With only two months left in 2026, there are still several big studio movies and awards contenders opening before the end of the year!
From highly anticipated sequels like ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘ and ‘Dune: Part Three‘, to animated movies like ‘The Cat in the Hat‘ and ‘Ray Gunn‘, horror movies such as ‘Werwulf‘, Oscar contenders like ‘Wild Horse Nine‘ and ‘Elsinore‘, and Holiday films such as ‘The Man with the Bag‘ and ‘Violent Night 2‘, winter 2026 promises a little bit of something for everyone.
Moviefone has compiled a list of the most anticipated movies opening in theaters and/or streaming in November and December of 2026, which not only includes major studio releases but also smaller independent films that you won’t want to miss.
Let’s begin!
Related Article: Moviefone’s 2025 Theatrical and Streaming Movies Preview
November:
Now a CIA field agent, Becky (Lulu Wilson) goes undercover in Poland to infiltrate a family running an inn at The Wolf’s Lair, one of Hitler’s WWII bunkers. When she learns the father, Wilhelm Reuss (Neil Patrick Harris), plans to spark the Fourth Reich, Becky must stop him.
An ancient epic follows a young prince and princess whose marriage and subsequent exile mark the beginning of a legendary journey. Their story of love, duty and destiny sets the stage for greater challenges ahead.
Shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, CIA agents Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) are dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi). Amongst the Island’s iconic statues, and as the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, Chris’s newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students threatens to send everyone’s trip to this remote paradise sideways.
“Sometimes you’ve got to do a terrible thing for the greater good.”
Release Nov 6, 2026Runtime 1h 57m
The film is an electrifying true story about an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn’t just meant to write ‘Rocky‘—he was meant to be Rocky Balboa. Told “no” at every turn, Sylvester Stallone (Anthony Ippolito) bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds. The result is the ultimate underdog story behind the ultimate underdog movie.
Doing what he does best, the Cat (Bill Hader) spreads joy to kids in his hilarious, signature, and singularly irreverent way, transporting them and audiences on a fantastical journey through a world they’ve never seen before. Our hero takes on his toughest assignment yet for the I.I.I.I. (Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration, LLC) to cheer up Gabby (Xochitl Gomez) and Sebastian (Tiago Martinez), a pair of siblings struggling to move to a new town. Known for taking things too far, this could be this agent of chaos’ last chance to prove himself…or lose his magical hat!
War reduced Japan to zero, and Godzilla plunged it into minus. Two years have passed since then, and the country has faced agonizing struggles to achieve recovery and finally reclaim its daily life. Just as humanity managed to cling to a hard-won peace, a new threat strikes, crushing hope in an instant.
“There is no third time. Everything ends here.”
Release Nov 6, 2026Runtime 2h 15m
A hard-partying New York City club promoter (Jordan Firstman) sees his whirlwind lifestyle upended by the arrival of the 10-year-old son he never knew he had.
Release Nov 6, 2026Runtime 2h 6m
Scrappy, defiant, and done being treated like a burden, Judy Heumann (Ruth Madeley) turns her outrage into a revolution. In 1977, she and more than 100 disability rights protestors send a very loud message: The system is broken—not us.
Henry “Fitz” Fitzgerald (Jim Caviezal) has spent years living quietly off the grid, hiding from a past few people know anything about. But when a powerful foreign corporation moves into his hometown to seize his neighbors’ land for a massive payday, Fitz is forced to reveal who he really is: a former Special Forces soldier and advanced weapons developer. Armed with experimental technology, lethal combat skills, and an unwavering code of justice, Fitz wages a one-man war against an enemy that never saw him coming.
Tale of an elderly miser (Johnny Depp) who embarks on a supernatural journey after visits from the ghost of his former business partner and the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come force him to confront his past and fight for a second chance at happiness.
A crew of social media-savvy bank robbers broadcasts their daring heists, unaware that their growing viral fame has put them in the crosshairs of a veteran FBI agent and a brilliant software engineer. Despite the unlikely duo closing in, the crime ring pushes past their limits, putting everything on the line for their most ambitious heist yet.
When eccentric young governess Winifred Notty (Maika Monroe) arrives at a remote Gothic manor, a string of unsettling events leads the household to suspect she isn’t who she claims to be—but the truth may be far more dangerous than they imagine.
Chronicles John Madden‘s (Nicolas Cage) incredible journey alongside best friend and true original Al Davis (Christian Bale)—from a Super Bowl-winning partnership with the Raiders, to becoming football’s most recognizable voice, to building the worldwide Madden NFL video game.
Release Nov 18, 2026Runtime 1h 50m
Return to the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games for the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.
The deeply emotional and inspirational true story of Ian Charleson (Andrew Scott), a gifted actor whose greatest challenge becomes his greatest triumph. Facing his own mortality with unflinching honesty, wit, and grace, Charleson delivers a courageous performance that becomes a source of healing and inspiration for those around him.
