While I’m sure some folks out there won’t agree, this is Sam Raimi horror at it’s absolute finest and makes for one of my favorite horror films of all time!
1.) Spider-Man 2
If you want an example of how to do the perfect superhero sequel, look no further than Spider-Man 2! This is the sequel that was able to take everything we love about the original, expand upon it, and trim any sort of fat that could possibly ruin the experience. This is a movie that perfectly dives into the inner turmoil of being a superhero and the life superheroes have outside of that. Just like with the best Spider-Man movies, it’s all about struggles to balance two different life styles at the exact same time. And how even though being Spider-Man can suck sometimes, it’s something that Peter has to do because it’s just who he is and what his responsibility consists of. Throw in some truly fantastic action, with the main stand out being the spectacular train sequence, arguably the best fight in any superhero movie, a tremendous villain in Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, character arcs that come full circle, and one of the most satisfying endings in any movie, you get an absolute cinematic masterpiece that is Spider-Man 2! If you are someone that loves Spider-Man, superhero movies and especially Sam Raimi, I have no idea how you couldn’t at least like this movie. When it comes to every film that Sam Raimi has made, there has yet to be a movie that comes even remotely close to topping Spider-Man 2!
Well, welcome back to reviewing to me! That’s right! After a year long hiatus, I am back baby! To celebrate, let’s review a new movie that absolutely NO ONE is talking about!
We Bury The Dead is a new zombie survival horror flick that is written and directed by Zak Hilditch and stars the INCREDIBLY lovable Daisy Ridley! Here we follow a woman named Ava (Daisy Ridley) as she goes on a journey to find her missing husband while being forced to confront grief, loss, and the undead that keeps haunting her throughout! She meets a couple of folks along the way who help guide her but soon Ava discovers that the more she tries to discover the truth about her husband’s disappearance and the land of zombies, the more heartbreaking the truth might actually be.
Admittedly, there’s not a ton that can be said about We Bury The Dead other than what you would expect to be based on the cover and premise of the film. It offers a fresh take on the zombie subgenre, that unlocks a very unique vision from the perspective of Hilditich of the land of the undead, while being able to dive into the kind of themes mentioned before in ways that wasn’t done in from similar films such as World War Z, The Walking Dead, and The Last of Us. It certainly does take it’s sweet ass time to get from Point A to Point B and does occasionally slip into those plot conveniences and coincidences that tend to be a staple for these kind of flicks but for the most part, We Bury The Dead is solid and engaging enough that it won’t have you thinking too much about them before the credits roll.
Daisy Ridley is the main driving force of the film and manage to keeps that same engaging presence she always gives no matter what film she is in. She contains great chemistry with the limited cast she is able to interact in, particularly Brenton Thwaites. So much so that most of the film’s momentum comes to a screech halt every time Thwaites is NOT onscreen and only regains that momentum again once another zombie gets thrown into the mix.
However, for a film that is clearly prioritizing atmosphere over action, it does it job about as remarkably as it can. The cinematography is breathtaking, the tone is as grim as the way the zombies look, the visuals is able to assist in the film’s telling of a story about seeking closure in the wake of absolute tragedy, and the haunting score by Clark is able to give off more of that tension, cluster phobic vibe than all the Resident Evil films combined (Don’t let me down this time, Zach Cregger!). While you still get your occasional zombie kill beat here and there, it’s the film’s overall approach to it’s atmosphere and scary vibes that are the main driving force here.
It’s definitely not a perfect movie by any means but the flaws aren’t enough to squander this picture. Like I said, this is a rather slow moving motion picture, which is a warning to those that are going into this purely for the zombie kills and blood gore fest. And the way it resolves certain plotlines, while makes perfect sense thematically, might make one feel empty emotionally and as part of the whole picture. Then again, I feel like if ANY of us become a part of a zombie apolaypse, we would have very little to actually be happy about afterwards.
Regardless, We Bury The Dead is a damn good time for what it’s going for. It’s an engaging another horror flick that checks all the boxes you want out of these post-apocalyptic films while also finding enough of a new voice of it’s own that makes it go well with the shelf of other recent zombie horror flicks. It’ll likely not be on your mind too much just days after you watch it, but hey as a way of kick starting of what will likely be ANOTHER chaotic year, it does it’s job perfectly well.
Other comments:
Sorry if this is a rather short review but I figured I needed to flex my muscles a bit because it’s been over a year since I last done a full review for this blog! I do expect to go more in depth with future reviews but also, I wouldn’t mind doing mini-reviews for films once I become incredibly busy in my personal life.
Also, have a very happy new year! Whatever your New Years resolutions are, I really hope you stick with them because they are important!
Another year of entertainment has come and gone so it’s time to look back at some of the very best that it had to offer in terms of films. It’s been a wild and chaotic year and 2026 is looking to be even more wild and chaotic! That’s why it’s now time to share my picks for the top ten best films of 2026 (that I actually saw)!
I did not see EVERY film I wanted to see by the end of the year. These include films that have gotten rave reviews from critics and audiences such as Bugonia, Drop, Good Boy, and The Long Walk. I’ll see them whenever I can but I couldn’t see them on time for this list. Perhaps in the future, I’ll make an updated list of the best films of 2025 and I might include them once I see them. But for now, just know that I couldn’t see every critically darling to come out in 2024.
Before we get started with the list, I decided to bring back something I entirely skipped out on last year but decided to bring it back this year. That being a special mention AND an unqualifiable mention!
The special mention refers to a specific film that I couldn’t find room to put into my best-of lists but I do think it’s at least worth a shoutout. Whether it’s from a personal bias or a film that has been overlooked/undiscovered, this category is reserved specifically for those kind of films.
The unqualifiable mention refers to a specific film that could be destined to be an all-time classic or even a game changer for the genre or medium it’s a part of but it’s quality is strongly dependent on how it will stand the test of time in either the current moment of the franchise it’s a part of or the current moment of pop culture or even just events in general.
Special Mention:
There was a brand new 2D animated Looney Tunes adventure that came out this year and nobody went to see it. The Day The Earth Blew Up felt like being transported back in time, a time to where you would see fresh and exciting 2D animated adventures on the big screen with no reservations whatsoever! This is a loving throwback to the early Looney Tunes animation, it moves at a brisk pace with physical comedy left and right, and it felt nice that films like this are still able to sneak their way into theaters and make for a very enjoyable theatrical experience. If you have been someone that has been STARVING for brand new 2D animated flicks, make sure to check out The Day The Earth Blew Up!
