When it comes to big-screen extravaganzas, the summer of 2026 is set to have something for everyone – epic blockbusters from Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott, a sexy comedy from Olivia Wilde, an indie gem from Charli XCX, a Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro rom-com, an Anne Hathaway sci-fi thriller, you name it… As temperatures slowly rise, these are the seven releases to add to your watch list now.
Erupcja (5 June)
Post The Moment, Charli XCX’s movie star era continues with Pete Ohs’s loose-limbed mood piece – the tale of a couple (the pop star, plus Will Madden) who take a romantic trip to Warsaw which goes awry when our heroine reunites with an old friend (Lena Góra). Joined by Jeremy O Harris, and with the pumping soundtrack and frenetic visuals we’ve come to expect from the musician’s cinematic oeuvre (so far, at least), it should be a riotously entertaining ride.
Disclosure Day (12 June)
Billed as a return to Steven Spielberg’s filmic roots à la ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, this hotly anticipated sci-fi saga is the master’s first offering since 2022’s seven-time Oscar nominated The Fabelmans. Led by Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor, with support from Colin Firth, Colman Domingo and Eve Hewson, no less, it tracks (or seems to, per the mysterious trailer) the run-up to a full-scale alien invasion. There’s much demonic clicking, mind-bending set pieces and the uncovering of a vast and terrifying conspiracy, in what feels guaranteed to be the crowd-pleasing cinematic event of the summer.
The Invite (3 July)
A juicy Sundance hit which prompted a frenzied bidding war, Olivia Wilde’s follow-up to Booksmart and Don’t Worry Darling (though perhaps the less said about the latter, the better) sounds pretty irresistible: she and Seth Rogen play an unhappily married couple who invite their upstairs neighbours (Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton) over for a gossipy drink. All hell then breaks loose, courtesy of a razor-sharp screenplay from Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, with secrets spilling out and the sexual tension rising to unbelievable levels. Strap in.
The Odyssey (17 July)
How else to mount a big-screen comeback after the seven-time Oscar-winning success of Oppenheimer? Well, for Christopher Nolan, the answer is by adapting Homer’s epic poem, of course, with a jaw-dropping, knock-out all-star cast. Matt Damon is the grizzled Odysseus; Tom Holland his son, Telemachus; Anne Hathaway his mother and Odysseus’s wife, Penelope; Robert Pattinson one of her suitors; Zendaya Athena, the goddess of wisdom; and Charlize Theron the witch Circe. They’re accompanied by – deep breath – Lupita Nyong’o, Mia Goth, Elliot Page, Samantha Morton, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, Himesh Patel and Travis Scott, with no expense spared elsewhere, either: expect immaculate costuming, incredible sets and grand, old-school storytelling. Awards season glory surely awaits come 2027.
The End of Oak Street (14 August)
This is the year of Anne Hathaway – after we see her play a Lady Gaga-esque pop star in David Lowery’s Mother Mary, step back into Andy Sachs’s Chanel boots for The Devil Wears Prada 2 and don robes and jewels as Nolan’s aforementioned Penelope, she’ll take centre stage in this head-spinning sci-fi spectacle from David Robert Mitchell (It Follows, Under the Silver Lake). Alongside Ewan McGregor and My Old Ass’s Maisy Stella, she’s part of a family who, after a violent thunderstorm, find themselves transported back to a prehistoric era full of roaming dinosaurs. A thrilling fight for survival then ensues – and absolutely nothing is as it seems.
The Dog Stars (28 August)
Ridley Scott hasn’t exactly been on a winning streak lately (Gladiator II, Napoleon, House of Gucci, The Last Duel, All the Money in the World), but this post-apocalyptic caper – which has shades of The Martian, the auteur’s last big success – could mark a return to form. Following his Oscar-nominated turn in Frankensteinand bodice-ripping bravado in Wuthering Heights, Jacob Elordi takes the lead as a pilot who lives in an airplane hangar with only his dog and an ex-marine neighbour (Josh Brolin) for company. A catastrophic virus has nearly wiped out humanity, but then, an unexpected radio transmission arrives, sparking hope for a life beyond these painful limitations. Cue a white-knuckle adventure also featuring Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce and Benedict Wong.
One Night Only (28 August)
Every summer needs a glossy, starry, must-see rom-com, preferably set in a sun-dappled New York. If last year’s was Materialists (again, probably the less said about that the better), then this year’s might be Will Gluck’s high-concept charmer, with A Complete Unknown’s Academy Award-nominated Monica Barbaro and soon-to-be Mr Dua Lipa and possible future James Bond Callum Turner. The supporting cast is internet catnip – Julia Fox, Este Haim, Ziwe, King Princess, Molly Ringwald, Maya Hawke – and the premise similarly delicious: in a world where pre-marital sex is illegal on 364 days of the year, two strangers have a single night to find love. Bring it on.
Editor
Radhika SethCredit
Lead Image: @theodysseymovie via Instagram
