Film – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Cinema isn’t just about the latest Disney/Pixar project or Star Wars spin-off. Memorable storytelling is happening all over the film industry, from Hollywood’s box-office-busting superhero smashes to small, innovative indie experiments. The Verge’s film section is here to help you sort through the latest Hollywood news and reviews, from favorite genres like sci-fi, fantasy, and horror to the independent movies that matter.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Oh great, another suitor.

In what seems very much like a desperate attempt to save face after failing to convince the world that Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is a bad film, Elon Musk says that Grok Imagine will generate a “historically-accurate” adaptation of Homer’s epic poem. One can only imagine what “historically-accurate” means here.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Ryan Gosling’s ‘La La Hand’ blunder is officially fixed.

The actor has expressed regret over the flat positioning of his hand in the La La Land poster over the years. Maybe he’s joking, but Lionsgate has now corrected it anyway, unveiling a tweaked design for the movie’s 10th anniversary that’s replacing the previous version “across every platform in the world.”

<em>Spot the difference. Here’s the updated version…</em>
<em>…compared with the original theatrical release poster. Gosling can finally rest easy.</em>
1/2
Spot the difference. Here’s the updated version…
Image: Lionsgate
Neill Blomkamp’s new zombie AI ‘film’ is just slop warmed over

No amount of clever editing can make this Seedance-generated mess interesting.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Adventures in modern cinema.

The first full trailer for Avengers: Doomsday may not reassure you that the MCU is back on track, but it does suggest Marvel is finally pushing artistic boundaries.

swingdingaling:

The haters said it couldn’t be done but they’ve done it: they made a whole movie of people looking at stuff just off screen

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Emma Roth
Emma Roth
AMC just had its best quarter ever — and it expects to keep going strong.

The theater chain reported earning $1.6 billion over the past few months, its highest quarterly revenue to date. In the earnings report (pdf), AMC CEO Adam Aron says he expects theaters to have their “strongest yet post-pandemic year” in 2026, citing the blockbuster release of The Odyssey and the upcoming debuts of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Dune: Part Three, and Avengers: Doomsday.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey gets off to a great start.

The epic made $264.1 million worldwide this weekend — Nolan’s biggest global opening yet — with $124.5 million in the US alone. Not bad for an R-rated adaptation of a 3,000-year-old poem. Fittingly, it’s likely to run on and on too, with no big competition until Spider-Man arrives, and IMAX 70mm screenings sold out for weeks.

TC Sottek
TC Sottek
A24 does an A180.

As reported by The Wrap, A24 says it won’t, after all, go after a creator for using a Backrooms-adjacent wallpaper. You know, the generically yellow one. Smart move. After a Reddit user reported getting a complaint on behalf of A24, Backrooms director Kane Parsons said it “should not be happening.” A24 then said in a statement it “makes no claim over ownership over the yellow wallpaper.”

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
One Wish Peacock.

Following its wildly successful theatrical run, Curry Barker’s Obsession is now streaming on Peacock for everyone who wants to be scared silly at home.

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AI slop movies are the new direct-to-video cash grabs

Projects like Odysseus: The Fall highlight how the AI hype machine is powered by stunts and stolen valor.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
The wait for The Batman: Part II just got even longer.

Matt Reeves’ follow-up to The Batman has been delayed once again, and Warner Bros. now plays for the film to debut on Feb. 18, 2028. In the meantime, you can check out this new screen test from the film.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
George Lucas says AI makes it ‘much easier’ to make movies.

In an interview with A Rabbit’s Foot, the man who loves pushing technological boundries enough to anger his fans with controversial remasters had this to say about people who oppose artificial intelligence in film making:

“It’s very much like sitting here saying, ‘Well, I believe the horse and the buggy is really where it’s at. These cars, they break down, they need gas, there’s all kinds of problems with them and pretty soon they’ll be making them into tanks, and then they’ll be killing people. It’s terrible.’ There’s nothing you can do about it. That’s progress, it’s the future.”

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
The OdyssAI.

Ash Koosha — the director behind the $2,000 AI-generated movie that debuted at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival — has apparently made his own adaptation of The Odyssey, which will be available to rent / buy from Fountain 0 some time later this summer.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Jurassic Park actor Sam Neill dies at 78.

Neill had starring roles in Peaky Blinders and the Oscar-winning film The Piano. He is best known for playing Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. News of his death was announced on his Instagram page.

Actor Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant, standing next to an electric fence in a scene from the film ‘Jurassic Park’, 1993.
Actor Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant, standing next to an electric fence in a scene from the film ‘Jurassic Park’, 1993.
Image: Photo by Murray Close/Getty Images
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Something is wrong with Buddy.

Our first few looks at the upcoming feature film debut from Casper Kelly, the deranged human behind Too Many Cooks, played it completely straight. But with the first official teaser, it’s clear that Kelly is taking the “horror” part of “horror comedy” seriously.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Godzilla in five.

The first teaser for Godzilla Minus Zero made it clear the kaiju would be stomping through New York, and now we have another brief look. The sequel takes place two years after the original, and introduces a new character played by Min Tanaka — fresh off of the surprise kabuki hit Kokuho — who is “a biologist carrying deep psychological scars from the war.”

