Predicting The Biggest Surprise Box Office Hits Of 2026

A new year is almost upon us all, which means it's time to look ahead to what the 2026 cinema scene is preparing to offer up. Already, several promising-looking motion pictures are registering as movies that will blow you away in 2026. On the other hand, there are several upcoming features with so many ominous factors hanging over them that they seem poised to become the biggest box office bombs of 2026. Granted, the 2020s box office scene is so erratic and bizarre that trying to predict what will and won't resonate with audiences is sometimes a fool's errand. A few years ago, could anyone have predicted that "Barbie" and "A Minecraft Movie" would've become such cultural juggernauts, for example?

Even with that reality, though, some under-the-radar 2026 movies are already looking like they could bring in the crowds at movie theaters everywhere. If all goes right, they could become major 2026 sleeper hits, a term referring to moneymakers that nobody expected to become so successful. These films, many of them currently shrouded in total obscurity, vary wildly in what makes them possible 2026 sleeper box office hits. Some have intriguing concepts that could strike a chord with audiences. Others are based on beloved pre-existing properties that have sizable yet underserved fanbases.

Whatever the reason, these are the movies that could prove critical at the box office when "surefire" hits falter. Let's give it up for these 12 2026 movies that could become the year's most notable sleeper hits.

For some moviegoers, the new "Wuthering Heights" adaptation is inherently a lost cause. Immense controversy has sprung up online over perceptions that the film's initial trailers depict an unfaithful and hyper-sexualized vision of the original story. Right now, though, it doesn't look like those detractors will necessarily capsize the box office prospects of this project. On the contrary, Emerald Fennell's "Wuthering Heights" could become an early 2026 smash hit. Just its release date alone could help propel it to mighty numbers. 

Set for release on February 13, 2026, a Valentine's Day launchpad has worked like gangbusters for other big romantic features in the past like the three "Fifty Shades of Grey" movies, "The Vow," or "Valentine's Day." "Wuthering Heights," with a source material everyone knows and two famous leads, could easily follow in the footsteps of those features and become a must-see date night film. Plus, Fennell's last feature, "Saltburn," became a social media phenomenon that quickly elevated the director's name in many people's eyes. Folks are curious about what she does next, and "Wuthering Heights" could benefit tremendously from that element.

The trailers for this motion picture have been incredibly evocative, not to mention crammed full of striking imagery begging to be seen on the big screen. Perhaps those critics of the "Wuthering Heights" marketing campaign will turn out to be too numerous to overcome. For now, though, it looks like this film could have a real shot at procuring a lucrative box office haul.

Speaking of elaborate women-directed tentpoles from Warner Bros., three weeks after "Wuthering Heights," the "Superman" studio will launch "The Bride!" into theaters everywhere. This Maggie Gyllenhaal directorial effort is a rollicking reimagining of the "Bride of Frankenstein" legend, with the titular Bride (Jessie Buckley) and Frankenstein's monster (Christian Bale) going on all kinds of escapades in 1930s Chicago. It's a unique take on this saga that could prove catnip for audiences, especially after its incredibly eye-catching teaser trailer.

Granted, Buckley isn't a massive box office draw yet and Bale is also hit-or-miss financially when he isn't playing Bruce Wayne/Batman. However, neither of them has often headlined titles like "The Bride!" radiating such anarchic verve and crowdpleaser energy. Plus, Warner Bros. is bound to give this project a major marketing campaign, while being released in close proximity to all the Oscar buzz surrounding Buckley's "Hamnet" turn could further solidify "The Bride!" as a must-see project for audiences. On top of all that, it's been a good while since a "Frankenstein" movie of any kind got a traditional wide theatrical release. With titles like Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein" getting relegated to Netflix, there could be novelty in seeing this story on the big screen.

Perhaps "The Bride!" ends up getting ignored by audiences who feel it looks too weird or similar to other "Frankenstein" adaptations. However, the ingredients are all there for this project to potentially come roaring to life at the box office.

Every single movie directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller has grossed at least $120 million domestically. The duo has an impressive financial track record that only gets more impressive when counting their work as screenwriters on the incredibly lucrative "Spider-Verse" movies. Next up for the pair is their biggest live-action directorial effort yet, "Project Hail Mary." A Ryan Gosling sci-fi movie adapted from a novel by "The Martian" author Andy Weir, "Project Hail Mary" launched its marketing campaign with a teaser trailer that distributor Amazon MGM Studios claimed broke viewership records for a non-sequel/remake trailer.