Unqualifiable Mention:
I don’t think there has been a film that captures this exact moment we are living it in terms of current events and encapsulates how absolutely f**ked up the 2020s has been to our insanity! I’m not the biggest Paul Thomas Anderson fan but he absolutely brought his A-game here! It’s about as perfectly shot, acted, and directed as a film can get! The main thing on my mind about One Battle After Another is how will history look back upon this picture as the political landscape changes in the next several years, ESPECIALLY in a post-Donald Trump world! Will history look back on it as Democrats making a point about how illegal immigration should be treated with much proper care and that I.C.E. was NEVER the answer to it?! Will history look back on it as Republicans being in the right and shows how insane the left has gotten since 2016?! And the biggest one of them all: will film studios allows more films like this to be made as not just political landscapes changes but also more and more studios start to emerge with one another, with billionaire corporations taken over and jeopardizing the entire idea around creative filmmaking? Regardless, One Battle After Another has developed quite the reputation since it’s release and will continue to do so as the years go boy. As we enter to what many are considered the “post-woke” era of America, I imagine this film could be seen as Hollywood’s one last bold statement about these uncertain and troubling times we are living in!
Now here are a handful of films that just BARELY missed this list
The Naked Gun (2025)
Ne Zha 2
Demon Slayer: Infinite Castle
The Housemaid
Now onto the main top ten!
10.) Companion
Remember when these kind of films where mocked and ridiculed because the idea of men wanting to have sex with robots was considered too unrealistic?! (*laughs* 2013’s Her *laughs*) In all seriousness (or at least as serious as I can make it be), this about as tight (and scarily realistic) exploration of humanity engaging with A.I. in more ways than one! It’s certainly pulpy but it knows that and is proudly so. The entire cast is great (with Sophie Thatcher being PURE robot mother), the direction is sublime, and it’s able to have a good sense of humor that doesn’t take you out of the experience! Although this might become a film that will get harder to watch for me as these sexbots could possibly become more common (Finger crossed it doesn’t!), Companion does make for one very engaging sci-fi thriller that should not be missed!
9.) Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig return once again to deliver a mystery thriller that’s not only just an excuse to show off an expansive cast that Mr. Johnson was able to get during their free time but also has delicious commentary on religion and Christianity. It’s a good showcase as to how one’s religious faith can be corrupted if they refuse to see through any other lenses and how Christian nationalism can turn people away if they go too far in injecting their beliefs onto others. As someone that grew up as a Christian, that message and it’s overall examination of my religion really hit home with me. Throw in perhaps the most compelling mystery in any one of these films to date with an intriguing setting and a cast that always looks like they are having fun in these movies, Wake Up Dead Man shows that the mystery/thriller genre is really where Rian Johnson hits home at. Even though this is the third Knives Out adventure to date, I can see this working to those that either loved or hated the previous two films.
8.) Superman (2025)
James Gunn arrived to save the day with his own take on the man of tomorrow while also aiming to give DC a second leash on live with a rebooted cinematic universe. Superman (2025) presents us with a Clark Kent we can all get behind and root for, acting as the perfect counter-culture hero who values kindness in a world that no longer calls for that. And after over a decade of Superman portrayals that have ranged from him being moody and depressed to being flat out evil, it’s more than refreshing to see Superman here being someone that represents hope, optimism, and has absolutely NO agenda other than wanting to be a good person that saves people. The cast is all near perfect (the main trio of David Corneswet’s Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane & Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor could not have played off each other better), the tone feels right at home with classic Superman, the spectacle is cool, and it even has those traditional superhero elements from earlier superhero films such as Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man that I have missed in these kinds of movies for so long. I don’t know how the future of Mr. Gunn’s DC Universe will hold after the inevitable WB merger with either Netflix or Paramount but I’m still glad we are able to still get superhero flicks that reminds us all why we love superheroes!
7.) F1
Coming off the highs of the box office juggernaut that was 2022’s Top Gun Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski follows that up with yet another incredibly well made and genuine crowd pleaser that was just made to be seen on the big screen! Brad Pitt proves he still has a bit of star power in him as he enters his 60s and Damson Idris is a young movie star just waiting to burst out onto the scenes (Marvel Studios better have him casted as King T’Challa whenever the timing is right!) The incredible racing sequences and off-the-chart sound designs made the experience worth the extra few dollars for IMAX, there’s a solid pace and momentum throughout despite the 150+ minute long runtime, the character drama works, the themes surrounding tough love, mentorship, teamwork, and redemption are all executed to near perfection, and even the standard cliches you would expect for these kind of racing movies have their special place here. While I’m not entirely sure this is an experience that will be as satisfying to watch at home as opposed to the big screen, F1 are the kind of old-school summer blockbusters films that we need more of now than possibly ever before!
6.) Weapons
After delivering an instant horror classic with 2022’s Barbarian, Zach Cregger is able to deliver a masterful follow-up in Weapons that is better in just about every way! This is like if you take Prisoners, Pulp Fiction, Insidious, Barbarian, and Evil Dead, put them all in a blender, and you get this absolute delightful treat as an result! It’s intense, perfectly paced, engaging as hell, will get under your skin in the best way possible, and will have you put together the pieces in very satisfying ways as soon as the credits roll. Plus, it might just have probably the most satisfying payoff of a climax that I have seen in a movie in 2025! Between this and one other possible mention on this list, it’s nice to know that not only excellent original horror films are still getting made but they are able to be solid crowd pleasers that even the mainstream audience can get behind! I can only hope that this is a sign to come that Hollywood is willing to take more chances with not just horror movies but original films in general.
5.) K-Pop: Demon Hunters
I never would’ve guessed that an animated film made by Sony would end up having the biggest impact among pop culture of all film released in 2025 but nevertheless, the animated Netflix exclusive, K-Pop Demon Hunters is worth all the hype and then some! I don’t think we have seen an animated musical being this hyped up and celebrated since Frozen! We follow a group of young female K-Pop superstars as they must juggle their work/personal life balance of being beloved rockstars while also during their part-time duty with slaying demons. Once they clash with a boy band, who happen to be rockstars but also demons at the same time, the girls are put to the test with trying to accomplish the best versions of themselves as singers and demon slayers. The animation is breathtaking, the characters are endearing, it moves at such a fast clip that it’s hard to not be entertained by anything happening, and the songs will be living rent free in your area for quite some time. K-Pop Demon Hunters represents a miracle for original animation, proving that there might indeed be some creative spark left for original animated properites!
4.) Warfare
Based on the real-life experiences of Ray Mendoza during his service in the Iraq war as a U.S. Navy SEAL, Warfare act as an re-enactment of an encounter he and his platoon experienced on November 19, 2006, in the wake of the Battle of Ramadi. Warfare is a war film that has no goal other than showcasing the life-changing events that shattered the life and mental stability of a group of hard fighting soldiers that were sent to a war that they had ZERO business being part of (Thanks, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney (R.I.P. Bozo!)). There’s no traditional Hollywood war tropes, no forms of military or American propaganda, and never tries to waste your time with filler of any kind. It’s 90 minutes of horror, intensity, and filling you in the shoes of being an everyday soldier in the army. The cast shines, every action sequence will have you on the edge of your seat, and it’s so refreshing to see a film where the filmmakers try to be 100% as accurate to the true events it’s based on as possible. If Garland wants to continue making films with real-life and important subject matter, hopefully he takes the rights notes from this film and NOT with say Men (*insert PTSD*) and he might just get even better in the future.