Eight years after the events of ‘Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood‘, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) returns to a changing Los Angeles. Now working as a fixer in the shadows of the Hollywood studio system, Cliff finds himself entangled in a dangerous web of secrets, crimes and betrayals that will test everything he knows about loyalty and survival.
An impulsive and unconventional teenage girl named Billie (Hailee Steinfeld) discovers secret magical abilities which, once unleashed, hurtle her into a spectacle-filled journey out of suburbia and into a vast witch realm called Hexe. Forced to team up with her cautious mother, Alice (Rashida Jones), they uncover family mysteries that could change the world of witches forever.
In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, four college football stars enlist in the US Marines, discovering the strength of brotherhood and the cost of war.
Henry (Skyler Gisondo), son of Greg (Ben Stiller) and Pam Focker (Teri Polo), faces family chaos when he decides to marry a strong-willed woman (Ariana Grande) who appears to be his complete mismatch.
Based on the life of Milton Hershey (Finn Wittrock), founder of the iconic Hershey chocolate company. Milton’s grit and determination to conquer the world of candy-making propel him from bankruptcy to monumental success, and the love of his life, Kitty (Alexandra Daddario), helps him build a legacy sweeter than any candy bar. But when Kitty falls ill, Milton’s wild optimism teeters on the edge of destruction, and she sparks an even bolder dream: to leave their fortune in the hands of America’s orphans.
December:
After Santa’s magic bag is stolen, he turns to his naughty list to find Vance (Alan Ritchson), a thief, to help him get it back. Along with his daughter, Santa (Arnold Schwarzenegger), and a group of misfits, Vance will have to pull off the greatest heist of his life to save Christmas.
When Santa (David Harbour) forgets the true meaning of Christmas, he finds himself in the heart of a lively mall community in desperate need of his help. Sapped of his magic, he’ll need another way to take on the goons threatening the mall, and time is running out. Santa has to rediscover his faith in goodness and call in some last-minute reinforcements from the one person no baddie wants to tangle with: Mrs. Claus (Kristen Bell).
In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, private eye Raymond Gunn (Sam Rockwell) is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson).
“The taller the skyscrapers, the longer the shadows.”
Release Dec 18, 2026Runtime 1h 59mBudget $150M
In this tense thriller, three astronauts (Idris Elba, Caitlin FitzGerald, and Hero Fiennes Tiffin) return to Earth only to discover their fight for survival has just begun. Directed by Idris Elba and Martin Owen, the film follows the crew after their damaged spacecraft is violently hurled through the atmosphere and plunges into the depths of the ocean. With oxygen rapidly running out and hope fading, they are forced to make an unthinkable choice: who will risk everything to reach the surface…and who will remain behind with the wreckage below.
Gifted cellist Alex Serian (Pedro Pascal) returns home to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road. Music, which has been the constant, all-consuming river of his life, begins to carry Alex on an adventure that will change him forever.
Cass (Naomi Scott) has come to a personal point of emotional invulnerability, until she meets Virgil (Kit Harington), a cartographer. Along with his partner Malcolm, they attempt to travel back in time to awaken Cass to love again.
“Gods Don’t Give Gifts” traces the fallout of humanity besting earthly limitations like death and memory through technology and how it grapples with humanity as a result.
Our heroes have escaped the ever-changing jungles of Jumanji before, but this time the game comes to us – as Jumanji breaks free of its console, unleashing its chaos into our world.
When Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore) is cast in a bit part at a small community theater, she transforms from a shy, unassuming housewife into a zealous method actor willing to do anything to protect the artistic integrity of her marginal role—even if it means waging war against the show’s domineering director (Paul Giamatti).
Nearly two decades after he seized control of the Imperium, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is now a ruthless Emperor, and must face the consequences of his reign as old allies return, terrifying new threats emerge, and betrayal lurks in every shadow. Haunted by visions of Imperial collapse and the reappearance of his long-lost love, Paul is drawn into a sweeping conspiracy, with Chani (Zendaya) at the heart of its unfolding mystery. As enemies close in, Paul must confront the true cost of power and the fate of those he loves the most.
Beloved heroes from three distinct universes are set on a deadly collision course and face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered.
When his sister vanishes without a trace, a former true-crime podcaster returns to rural New England and finds himself locked in a dangerous game with a powerful man and drawn to a grieving widow who may be his only ally.
Red (Jason Sudeikis) faces his greatest challenge yet: surviving fatherhood… while saving the world.
Witness Robert Eggers’ most visceral and haunting experience yet. Focus Features presents ‘Werwulf’, a harrowing tale of devotion, damnation and the devil within.
The last player selected in the 1983 NFL draft by the New York Giants, underdog John Tuggle (David Corenswet) defies expectations on and off the field for head coach Bill Parcells (Michael Shannon), his newfound love (Isabel May), and his team, proving that remarkable hope and perseverance can transcend even the greatest challenges.
“He will change the way you see the world.”
Release Dec 25, 2026Runtime 2h 5mBudget $36M
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