Hollywood is saving some of its loudest battles, darkest transformations and most valuable franchises for the final three months of 2026.

The fourth-quarter calendar includes the return of the Avengers, another journey into the deserts of Dune, a new chapter in Panem and the final adventure for the modern Jumanji team. It also offers riskier projects, including a DC horror movie, Robert Eggers’ latest nightmare and Aaron Sorkin’s return to the world of Facebook.

Release dates can still change, but these are the 10 most anticipated theatrical movies currently scheduled to arrive between October and December 2026, ranked by franchise strength, creative talent, cultural interest and potential audience impact.

10. The Cat in the Hat — November 6

Dr. Seuss’s chaotic Cat returns in an animated adventure that gives the character a new mission—and possibly his last chance to keep his magical hat.

Bill Hader voices the Cat, who works for the Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration. His assignment is to cheer up siblings Gabby and Sebastian after they move to a new town. Naturally, his attempt to help appears likely to create more disorder than calm.

The voice cast also includes Xochitl Gomez, Quinta Brunson, Matt Berry, America Ferrera, Giancarlo Esposito, Bowen Yang and Tituss Burgess. With a family-friendly release date and a globally familiar character, the movie could become one of November’s most accessible crowd-pleasers.

9. Hexed — November 25

While much of the quarter depends on sequels and established brands, Disney is betting on an original animated fantasy for Thanksgiving.

Hailee Steinfeld voices Billie, an impulsive teenager who discovers that her differences may be connected to secret magical powers. Those abilities pull her out of suburbia and into Hexe, an enormous hidden realm of witches.

Rashida Jones voices Billie’s more cautious mother, Alice. Forced to work together, the pair uncovers family secrets with consequences for the entire magical world.

The coming-of-age story is Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 65th feature and will arrive with Lilo & Scratch, a new short featuring Stitch. In a season dominated by familiar heroes, Hexed has the opportunity to introduce audiences to a completely new world.

8. Street Fighter — October 16

Hollywood has struggled for decades to consistently translate fighting games into satisfying movies. The new Street Fighter arrives with another opportunity to break that pattern.

The live-action adaptation is based on Capcom’s enormously influential game franchise and was filmed for IMAX. Andrew Koji stars as Ryu, with Noah Centineo, Callina Liang, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Eric André, Andrew Schulz and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson among the unusually varied ensemble.

The central attraction is simple: famous fighters, recognizable special moves and large-scale combat designed for premium screens. The larger question is whether the filmmakers can give those characters a story as memorable as the games that introduced them.

7. The Social Reckoning — October 9

Sixteen years after The Social Network dramatized Facebook’s creation, Aaron Sorkin is returning to examine what the platform became.

Rather than simply repeating the rise of Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Reckoning turns toward the Facebook Files. Mikey Madison plays whistleblower Frances Haugen, while Jeremy Allen White portrays journalist Jeff Horwitz. Jeremy Strong takes over the role of Zuckerberg.

Sorkin, who wrote the 2010 film, both writes and directs this follow-up. The story follows Haugen and Horwitz as they work to expose internal information about Facebook and the consequences of the company’s decisions.

The original movie was about ambition, betrayal and the invention of a social empire. This one arrives in a different cultural moment, asking what happened after that empire became powerful enough to reshape public life.

6. Clayface — October 23

DC Studios is taking one of Batman’s strangest enemies away from traditional superhero spectacle and into body horror.

Tom Rhys Harries plays a rising Hollywood actor whose life collapses as he transforms into the shape-shifting Clayface. The official premise describes his journey as a loss of identity and humanity driven by revenge, destructive love and dangerous scientific ambition.

James Watkins directs from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella, David Dencik and Eddie Marsan also star.

Instead of building the film around a conventional battle between a hero and villain, Clayface appears designed as a tragedy about a man becoming a monster. That darker approach could make it one of the quarter’s most surprising comic-book movies.

5. Werwulf — December 25

Robert Eggers has built his career by making the past feel unfamiliar, threatening and almost supernatural. His Christmas release, Werwulf, appears ready to continue that tradition.

The horror film stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe. Eggers co-wrote the screenplay with Sjón, his collaborator on The Northman.

Official details remain deliberately limited, describing the story as one of devotion, damnation and an evil growing from within. That secrecy may work in the movie’s favor. Eggers’ name alone promises a carefully constructed historical world, unsettling imagery and horror that depends as much on atmosphere as violence.

Opening a severe, adult nightmare on Christmas Day is a bold choice—but Werwulf may be the season’s strongest alternative to franchise entertainment.

4. Jumanji: Open World — December 11

Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan are reuniting for another round of magical chaos.

The previous two movies placed human characters inside game avatars. Open World appears ready to reverse that formula by bringing the avatars and dangers of Jumanji into the real world, expanding on the ending of The Next Level.

Jake Kasdan returns as director, while the core cast is joined by familiar franchise performers. The production has also emphasized its connection to the 1995 original and the legacy of Robin Williams.

The modern Jumanji films succeeded because the cast could turn body-swapping confusion into genuine chemistry. This installment has been presented as a major finale, giving the comedy an emotional task beyond delivering another collection of animal attacks and impossible levels.

3. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping — November 20

Panem’s next story returns to a character audiences already know—but to a version of him they have never seen.

Set 24 years before Katniss Everdeen’s first Hunger Games, the movie follows young Haymitch Abernathy during the 50th Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. Joseph Zada plays Haymitch, with Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird and McKenna Grace as fellow District 12 tribute Maysilee Donner.

The cast also includes Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee and Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman. Francis Lawrence returns to direct.

Haymitch entered the original series as a damaged mentor hiding pain beneath cynicism. Sunrise on the Reaping promises to reveal the experience that created that man, giving the franchise a tragedy whose ending longtime fans may already fear.

2. Dune: Part Three — December 18

Paul Atreides won his war in Dune: Part Two, but victory was never the same as peace.

Based on Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah, the third film continues Paul’s story after his rise to power. Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya return, joined by Jason Momoa, Anya Taylor-Joy and Robert Pattinson.

The appeal is not simply another trip to Arrakis. The next chapter confronts the consequences of prophecy, conquest and the religious movement built around Paul’s name. What once appeared to be a traditional hero’s journey becomes something more uncomfortable: a study of power and the destruction caused by those who believe history has chosen them.

Its December release places it in direct competition with the largest superhero event of the year.

1. Avengers: Doomsday — December 18

No fourth-quarter movie carries greater expectations—or a larger collection of recognizable heroes.

Robert Downey Jr. returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not as Tony Stark, but as Victor von Doom. Anthony and Joe Russo direct a story bringing heroes from three universes into a collision with an existential threat.

The enormous cast includes Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Anthony Mackie, Florence Pugh, Tom Hiddleston, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, Simu Liu and many more.

Marvel has spent years expanding across alternate realities, legacy franchises and different generations of heroes. Doomsday is where those threads are expected to meet.

Its central mystery is also deeply emotional. Audiences spent more than a decade associating Downey with the MCU’s greatest hero. Now, the same face returns as one of Marvel’s most dangerous villains.

That transformation makes Avengers: Doomsday more than the biggest movie scheduled for Q4 2026. It may be the film that determines whether Marvel can turn its sprawling multiverse into one compelling story again.