3.) Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein
If you want to talk about a filmmaking match made in heaven, look no further than with Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein! Monster flicks like this are ALWAYS a passion project for Guillermo and man that is absolutely NOT an exception here! It’s beautifully crafted, masterfully directed, perfectly performed by the cast (Oscar Isaac being a main standout as the lead), and it’s able to dig into themes surrounding narcissism, humanity, and identity that are in the novel that the film is based on about as faithfully as it can be. It’s able to take a familiar story but tell it in a new and exciting way that it more than justifies it’s existence. Oh, and big props to Jacob Elordi for making me eat my words and deliver an excellent performance as the Creature! I think everyone knew that Gilluermo Del Toro would always be the perfect fit to helm a modern Frankenstein movie and he’s able to fully deliver on all of those expectations! I only wish I could’ve seen this in theaters!
At least we are supposedly getting a physical media copy for this film! I guess there may still be a God after all!
In a time where Hollywood desperately needs more creative voices than ever, Ryan Coogler comes on in to craft what is perhaps the most original and unique blockbuster in recent memory! Sinners is more than just an expertly well done horror period flick but it’s a genuine glimmer of light of the creatively bankrupted nature in Hollywood. It’s prove that there are still distinct, creative voices in Hollywood and directors that are looking to push boundaries of what filmmaking can be in the year of our lord and savior in 2025! The cast is top tier from top to bottom (especially with Michael B Jordan and Mrs. Josh Allen), it has the right mix of blood, gore, scares, and glorious amounts of sexiness that you don’t get from most films nowadays, the production values are top notch, and nearly every single plot point and thematic arc gets a payoff of some sort by the end. It’s even impressive to have post-credits scenes that don’t just exist to give a tease for the sequel or a cheap gag but to actually expand upon the complete ending of the full complete picture. The fact that this film was able to make more domestically than ANY Marvel Studios film released this year just goes to show that there is indeed a desire for original stories, studios just need to bother putting the effort into it! As the future of the film industry remains dire and uncertain with more studios and corporations taking over and merging with one another, Sinners is a reminder of what modern films can be when you let the titled director cook and take a chance on a new idea! Because of that and more, Sinners is my absolute favorite film of 2025!
We are about to enter 2026 and because of that, I thought it would be fun to make some predictions on how I will think certain movies will do at the box office next year!
As we head into the second half of the 2020s, there is a LOT of uncertainty surrounding movie theaters and the film industry in general. From the emergence of A.I. to yet another massive company merger between Netflix (or Paramount), Hollywood is changing in ways that could dangerously affect filmmaking and entertainment in the immediate future.
However, there have been many analysts that predict that 2026 will be the biggest year at the box office since Covid happened. Because of that, many still believe that there could be a possibility that movie theaters will be seeing a MASSIVE comeback next year, proving to studios that there is still a large audience out there that do love going to movie theaters. While I can certainly understand the optimism, I do think certain people NEED to come back to reality in regards to their box office predictions for next year.
Yes, I do believe that there will be plenty of heavy hitters next year that will find its fair share of box office success but it’s simply not 2019 anymore! A market that consists of six to eight billion dollar grossers is just not sustainable in today’s economy. (And the less said about the inevitable A.I. bubble burst that could affect the already shitty economy in massive ways, the better!) Because of that, I still don’t see the box office in 2026 being on the same level as it was in a pre-covid world and I don’t think we ever will see that ever again!
Keep in mind, I DO hope there are many hits at the box office this year! I DO hope that we get as many billion dollar grossers as possible! I want the theater experience to continue being alive and well! I’ve been going to movie theaters for over the past two decades and I still make very fond memories of the theatrical experience every single year that I go! But since we are now entering the sixth year in a post-covid timeline, I have to be as realistic as possible with my predictions of how the movie will do in theaters for 2026 and for the foreseeable future! And I have to make those predictions based on the box office results that we have gotten for the past four to five years!
I decided I will give my predictions on 20 films that are currently set to be released in 2026! Ten of those movies will be what I believe will be the top 10 highest grossing films of 2026 worldwide! The other ten will be ranked based on release date and will contain films that I think will either surprise people in the best way or absolutely disappoint them in the worst ways at the box office!
And I promise I am NOT making these box office predictions for movies in any personal biased way. I am making the predictions strictly based on how I personally think these movies will do at the box office. So if you get mad at me, I’m sorry but I gotta go with what my gut feeling is on how I think each individual film will do in theaters next year!
Let’s not waste any more time and dive straight into what I believe will be the #1 highest grossing film of 2026!
1.) The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Release Date: April 3rd
Box Office Prediction: $1.7+ Billion
That’s right! I have Mario winning it all in 2026! After the past few years and seeing what has ended up being the most successful films of the decade thus far, I think it might be time we stop UNDERESTIMATING animated family films and video game adaptations while stop OVERESTIMATING superhero flicks. The Super Mario Bros. Movie was able to gross over $1.3+ billion worldwide in 2023 and I expect this sequel to gross even more than that. It’s gotten only more popular on streaming and I imagine young kids are hyped as heck to see the sequel when it comes out!
With the inclusion of fan favorite characters such as Yoshi, Rosalina, and Bowser Jr. to adapting what is widely considered to be two of the best Mario games (if not the best video games) of all time in the Super Mario Galaxy series, I have little doubt that our beloved Italia….I’m sorry BROOKLYN plumbers will be able to make lightning strike twice once again! From what we’ve seen in the trailers, it looks like it will give the audiences what they enjoyed about the first movie and perhaps even more. Some might consider $1.7+ Billion to be a somewhat unrealistic number for a Mario movie sequel but then again, I’m pretty sure the same thing was said for the likes of Inside Out 2 and Zootopia 2, which I strongly believe will follow in similar footsteps.
With how animated family films and video game adaptations have been dominating at the box office in the 2020s just as superhero films dominated the box office in the 2010s, I have very little doubt that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will take the crown as the highest grossing film of 2026! No amount of RDJ and Chris Evans returning to the MCU will be able to stop the inevitable that is Chris Pratt as Star Lor…..I mean Mario and Brie Larson as Captain Marv…….I mean Rosalina!
2.) Avengers: Doomsday
Release Date: December 18th
Box Office Prediction: $1.5+ Billion
Marvel is not the juggernaut it once was! It’s very unlikely they will ever be able to recapture that same consistent lightning in the bottle they were able to from 2012 to 2019! However, films like Deadpool & Wolverine have proven that audiences will still show up to these movies if it includes characters that they are deeply invested in and/or at least STRONGLY familiar with! And with the return of Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Ma…….I mean Doctor Doom, Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and the original X-Men from the Fox Marvel universe, Marvel will certainly be looking to capitalize on the familiarly and nostalgia of their past to make this the gigantic hit it will need to be!
The main question though is how much longer can they lean into that before audiences are sick and tired of it all together?! Will there be enough easter eggs, callbacks, and fan service cameos to overcome it’s messy and rushed development cycle and make back on what certainly will be an INCREDIBLY bloated budget?! Can they end this film in a way that will get audiences excited for Secret Wars in 2027 and whatever comes next for the MCU after that? The Russo Brothers have had a remarkable level of success with Marvel in the past but they might just have their work cut out for them here!
