The best Sci-Fi movies of 2026 (so far)

Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary is easily one of the best Sci-Fi movies of 2026 so far.

Ryan Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a science teacher who wakes up alone aboard a spaceship with no memory of how he got there. As his memories slowly return, he discovers that Earth is facing a catastrophic threat and that he may be humanity’s last hope.

What makes the movie work so well is the balance between science, adventure, humor, and emotion. It isn’t just another movie about saving the planet. The story also focuses on friendship, sacrifice, problem-solving, and human curiosity.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller bring plenty of energy to the movie, while Ryan Gosling gives the story an emotional center. Sandra Hüller and James Ortiz also make strong contributions to the film.

The audience response has been particularly impressive. IMDb currently lists the movie at around 8.2/10, with hundreds of thousands of user ratings. It also became a major theatrical success, earning more than $684 million worldwide against an estimated $200 million budget.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is one of the most entertaining animated science-fiction adventures of 2026.

This time, Mario’s adventure expands beyond the Mushroom Kingdom and takes him into a much larger cosmic setting. The movie brings back familiar characters while introducing new locations, challenges, and a bigger sense of scale.

Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic return to direct, while the voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Brie Larson, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, and Donald Glover.

The movie is obviously designed as a family-friendly adventure, but it also understands what makes the Mario games so entertaining: colorful worlds, simple emotional stakes, humor, and constant movement.

It also performed extremely well at the box office, becoming one of the biggest theatrical releases of 2026.

Hoppers

Hoppers is one of the more unusual animated science-fiction movies of 2026.

The story follows Mabel, a young animal lover who discovers technology that allows her consciousness to be transferred into a robotic beaver. She then uses this technology to communicate with animals and becomes involved in a much bigger fight to protect the natural world.

The idea sounds strange when you first hear it, but that is exactly what makes the movie interesting.

Pixar has always been good at taking unusual concepts and giving them an emotional core, and Hoppers follows that tradition.

Daniel Chong directs the film, while Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Meryl Streep, Dave Franco, and Kathy Najimy lead the voice cast.

The movie also had a strong theatrical run, making it one of the year’s more successful original animated releases.

Disclosure Day

Disclosure Day is one of the year’s biggest alien-contact science-fiction movies.

Steven Spielberg returns to the genre with a story centered around humanity’s first confirmed contact with extraterrestrial life.

Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor lead the cast, with the story focusing not only on the discovery itself but also on the fear, uncertainty, and political consequences that follow.

What I like about the concept is that it doesn’t depend entirely on massive action scenes. Spielberg approaches the material through mystery, tension, character drama, and the fear of discovering that humanity isn’t alone.

If you enjoy thoughtful alien-contact stories more than nonstop action, Disclosure Day is worth checking out.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple takes the post-apocalyptic world of the franchise into some interesting territory.

The story follows characters trying to survive in a world still devastated by the infected, while Dr. Ian Kelson investigates ideas that could change what people understand about the infection.

Nia DaCosta directs the movie from a script by Alex Garland, giving it a mixture of horror, science fiction, disturbing imagery, and dark humor.

Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, and Erin Kellyman lead the cast.

This is one of the darker choices on the list, but it deserves attention for the way it combines post-apocalyptic horror with science-fiction ideas.

Mortal Kombat II

Mortal Kombat II is the kind of movie that knows exactly what its audience wants.

The sequel expands the world established by the first film and brings Johnny Cage into the story as the characters face an even bigger threat from Shao Kahn.

Karl Urban joins returning stars including Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Joe Taslim, and Josh Lawson.

The story isn’t trying to reinvent science fiction, but it delivers supernatural world-building, martial-arts action, fantasy elements, and plenty of franchise fan service.

If you enjoy action-heavy science fiction and fantasy, this is an easy movie to put on your watchlist.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

Bringing The Mandalorian and Grogu to the big screen was always going to attract plenty of attention.

The movie follows Din Djarin and Grogu on a new Star Wars adventure that expands their story beyond the television series.

Jon Favreau directs the film, while Pedro Pascal leads the cast.

For fans of Star Wars, the biggest attraction is obviously seeing these characters on a huge cinema screen. The movie also gives the franchise another opportunity to connect its television and theatrical worlds.

It may not have reached the box-office heights expected from a major Star Wars theatrical release, but fans of The Mandalorian will still find plenty to enjoy.

War Machine

War Machine is a very different type of science-fiction movie.

Alan Ritchson plays a special-operations soldier whose training mission turns into a fight for survival when the group encounters a terrifying alien machine.

The concept combines military action with alien invasion and monster-movie elements.

It isn’t an especially complicated story, but the movie understands that sometimes sci-fi works best when it gives the audience a dangerous threat and lets the characters fight their way through it.

Patrick Hughes directs, with Alan Ritchson, Stephan James, and Blake Richardson leading the cast.

Unlike most movies on this list, War Machine did not have a conventional theatrical box-office run.

That doesn’t stop it from being an entertaining choice for viewers who enjoy old-school alien action movies.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is one of the more unusual sci-fi movies on this list.

Sam Rockwell plays a mysterious man from the future who arrives at a Los Angeles diner and recruits a group of strangers for a mission involving a dangerous artificial intelligence.

The movie mixes time travel, artificial intelligence, action, comedy, and dystopian science fiction.

Gore Verbinski directs the film, and Sam Rockwell’s performance gives the movie most of its personality.

It wasn’t a major theatrical hit, but its audience response makes it worth discovering.

If you prefer original science-fiction ideas over familiar franchises, this is one to keep on your list.

The End of Oak Street

The End of Oak Street takes a relatively ordinary suburban setting and turns it into something much stranger.

The story follows a family whose neighborhood is suddenly transported into an unknown environment, forcing them to figure out what happened while trying to survive.

David Robert Mitchell directs the movie, with Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor leading the cast.

The film combines science fiction with mystery and family drama rather than depending entirely on traditional blockbuster spectacle.

It is one of the more original concepts among this year’s science-fiction releases and is particularly interesting if you like movies that slowly reveal what is happening.

Redux Redux

Redux Redux is the smaller and more experimental movie on this list.

The story follows a grieving mother who discovers a way to travel between parallel universes while hunting for the person responsible for her daughter’s death.

Instead of using the multiverse concept purely for spectacle, the film uses it to explore grief, revenge, and whether getting another chance can actually repair something that has already been lost.

This isn’t the kind of movie you watch for massive action sequences.

It is much more focused on the emotional side of science fiction, making it a good choice for viewers who enjoy smaller, character-driven stories.

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Avatar: Fire and Ash is one of the biggest science-fiction movies associated with 2026.

James Cameron returns to Pandora for another visually ambitious chapter in the Avatar saga.

Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, and Britain Dalton lead the cast.

The movie is expected to expand the world of Pandora while continuing the story of the Sully family. As with previous Avatar movies, the visual scale is a major part of the attraction.

Because the movie had not completed its theatrical run when this article was prepared, I wouldn’t compare its final box-office performance with movies that have already finished their runs.

But based on the franchise, filmmaker, scale, and expectations surrounding it, it absolutely belongs on the radar of anyone searching for the best Sci-Fi movies of 2026.