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Paul isn’t doin’ well.

Unfortunately, Robert Pattinson doesn’t seem to have a fun new voice in Dune: Part Three, but everything else about the latest trailer has me completely ready to watch the trilogy’s conclusion in December.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Avatar Aang’s coming back a little earlier than expected.

In what feels very much like a response to the way Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender leaked online last month, Paramount has bumped the movie’s streaming premiere date up from October 9th to July 25th.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
We’re still doing this, I guess.

The gen AI psyop known as Tilly Norwood is reportedly going to be in a movie produced by Particle 6. Put more plainly: the company that created Tilly Norwood in the first place is making an elaborate commercial about one of its products.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
If the studios can do it, why not Midjourney?

In hopes of winning its ongoing legal battle with Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. Discovery Midjourney is trying to force the studios to reveal the extent to which they use artificial intelligence internally. This would establish whether “they are doing exactly what they are suing Midjourney for doing.”

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Watch the Industrial Light and Magic team reminisce about making Terminator 2.

The landmark James Cameron blockbuster turns 35 this year. It’s easy to forget sometimes how difficult it must have been for ILM to solve the problems posed by early ‘90s CGI, develop new technologies, and scale up to the over 100 CG shots required by T2.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
ILM’s original CG department discuss the challenges of creating T2’s liquid metal terminator.

For the 35th anniversary of the film, several founding members of ILM’s CG department got together to discuss the technical challenges of creating Terminator 2’s memorable liquid metal T-1000 character. For a more in-depth look at the film’s effects, check out the Light & Magic documentary on Disney Plus.

Several founding members of ILM’s CG department sit around a table discussing their work on Terminator 2.
Screenshot: YouTube
Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
Akira is coming back to theaters in IMAX 4K.

Technically, the 4K remaster already got a one-day IMAX screening in September 2020 and you can buy it on disc, but it’s finally coming back to US and Canadian theaters on September 4th, 2026. Few animated films have ever been so influential; countless works have paid homage to the Akira slide alone.

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Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Grace Rocky save streaming.

Good news for those of you who didn’t catch Project Hail Mary in theaters — it’ll finally be available to stream on Prime Video on July 3rd. Unless you have something better to be doing this weekend…

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Luca Guadagnino’s Sam Altman movie may have found a new home.

Neon was one of the only studios that seemed interested in picking up Luca Guadagnino’s biographical drama about Sam Altman after Amazon suddenly decided not to distribute the movie. And now, Neon is reportedly “in advanced talks” for a deal that could get the project into theaters.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
What a deal.

YouTube-to-Hollywood hit Backrooms is coming back to theaters on July 3rd, with an expanded version called “Everything Must Go” that features 16 additional minutes of footage.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Super streaming Galaxy.

If you missed the second Super Mario movie in theaters, it’s hitting Peacock on July 30th, which is a good amount of time to jump into the games if you haven’t.

After a great start, DC’s new cinematic universe is already slowing down

Supergirl’s less-than-stellar debut is a reminder that the DCU is fighting an uphill battle.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Paws up.

The first trailer for Robert Eggers’ Werwulf makes the movie seem a lot like a cross between The Witch and Nosferatu, which means it should make for a deliciously disturbing watch when it hits theaters on December 25th.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
“Nobody has a name in the movie. Aside from a dog.”

That’s Robert Eggers talking about his next creature feature, Werwulf, which follows 2024’s vampire horror flick Nosferatu. Esquire has a first look image of the film, along with some details from the director that have me itching for a trailer.

A still image from the film Werwulf.
Image: Focus Features
Hollywood is bending the knee to OpenAIHollywood is bending the knee to OpenAI
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Meet Artificial Friend Jenna Ortega in this trailer for Klara and the Sun.

One way that Sony Pictures’ Klara and the Sun (due in theaters on October 23rd) sticks out among the crowded field of dystopian AI companion flicks is that it’s an adaptation of a book from Never Let Me Go author Kazuo Ishiguro. Waititi is writing the screenplay and directing, with a cast including Natasha Lyonne, Amy Adams, and Steve Buscemi.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Toy Story 5 has the biggest box office opening of the year.

The latest installment in the Pixar franchise raked in $160 million over the weekend, besting The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s $131.7 million. It’s also the second largest opening weekend for an animated film ever, only bested by Incredibles 2 and its $182.7 million.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Step into the Criterion Closet.

Developers Oliver and Patrick Evans have made a digitized 3D version of the famous movie closet that lets you explore 1,247 films distributed by The Criterion Collection. So now you can peruse the shelves and pull out titles to learn more about them, just like your favorite celebrities (kinda).

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Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s new trailer has the Hulk, and “a powerful villain no one can even see.”

With tickets going on sale today ahead of Spider-Man’s premiere on July 31st, Sony Pictures released a new nearly three-minute trailer to follow the March teaser that quickly racked up a billion views.

This new one still features a world that’s forgotten Peter Parker, and also highlights the movie’s villain, an invisible entity that seemingly takes over even Bruce Banner / Hulk.

In Toy Story 5, the problem really is these damn phones (and tablets)

Disney and Pixar’s latest feature gets at the heart of how we let tech hurt us.

Charles Pulliam-Moore