Still, if it does end up somehow sticking the landing on what has been an uneven as hell multiverse saga, I can see Doomsday doing Age of Ultron-level numbers (Remember when THAT was considered a box office disappointment for Marvel?) or right around the numbers of the first Avengers movie. If not, then I can see this being another Rise of Skywalker situation, in just BARELY making it past the billion dollar mark and putting this franchise on hold for several years, forced to several rethink their strategy for the future. While this will still do more than enough to be qualified as one of the highest grossing films of the year, whether or not this will change the “post-Endgame MCU bad” narrative remains to be seen!
3.) Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Release Date: July 31st
Box Office Prediction: $1.2+ Billion
Even in an era where superhero fatigue is at an all-time high, Spider-Man will ALWAYS be a box office draw no matter what! Him and Batman have proven themselves constantly to be perhaps the lone superhero IPs that can still draw box office hits in the most uncertain times of the genre based on their names alone, at least if the success of No Way Home ($1.9+ billion), The Batman ($772+ million), and Across the Spider-Verse ($690+ million) is anything to go by.
And NO, this will NOT be a No Way Home box office juggernaut but that should be expected considering this will (likely) not have the nostalgia of the good old days with William Dafoe and Tobey Maguire attached to it. A more reasonable comparison should be that of Far From Home, which was able to successfully ride the cocktails of Avengers: Endgame with $1.1+ billion. I expect similar numbers to that, if not a bit more.
Between the additions of fan favorite Marvel characters such as The Punisher, Hulk, and whoever the heck Sadie Sink is suppose to be playing along with there being a decent amount of time since the last Spider-Man movie came out to generate hype (No Way Home turns HALF a decade old this year btw!), Brand New Day will act like the golden era of Marvel never left and should very easily be a success for Sony and Marvel.
4.) Michael
Release Date: April 24th
Box Office Prediction: $950+ Million
Now, THIS is one that I can see being a global phenomenon. Michael Jackson is no doubt the most popular musician of all time. With the high trailer numbers and the multiple generations of fans that MJ has gained throughout the course of several decades, there should be no reason to doubt his annual biopic will be a huge theatrical success. Except for one thing: his controversial backstory.
And I’m not just talking about the supposed made-up rumors of his past that have been debunked numerous times! I’m talking more of what’s come out recently with his connections to a certain someone that shall not be named because I don’t want to get banned from this website! Although MJ still has yet to be proven guilty of any particular involvement, I do wonder if more info comes out of of that before the film’s release, could that possibly affect the box office numbers for this movie and the overall reputation of Mr. Jackson?
If not, then I could easily see Michael topping Bohemian Rhapsody as the highest grossing musical biopic of all time, possibly hovering around or even reaching the billion dollar mark. This seems like the kind of film that will get people who don’t go to theaters anymore off their couch, similar to the likes of Top Gun: Maverick and Barbenheimer. Even though this film will be released in April, this will likey be seen as the true kick-off to the summer movie season of 2026!
5.) Toy Story 5
Release Date: June 19th
Box Office Prediction: $900+ Million
Toy Story is back…….again! For the supposed final (?) time……again! Yeah, as much as we all love to complain about Disney and Pixar making nonstop sequels, we all know why they get made! Because they are basically the only thing that makes Mickey Mouse and Woody a butt load of money nowadays! Just look at the box office numbers of Inside Out 2 and Zootopia 2 compared to Wish and Elio! However, I do think it will fall short of the billion dollars that Disney and Pixar expect this to make!
To compare the box office numbers of the last two Toy Story movies, Toy Story 4 made $1.073+ billion about nine years after Toy Story 3, which made around $1.066+ billion. That’s less than a seven million dollar increase between these two films despite being nearly a decade apart! Thrown in the negative scrutiny that has hit Toy Story 4 (At least online!) since its release in 2019 and the overall fatigue of this franchise (Remember the spectacular bomb that was Lightyear?!) and I can see this missing the billion dollar mark this time around!
There will still be plenty of kids and families that will go see this film in drones to make it at least flirt with the billion dollar mark but I do expect Toy Story 5 to take a bit of a nosedive from previous films when it comes to box office numbers! It should still do strong, just not the best!
6.) Minions 3
Release Date: July 1st
Box Office Prediction: $850+ Million
I may not understand the appeal of these films but there’s no denying that this is a very consistent franchise at the box office! Since 2010, Illumination Animation has been able to crack the code on how to make crowd pleasing animated flicks for young kids, forcing their parents to take them to the movie theaters every other summer to see the newest Despicable Me and Minions movie that comes out.
In regards to the installments that have come from this franchise post-covid, Minions: The Rise of Guru was able to make $940+ million in 2022 and Despicable Me 4 made $971+ million in 2024! Due to a much more crowded summer than in 2022 and 2024, having to compete with other family flicks such as Toy Story 5 and Moana (2026), I do expect this one to take a tad decline as well, in a similar way to Jurassic World: Rebirth was with Universal’s other money making franchise. Much like the latest installment last summer in the dino-verse, this will do strong and have more legs compared to other big franchises out there but not nearly enough to break all-time records or shock the world in amazement!
Between Minions 3 and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Illumination Animation will definitely be eating GOOD for 2026! Somewhere, Disney must be sweating!
7.) The Odyssey
Release Date: July 17th
Box Office Projection: $750+ Million
I feel like I need to defend myself here when I really shouldn’t! To be sure, a film like this making at least 750 million dollar signs in this day and age should be seen as a MAJOR accomplishment! There is no other filmmaker working today other than Christopher Nolan that could generate this level of excitement with a project such as The Odyssey! When you have people pre-ordering their tickets for a film that won’t even be out in a year, you know you have a big hit on your hand!
However, I don’t see this being on the same level as Oppenheimer (which made $975+ million) as it won’t have the “Barbenheimer” hype attached to it and will have to compete against much stronger films throughout the summer compared to what Nolan had to compete against in 2023. Not to mention, the potential loss of its IMAX screens after it’s first two weeks due to Spider-Man: Brand New Day could greatly affect repeated viewings for its theatrical release!
This will still certainly be in the top 10 highest grossing films of the year! Christopher Nolan is perhaps the one director working today to where his name attached to a film alone will guarantee box office success (Every film that Nolan has directed since The Dark Knight has been able to achieve this mark, even Tenet during the covid year!). However, the road to doing Oppenheimer level numbers will be much tougher for Mr. Nolan this time around!
8.) Moana (2026)
Release Date: July 10th
Box Office Prediction: $700+ Million
This is the one that I’m probably gonna get the most hate for but I have my reasons to NOT put this among the potential billion dollar grossers of the year! Moana is undoubtedly one of the most popular Disney brands right now, with the original animated film being the most streamed movie ever on Disney Plus and its sequel making a billion dollars just a year ago! What will likely hold this film back other than the crowded family summer movie season is its lack of nostalgia factor!