That already suggests this project could have the potential to be a hit tantamount to "The Martian" back in 2015. It doesn't hurt that it'll have the mighty Amazon MGM Studios marketing muscle to get it on people's radar and that the studio has been attaching the trailer for this title to so many 2025 blockbusters (including "Superman" and "Wicked: For Good"). Plus, its underdog story (concerning an ordinary science teacher tasked with saving the world) offers something distinctly different in a blockbuster landscape littered with Godlike superheroes. Embracing that quality could make "Project Hail Mary" register as something special even to audiences skeptical of sci-fi films.

Plus, Lord and Miller have a phenomenal track record for making quality movies that profoundly connect with audiences. Betting against them, even with Gosling's mixed non-"Barbie" box office track record, would be foolish. Right now, "Project Hail Mary" looks good for launch.

When Warner Bros killed "Coyote vs. Acme" in late 2023, the uproar was massive and omnipresent. Everyone yearned for a way that this Dave Green directorial effort could finally see the light of day, a seemingly impossible outcome that's finally coming to pass. Ketchup Entertainment plunked down quite a bit of change to purchase "Coyote vs. Acme" and is now planning to give the feature an August 28, 2026 release date in theaters. Perhaps after all this chaos a happy ending is just around the corner for this motion picture in the form of a hefty box office total.

Granted, some obstacles stand in "Coyote vs. Acme's" way. For one thing, "Looney Tunes" characters aren't massive draws theatrically, as seen by "Looney Tunes: Back in Action." For another, Ketchup Entertainment is a tiny outfit and it's unclear how much marketing they can give this family movie. However, there's a lot of potential here for the film to take off. Wile E. Coyote is one of the more famous "Looney Tunes" figures, after all, while its late August 2026 release date means it'll premiere far away from most major family movie competition. The very positive buzz surrounding the title from those who've seen it also suggests word-of-mouth amongst audiences could also be excellent.

It's been an incredibly challenging road for "Coyote vs. Acme." However, there's certainly immense potential for it to be a solid box office performer and wrap up its saga on a happier note.

Keke Palmer isn't just a talented performer. The handful of movies she's headlined in the last decade have largely turned into hits (save for the rare "Good Fortune"). "Hustlers," "Nope," and "One of Them Days" all cleared $50 million domestically despite being non-sequels and two of them even crossed $100+ million in North America. When Palmer's in a mainstream movie, people pay attention. Next up for her is "I Love Boosters," a feature pairing her up with Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Demi Moore, and Lakeith Stanfield. This heightened comedy is from the mind of writer/director Boots Riley, whose last film, "Sorry to Bother You," was a sleeper hit back in July 2018.

The combination of Palmer and Riley's respective box office track records already bode well for "I Love Boosters" at the box office. Further aiding its potential is that distributor Neon has set a promising Memorial Day weekend 2026 launchpad for the title. Positioning it as counterprogramming against blockbusters like "The Mandalorian and Grogu" speaks highly of how Neon thinks "Boosters" could fare at the box office. It doesn't hurt that other major performers in the cast (namely Paige, Ackie, and Moore) have all been in the limelight recently, which could help get this comedy on even more people's radars.

Quietly, Keke Palmer's become a far more reliable box office draw than so many other movie stars. "I Love Boosters" could continue her hot streak. It's truly Keke Palmer's world and we're just living in it.

As of right now, "One Night Only," a high-concept romantic comedy starring Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner, is not on anybody's radar. That's unsurprising given that it's an original property and hasn't kicked off its marketing campaign yet. However, there's a good chance this project breaks out at the box office for multiple reasons, including its release date. Set to launch on August 7, 2026, "One Night Only" will be an early August feature courting women audiences in the vein of past August hits like "It Ends with Us" and "Crazy Rich Asians." Securing even a fraction of the box office power of those titles would make "One Night Only" a moneymaker.

Then there's the director in charge of this project, a man known as Will Gluck. He's not a household name auteur, but thanks to a career spanning the two "Peter Rabbit" films, "Annie," "Easy A," and 2023's breakout rom-com hit "Anyone but You," he knows his way around lucrative features. The leggy theatrical run of "Anyone but You" especially suggests Gluck can crank out a major hit that resonates with today's younger moviegoers. Plus, there's currently minimal August 2026 competition for similar romantic comedies. "One Night Only" could end up being the only game in town.

Even when summer 2026 begins revving up, "One Night Only" probably won't be highly anticipated by many film geeks. However, once the dust settles on this season, it could emerge as one of the summer's biggest surprise success stories.

As of this writing, the big Alejandro González Iñárritu directorial effort starring Tom Cruise that Warner Bros. will release into theaters on October 2, 2026 has no official title. Plot details about the project are equally scarce, though it is known that the feature will get an IMAX release and has a tremendous ensemble cast consisting of Jesse Plemons, Riz Ahmed, and John Goodman (among many others). However, even with so few concrete details surrounding the production, there's already lots of box office potential in this anticipated union between the "Birdman" filmmaker and the "Mission: Impossible" leading man.