Live-action remakes like The Lion King (2019) and Lilo & Stitch (2025) were able to be the billion dollar grossers they did BECAUSE of the nostalgia attached to those films, which gave kids enough time to grow up, become nostalgic for the original animated Disney classics, and have raised kids of their own to share the theatrical experience with! Moana (2026) will be coming out at a time where the original animated film won’t even be fully 10 years old yet and just a year and a half after its animated sequel came out! Nostalgia only works when you give the kids enough time to actually grow up and become nostalgic for something.
It will still be a solid success since the Moana brand is still strong and has grown even stronger in recent years but I’m just not sure there will be enough support from kids and families this time around to watch a (likely) inferior live-action version of an original animated film they already love to guarantee a billion dollars!
9.) Jumanji 4
Release Date: December 11th
Box Office Prediction: $650+ Million
Did you know that a new Jumanji movie is coming out next December? You don’t?! Well, there is! After a seven-year absence (that seems to be quite a trend), Sony is bringing back the Jumanji crew once again with a 4th installment that has still yet to be officially titled!
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle was able to gross nearly a billion dollars worldwide back in 2017 at a total finish of $962.5 million! The Next Level took a dip in 2019 but still grossed a strong $800+ million! Considering how much time has passed between the last installment and how much the theatrical landscape has changed since then, I do expect the next installment to make less than the last two. If the budget is in check, it should be considered a modest hit that should satisfy the higher ups at Sony and at least FLIRT with the idea of a fifth one.
The only question is here is whether or not Avengers: Doomsday and (at least at that moment) Dune: Part Three will kill any sort of legs and momentum this film could contain, just like how Barbenheimer was able to successfully bury Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning during the summer of 2023! Time will tell but considering how well-received the last two installments were, this should do just fine!
10.) Dune: Part Three
Release Date: December 18th
Box Office Prediction: $600+ Million
To make some clarifications, this prediction is NOT because I actually think Warner Bros is gonna stick with that December release date alongside Avengers: Doomsday! Despite what it’s been reported, I’m more than confident that the release date will be pushed up to October, switching with one of the other films that WB has planned for the fall, probably with either Tom Cruise’s Digger or M. Night Shyamalan’s Remain. Mr. Villeneuve likely wants to move on from this film ASAP so he can focus on the James Bond film he is currently attached to that’s set for release in 2028. And also NO, this is NOT based on the Netflix and Warner Bros merger because a.) I don’t even think the merger will be 100% complete by then and b.) WB still has films contracted to be in theater screens through 2029, which Netflix MUST respect if they want to avoid lawsuits. This prediction alone is based on the book which this third chapter is based on, Dune Messiah.
Not to give too many spoilers but Messiah was a rather divisive story that has been constantly debated among fans since the book was published back in 1969. It follows up the story of Paul Atreides in rather unexpected and subversive ways, which many people deemed to be very unsatisfying and unfulfilling to his story. And following the negative reactions to a film like Joker Folie A Deux, a whole “pull the rug from underneath” approach to storytelling can be quite alienating to common moviegoers!
I still do trust Denis Villeneuve to find some way to make the conclusion to Paul’s story satisfying in ways that will leave most audiences satisfied! But at its worst, I wouldn’t be surprised for Dune: Part Three to fall short of its predecessor similarly to how Wicked: For Good did (which is currently set to make at least 200 million dollars LESS than it’s predecessor). I guess there can be a price to pay for sticking too closely to the source material! Just ask Edgar Wright!
And now here are predictions for ten other films that are currently set to be released in 2026! This is not in order of box office success but by the current release dates.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Release Date: January 16th
Box Office Prediction- $100+ Million
28 Years Later was able to gross $150+ million during the summer last year but its divisive reception could sink this one a bit down. If The Bone Temple is able to finish what its predecessor started in a satisfying way, it might push a bit higher. If not, then I expect quite a decrease from it, possibly putting a potential third movie in peril.
Scream 7
Release Date: February 27th
Box Office Prediction-$150+ Million
It’s nice to see Neve Campbell return after her brief hiatus in Scream VI along with all the members of the cast from the original Scream but Paramount’s firing of Melissa Barrera and the absence of Jenna Ortega has put quite a rain cloud above this installment. It should still do fine as I imagine most mainstream audiences are unaware of the behind the scenes drama here. However, the controversy surrounding Scream 7 among the fanbase will likely cause it to make less than the previous film.
Hoppers
Release Date: March 6th
Box Office Prediction-$300+ Million
I’m a LITTLE higher on this one than most people. The fact this latest Pixar film will involve a talking furry animal of some sort will attract international markets this time around (Just ask Zootopia 2!), unlike their latest flop in Elio. Plus, it will have the benefit of acting as the sole theatrically released animated kids film until Mario comes out the next month. That being said, original animated films are a TOUGH sell nowadays. Between Hoppers, Disney’s Hexed, DreamWorks’s Forgotten Island, and Sony’s Goat, western animation studios will have to work hard to get their latest original animated films to be a success.
Project Hail Mary
Release Date: March 27th
Box Office Prediction-$575+ Million
I’m surprised more people aren’t talking about this being a modest box office hit! The Martian was able to gross $630+ million in 2015 and I can see this doing similar numbers to that. It’s got a likable lead in Ryan Gosling, an extremely talented directing duo in Phil Lord & Chris Miller (Their first film they’ve received full director credit for since 2014’s 22 Jump Street!) and is based off a very popular book from the same author as The Martian. If the cast and crew are able to work their magic, I can see Project Hail Mary fighting for a spot in the top 10 highest grossing films both domestically AND worldwide! Word of mouth will have to carry this one but if it does, this should be easily Amazon MGM’s most successful film at the box office to date!
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Release Date: May 1st
Box Office Prediction- $475+ Million
Here’s another box office hit that I think will be a delightful surprise. The original Devil Wears Prada has certainly earned a cult following since its release in 2006 and I truly believe fans of the original will show up to support Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway once again 20 years later. Between this, Barbie, and Wicked, it seems like Hollywood has finally got the memo that women will show up to movies if you actually make movies that cater to them!
Mortal Kombat II
Release Date: May 15th
Box Office Prediction-$200+ Million
The first Mortal Kombat film was a flop when it came out in 2021 but that was during a time when there was so much uncertainty surrounding covid and Warner Bros were releasing their films on streaming on the same day as theaters. With the sequel getting a more proper theatrical release and the trailers indicating this will deliver the goods that fans wanted from the first film, I can see this doing quite well this time around, at least around on par with the Five Nights At Freddy’s movies.
The Mandalorian & Grogu
Release Date: May 22nd
Box Office Prediction- $400+ Million
Whoever at Lucasfilm thought that the first Star Wars movie released in seven years should be an extension of a Disney Plus show that ended three years ago deserves to be banned from Hollywood! The recognition of Mando & Baby Yoda will (hopefully) get this one to cross the 400 million dollar mark but that’s it! Whatever momentum that Star Wars gained last year with the theatrical re-release of Revenge of the Sith and the second season of Andor will be GREATLY swiped away here!
Supergirl
Release Date: June 26th
Box Office Prediction- $375+ Million
I will definitely get tomatoes thrown at me for this one but there are PLENTY of reasons for concern here. While Superman (2025) did fine overall and just enough to land in the top 10 of the year, its international numbers have shown that audiences overseas are just not into (most) superhero movies the way they were a decade ago. Also, being sandwiched in between Toy Story 5 and Minions 3 along with being followed up by Moana (2026), The Odyssey, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day certainly doesn’t help either. Perhaps good reviews and word-of-mouth might get this over $400+ million but I can’t help but feel like Supergirl will be 2026’s Furiosa/Ballerina, a well-received female-led film in a mostly male dominated genre that general audiences couldn’t be bothered to go see in theaters. Just like what Supergirl said in the trailer, Superman might see the good in everything but I see the truth!
Clayface
Release Date: September 11th
Box Office Prediction- $250+ Million
I don’t know who in the world was asking for a Clayface movie but if it is has a tight budget and is a satisfying crowd pleaser, this will be another successful story in the horror genre!
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Release Date: November 26th
Box Office Prediction- $500+ Million
Here’s a sequel that I can see doing much better than the last film! With a much more expansive cast (including the return of Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson) and being based on a critically acclaimed book, there’s little doubt in my mind that this Hunger Games prequel will top the previous film in just about every way! May the odds be forever in MY favor!
Avatar: Fire & Ash is now out in theaters and it is absolutely CRUSHING it at the box office, just passing over one billion dollars worldwide. With that, there are now a total of 61 movies to have made a billion dollars at the box office. Regardless if inflation or re-releases also helps with that (which they both do), a movie has made a total of over seven bills at least 61 times throughout cinema history. Because of that, I decided to go ahead and do a ranking of every single one of these since I’ve actually seen all of these movies at least one time.
This will make for a rather complicated list, even more so than other lists I make on here. This will be a fine mix between what I believe is the best movie from an objective standpoint, what I believe is the best from a subjective standpoint, and the impact each one has had on pop culture for better and worse. I’ve thought about this for quite awhile now so it’s time for me to rank them.
If you disagree with this list, then by all means disagree but please don’t be a jerk about it. We have enough of those on the internet. I really don’t take much pride in these lists and rankings other than to have some fun. Opinions change everyday and this ranking is just how I feel at the exact moment that I’m publishing this list.
Also, since it’s going to be 61 movies, I’m not gonna go into detail on any one of those and just show the number I have ranked for each movie. I’ll just say which movie is ranked where and show off a trailer for it because why not? I might even update the list once another movie comes around that makes a billion dollars and see how much of my opinion on this list has changed since then.
Let’s not waste anymore time and get right down to it.
Disney’s next feature film, Zootopia 2, is expected to hit theaters this upcoming week! And if early box office projections are anything to go by, this film is about to become the MASSIVE hit that both Disney and movie theaters desperately need for the Thanksgiving weekend and for the remainder of 2025! In China alone, the hype to the sequel of Disney Animation’s 2016 billion dollar grosser is UNMATCHED, the kind of hype that Hollywood hasn’t seen from them with one of their own movies since before the Covid-19 pandemic happened. It is currently tracking to make at least $200+ million in it’s opening weekend in China ALONE. Combined that with the $150+ million domestically and perhaps another $150+ million in other international areas, Zootopia 2 could make up over half a billion dollars in it’s opening weekend alone, which would make it the best opening weekend for an animated film of all time! If that is true, Disney will most certainly be able to end what has been quite an uneven year for them on the highest note possible with Zootopia 2 and Avatar: The Way of Water later next month, making up for their financial losses this year with films such as Snow White (2025), Thunderbolts*, Elio, and Tron: Ares. Right before we see Zootopia 2 come out in theaters, I want to turn our attention to the main behind the camera for Disney’s highly anticipated animated sequel, that man being Jared Bush.
For those who don’t know, Jared Bush has been a highly respected animator and artist who has worked for the Walt Disney Company since 2014. Since he’s been there, he has been responsible for some of the most beloved Disney films released for over the past decade. He wrote and co-directed the original Zootopia, he wrote the screenplay for the original Moana and it’s sequel, Moana 2, and wrote and directed Encanto. Even those that have been very critically of Disney for the past decade would admit that at least three of the four films I’ve mentioned are among Disney’s very best films in recent memory, some of which that stands proudly among Disney’s all-time best work in animation!
However, he now has a bit more power this time around with the company! Last year, it was confirmed that he was promoted to being the chief creative officer for Walt Disney Animation Studios after the previous CCO Jennifer Lee stepped down in order to put her focus on upcoming Frozen sequels, one of which is currently due for a release date in November 2027. This was a move clearly done to course corrected after the absolute mess that Disney has become since the brief era with former CEO Bob Chapek began.
Outside of the instant modern classic Encanto (which again was written and directed by Jared Bush himself) and the record-breaking smash hit that was Frozen II (which was co-written and co-directed by Jennifer Lee herself), the last five years have not been too kind to Mickey Mouse and friends whatsoever. That’s not to say the likes of Raya and the Last Dragon, Strange World, and even Wish don’t have their fans but those films were either completely forgotten about entirely from the general public by the time they came out or straight up IMPLODED at the box office in laughable fashion, resulting in over hundreds of million dollars lost for the higher ups at Disney! Because of that, they needed to make major chances with their main animation division and that starts with putting the man who has been largely responsible for the company’s most successful work in animated form that did not come for Pixar since 2014, that man again being Jared Bush!
And his tender has gotten off to a pretty good start, at least if box office numbers are anything to go by. While garnering mixed reviews at the time of release, Moana 2 ended up being a smash hit when it came out last November, grossing over a billion dollars in 2024, become the third highest grossing film that year and Disney Animation’s first billion dollar hit since Frozen II. Originally envisioned as a miniseries for Disney Plus, the follow-up to 2016’s Moana was reworked into being a feature length film, as a response to the multiple financial bombs and hundreds of million dollars lost that put a large dent in the company’s stock in 2023, the 100th year anniversary for Walt Disney, an anniversary that I’m sure everyone and their mother would love to forget about!
The next big film we have in Bush’s tenure is Zootopia 2, the film that I imagine he put the majority of the work in while he was the the current CCO for Disney Animation Studios and was given complete control over with little to no interference from the higher ups due to his solid track record. Because of that, I fully trust him to deliver an exceptional sequel that builds upon the original Zootopia in ways that are organic and respectful. Considering Zootopia 2 was always plan to be a feature film from the start, I imagine Jared had a much more creative vision for what he wanted a follow-up to Zootopia to be like, more so than he likely would have for a Moana follow-up before that got turned into a movie.
With both sequels to Moana and Zootopia being potential billion dollar grossers and then some, I don’t think Iger and company could not ask more from Jared Bush to start off his run as the main man in charge of Disney Animation Studios if they tried. He’ll be able to deliver the financial results that the company desperately wants and needs alone with continuing to expand some of the most beloved Disney brands throughout the past decade that will pave ways for future sequels and merchandise. Oh, and also keeping the movie theater going experience alive also helps too!
That really begs the question that I put on the title of this piece: Will Jared Bush save Disney? Is he the man that Disney has been looking for? Is he the creative consultant that the company needs to present themselves much more positively among the general public? Is he the one that can kickstart a brand new golden area for Disney, the era that matches the Renaissance era of the late 1980s to 1990s or even their box office juggernaut era of the previous decade? While I do think personally that Jared Bush is a very talented animator that can help guide the next generation of animators in ways that Disney legend Ron Clements is currently trying to do with the company, I still need to see more consistency and a greater look of his overall vision for me to make such a claim.
While Moana 2 was a big hit and I’m sure Zootopia 2 and future Frozen sequels will follow suit, I need to see more how he will help guide more original Disney projects for the future, being able to successfully launch brand new IPs instead of just banking on what has already worked and milking it until the cow is completely dry. While Bush has been successful in that regard in helping Zootopia and Moana becoming the successful IPs they have been since the 2010s along with making the lone 2020s Disney modern classic in Encanto, I need to see how other folks will fair in that regard under his supervision. While he was able to create new original Disney classics by himself, let’s see how he will fare in guiding others to do the same thing.
For me, the first big test with Mr. Bush will be with Hexed, Disney Animation’s next feature animated film that is expected to arrive for the holiday season in 2026. The premise we have gotten thus far for the film involves an awkward teenage boy and his Type-A mom discovering that what makes him unusual, might just be his magical powers that will turn their lives and a secret world of magic, upside down. This is set to be directed by Josie Trinidad (writer for Zootopia and Ralph Breaks The Internet) and Jason Hand (director of Moana 2). While the premise itself sounds like an interesting departure from recent Disney films, particularly with a strong emphasis on a relationship between a mother and son being the potential driving force, I will need to see more info on that to be fully convinced.
And as much as certain folks claim that original animated films don’t sell anymore and that’s why Disney has to constant rely on animated sequels and live-action remakes to keep themselves afloat, the success of K-Pop Demon Hunters this year proved otherwise. It showed that people will indeed watch original animated films if it’s done exceptionally well. Despite having only a handful of theatrical screenings, that Korean animated flick was able to set the whole on FIRE when it hit streaming during the summer this year, breaking viewings records for Netflix and selling out merchandise left and right in ways that no one saw coming. That animated musical left such an impact on pop culture throughout 2025, with it being beloved by both girls AND boys all around the world, selling out Halloween costumes with boys and girls all around the world dressing up as their favorite member of the Huntrix or the Saja Boys. I can’t recall seeing an original animated film musical that left such a massive impact on pop culture since Frozen in 2013. K-Pop Demon Hunters was the kind of original animated films that Disney used to be able to do in their SLEEP but haven’t been able to wide AWAKE in recent memory.
The reason that films like Strange World, Wish, and Elio were massive bombs had nothing to do with the fact that they were original animated films, it was because they weren’t particularly good original animated films or ones that Disney themselves had any faith in. Those three films put such a stain on the company’s reputation and left such a sour taste in many people’s mouths, making them look at Disney in a completely different way than they have prior. It also didn’t help that the behind the scenes drama for these films were so disastrous and the marketing was so lackluster that you have to wonder if Disney was purposely trying to sabotaged them in order to justify their recent creative and business decisions. Those original animated films failed because Disney had no faith in them, not because they were original animated films.
However, if Disney actually has full faith in Hexed and other future original animated films going forward and Jared Bush is giving full reign to deliver in high quality films and stellar box office results like he’s done so far, then I will be happy to claim that the man did in fact save Disney and should be deserving of the majority of the credit for the company’s resurrection. All they have to do is find the right people for the job and not allow studio executives to butt in and mess their whole film up and they might be successful in launching original animated films and kickstart brand new franchises with fully original IPs.
To answer the question for this piece, while I do think we need to see how Jared Bush does settling into his new role as CCO and seeing how his overall vision for the company plays out in the next few years, I do believe he is the right man to lead the charge to get Disney back on top for the foreseeable future. The man has been solely responsible for the company’s greatest work since he joined them in 2014 and I fully expect him to continue delivering great work as both director and CCO. He may have some stumbles along the way but I think if everything comes together in the next 3-5 years once he’s comfortable in the full driving seat, Jared Bush might just put his name out there as being not just an exceptionally animator but as the man that saved Disney.
Let’s hope he puts just as much focus on creating new stories as much as the company will be demanding him to put focus on upcoming sequels and remakes. Let’s hope that he allows Jennifer Lee to take her time on Frozen III and IV so it doesn’t become a rushed mess like Frozen II was (I already have a whole piece about the history of that film). Let’s hope he’s able to usher in the next generation of animators that he will be able to pass the baton to successfully once he retires. More importantly, let’s just hope he is able to lead Disney to become the animation company that we all remember them being from our childhoods. As much as I can’t guarantee that any of this will happen, given his recent track record, Jared Bush does at least give me some faith that he will be one day be referred to as the man that saved Disney.
Now, if only he could stop that live-action Moana remake from happening (which he is writing btw).
Yeah, Disney is screwed!
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(FYI, did you know that the original Moana won’t be even 10 years old by the time this remake comes out?!)
(No joke! The live-action remake is coming out in July 2026 next year whereas the original animated film came out in November 2016!)
(Not even 10 full years and they are ALREADY making a live-action remake of Moana! Even before they get around to doing a live-action Tangled with Sabrina Carpenter as Rapunzel or a live-action Frozen with Anya-Taylor Joy as Elsa!)
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(I guess this is our punishment for not showing up to the theaters for Black Adam!)
(Curse you Dwyane Johnson and your “hierarchy of power”!)
(Bro actually thought he was cooking there?!?!?!)
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(I surely can’t wait until he finally gives up on acting and wrestling and becomes our president in 10 years!)
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(That’s actually gonna happen, isn’t it?!)
(Just like Sonic predicted!)
(And that will be our punishment for not showing up to theaters for The Smashing Machine!)
Edgar Wright is perhaps one of the more “under the radar” type of directors working in Hollywood today. He’s not really so much well known by mainstream audiences with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, and Quentin Tarantino but more of someone that’s mostly beloved by hardcore film buffs. There’s a reason why Baby Driver, a film which made only $227 million at the time of it’s release (which is still good btw), is his most successful film at the box office and the only hit which you can call a genuine crowd pleaser.
Even so, he still has a very dedicated fanbase and cult following and I was say I qualify on both ends. Although some of his recent films haven’t “wowed” me the way his earlier films did, he is still a director that I always await his next big feature film because he’s one of the few directors left that knows how to leave his own personal stamp on a film. Because of that, it’s time for me to rank (most) of his films from worst to best!
And the reason why I say most is because there is two main film exceptions I am leaving off the list: A Fistful of Fingers and The Sparks Brothers. That is strictly because I haven’t seen any one of those films and I have yet to find anywhere which gives me full access to both films. So to anyone that is actually a die hard fan of either one of those movies and actually viewed them as being the absolute best of Edgar Wright, then I deeply apologize for that!
For everyone else, let’s get to rank Edgar Wright’s other seven films, the ones that the majority of the human population acknowledge, from worst to best!
7.) The Running Man (2025)
Wright’s weakest film to date is unfortunately the one that just got released in (mostly) empty theaters. There were plenty of ingredients for a 2025 incarnation of The Running Man to be a success. You got a director that’s skilled with blending action, drama, humor, and chaos in Edgar Wright, you got an up and coming A-list actor in Glen Powell, and updating the 1987 film in a way where we are now basically on the doorstep of living in the kind of future that Stephen King tried to warns us all about nearly 40 years ago seems like this should be an instant classic that’s relevant to our times. While there’s some fun set pieces scattered throughout, Glen Powell is as awesome as he always is, and the first 2/3rds work well enough as a mildly entertaining action flick, The Running Man (2025) gets bogged down by the end of it’s own messaging, not knowing how to properly convey it without shouting it directly to the audience and not knowing which of the three or four endings they wanted to stick with. It’s ironic how the film goes on about how bad monopoly corporations are when they have all the wealth and power in entertainment to manipulate it’s audience when this film is literally made by Paramount of all companies. This also can’t help but feel like the least felt Edgar Wright film to date, with his style and attention to aesthetics feeling distractingly absent here. Is there entertainment to be had in The Running Man (2025)? Sure! But, this 2025 Stephen King adaption is one of the rare cases where a film being too closed to it’s source material can actually be a bad thing!
6.) Last Night In Soho
This is easily Edgar Wright’s most polarizing film to date. Many felt that Wright was too in love with his own style and that let it get in the way of the substance of the story. Last Night in Soho made for a rather unique, mesmerizing, and at times very uneven experience. This psychological thriller sees a young woman out on her own for the first time ever and having to experience the toxic and stressful nature of being out of your own bird’s nest along with the pressure of becoming the person that you are just not. Edgar Wright always brings his A-game behind the camera but he goes all out this time around with his beautiful cinematography, stellar costume designs, chilling score, and haunting imagery and performances that will stick with you even after the credits roll. Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy are terrific here showing the two sides of the same coin of a woman’s poignant experience of being out on her own in a world full of troubled men. I just wish this film sticked with me on repeat viewings and didn’t have me asking more questions than it answers by the end, especially when all the big reveals come into play. Last Night in Soho is not an experience I guarantee you’ll love but if you are willing to take a chance, it’s worth watching to see if it works for you or not.
5.) The World’s End
While there are people out there that call this the weakest of the Cornetto trilogy, this is still a very satisfying end to these successful trio o films. Maybe it has to do with the fact that this one is looser and more ambitious while not relying as much on the humor as his previous work but I do think The World’s End stands strongly as it’s own unique thing. It’s still constantly funny the whole through, filled with an incredible amount of energy and manages to be as layered as the previous Cornetto films, if not more so here, the action sequences are still great fun to watch, and the cast arguably hit their new level of peak here (Simon Pegg is just a national treasure!) Also, the best cut to black credits of all time period! Maybe it’s because I admire the way that Edgar Wright continues to try and top himself with every single new film that he makes but I just believe The World’s End deserves a tiny bit more credit than it actually gets. It may not be quite the very best of the Cornetto trilogy or Edgar Wright as a whole but man is it ALWAYS bun to watch Edgar Wright try to top himself!
4.) Baby Driver
Yes, I know the casting for this movie has aged worse than sour milk that has lasted for as long as the development of GTA 6 but man, I still can’t help but have an absolute blast with Baby Driver every time that I watch it. Making a heist movie that is based around the concept of a young man motivated by his love for music and being able to one day ride into the sunset with his girlfriend is a concept that fits perfectly in Edgar Wright’s wheelhouse. The action scenes are thrilling, the pacing is breakneck, the cast (their offscreen behavior aside) is a lot of fun, and I don’t think there’s been any recent big movie that’s NOT Guardians of the Galaxy where a director was able to perfectly showcase just how good of taste they have in music. It definitely plays out more conventional than most of Edgar Wrights films and I most CERTAINLY could’ve used some more Jon Bernthal here (Although, his final line is pretty funny!) but even with some minor grips, Baby Driver is an absolute thrill ride that might just be the most “fun” and crowd pleasing film that Edgar Wright has made to date.
3.) Scott Pilgrim vs The World
While it was certainly unfortunate that Edgar Wright was not able to make the Ant-Man movie that he wanted with Marvel Studios, we should all be grateful he was able to make magnum opus of his own within the comic book movie genre with Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. This was quite simply a comic book movie that Edgar Wright was born to make! His directing style and visuals fit masterfully in the world of Scott Pilgrim himself, the whole cast is perfect and fit their roles like a glove, the soundtrack is incredible, the aesthetics are off the charts, it’s perfectly respectful towards the source material it’s based on, and don’t get me started on those kick-ass and creative as hell fight sequences, the kind that you usual don’t get with these kind of movies! Even if we are living in a time of superhero fatigue and the best that the subgenre as had to offer for the past 25 years is easy to forget about now Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is one of the comic book movie standouts that is not Marvel or DC related that is absolutely worth your time!
2.) Hot Fuzz
Edgar Wright was looking to make lightning strike twice following the major success of Shaun of the Dead and he was able to do exactly just that. Wright is somehow able to perfectly translate from the zombie horror genre to the buddy cop genre in a very smooth way here with Hot Fuzz, with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost just having as much good chemistry as a duo that on paper seems unlikely but in reality is a stroke of genius. The plot delivers plenty of twists and turns that will have you thinking even with repeat viewings, this is easily the FUNNIEST film of the trilogy and that Edgar Wright has made, and the ensemble cast all around is able to flawlessly fit in the intriguing world that Edgar Wright has created. The only thing that prevents this from being at #1 is a slightly drawn out climax and there being a couple of moments that feels more forced and only there because it’s what everyone loved about Shaun of the Dead! Aside from those mild nitpicks, Hot Fuzz is still excellent and more than worthy middle chapter to the Cornetto trilogy!
1.) Shaun of the Dead
But yeah, I still don’t think that any Edgar Wright film has been as good as the film that put his name in Hollywood than with Shaun of the Dead! Regardless of what way you look at it, Shaun of the Dead works in every way that it possibly can! It works as a straight-up horror movie, it works as a screw-ball comedy, it works as an incredibly meta and social commentary of the genres it is delighted to be a part off, it works as a family drama, it works as a coming-of-age tale, and it even works as a straight up zombie slasher flick. There is very few films I can think that is able to masterfully combine action, drama, horror, and comedy all at the exact same time but Edgar Wright is able to perfectly control himself behind the camera the whole way through, being able to masterfully execute every single element of the genres that he is paying great respect too. Perfectly paced, perfectly written, perfectly acted, perfectly directed, and having the perfect amount of rewatch value, Shaun of the Dead is simply a masterwork and the best thing to come out of Edgar Wright to this day! Maybe it’s time to bring back Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for the next film!
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