For one thing, this will be Cruise's first non-"Mission: Impossible"/"Top Gun" movie since 2017's "The Mummy." That alone means this project could resonate as extremely special to audiences. To boot, Iñárritu found massive success merging his distinctive style of filmmaking with an A-list leading man with 2015's highly lucrative "The Revanant." If this Cruise star vehicle gets anywhere near the box office numbers of "Revenant," Warner Bros. executives will be elated. Speaking of that studio, Warner Bros. has chosen to release this project over the first weekend of October, a launchpad that worked great for the studio's "Gravity" back in 2013.

Perhaps when more plot details come out, it'll be clear this production's too esoteric to resonate with the public. However, for now, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Tom Cruise's first collaboration has all the telltale signs of a potential sleeper hit.

The survival thriller largely confined to one location is a classic template for major Hollywood movies ranging from "I Am Legend" to "Cast Away" to "The Martian." However, how many of those projects took moviegoers into, to quote a "Jonah: A Veggietales Movie" song, "the belly of a whale?" That's just where writer/director Brian Duffield's "Whalefall" (based on the Daniel Kraus novel of the same name) is taking audiences in October 2026, with this story following scuba diver Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams), who has an hour to get out of the stomach of a whale that's swallowed him whole.

Neither Duffield or Abrams is massively famous with general audiences, but they've been on the cusp of breaking out after well-received 2020s projects like Duffield's "No One Will Save You" and Abrams stealing the show in "Weapons." "Whalefall" could give them a prime opportunity to reach the next level of notoriety. After all, past survival movies like "I Am Legend" and "The Martian" were major box office hits. Meanwhile, this incredibly unique premise, although it sounds like a silly punchline, also has the potential to be distinctive enough to stand out against all other big 2026 movies. 

Duffield's excellent critical track record also suggests "Whalefall" could secure word-of-mouth that keeps it in theaters for weeks and weeks. There are lots of ingredients connected to "Whalefall" suggesting it could be a late 2026 moneymaker, including how its basic plot makes it stand apart from other survival thrillers.

For years, Hollywood was sleeping on Colleen Hoover's most cinematic book while studios focused instead on "It Ends With Us" and "Regretting You." Now, though, it's time for the novel "Verity" to shine as a major motion picture headlined by Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett. Every Anne Hathaway movie, from the worst to the best, has demonstrated this performer's immense commitment to delivering idiosyncratic performances. Her legacy as an artist alone could help elevate "Verity" as more than just another romantic book drama adaptation. 

To boot, "Verity" holds an incredibly special place in the hearts of many Colleen Hoover fans. Its immense popularity, even compared to her other texts, means that a "Verity" film could be an extra special occasion. That momentousness is being reinforced by the A-list cast, which is packed with way more movie stars than other Hoover movie adaptations like "Reminders of Him" and "Regretting You." On top of all that, "Verity" is famous for having more thriller elements than many other Hoover works, which could help spread out the film's appeal beyond just the romance book fans. On top of all that, melodramatic books have spawned several 2020s box office hits, including "Where the Crawdads Sing" and "It Ends With Us."

All of these elements, plus the Hoover movie "Regretting You" turning into a tidy box office hit in October 2025, suggest the long-overdue film incarnation of "Verity" could be one of 2026's biggest box office powerhouses.

Why did "Five Nights at Freddy's" scare up such an incredible opening weekend at the box office? Because it was based on pop culture material that deeply resonated with Gen-Alpha and younger moviegoers. The under-30 crowd is proving pivotal to 2020s theatrical moviegoing and they've driven some of the biggest box office hits of this decade, including "Five Nights at Freddy's," "A Minecraft Movie," "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour," and more. The next film that will try and tap into this demographic is the A24 horror film "The Backrooms," which is based on a creepypasta that originated in 2019 and specifically the vision of "Backrooms" lore popularized by YouTuber Kane Parsons.

Parsons is returning to direct this motion picture, while genre cinema heavyweights Shawn Levy and James Wan are producing. The cast is being headlined by "12 Years a Slave" lead Chiwetel Ejiofor and "Sentimental Value" leading lady Renate Reinsve. The presence of those two alone ensures "The Backrooms" will offer people something they can't see on YouTube already. Plus, the prospect of experiencing creepy "Backrooms" imagery in a communal space could send young audiences flocking to theaters. Don't be surprised if "The Backrooms" turns into the next "Five Nights at Freddy's."

Writer/director duo Jon Lucas and Scott Moore struck box office gold in 2016 with "Bad Moms" while the November 2017 follow-up "A Bad Moms Christmas" also did solidly financially. Come 2026, the pair are back with "Spa Weekend," which once again promises older female moviegoers some raunchy laughs and solidarity. There still aren't firm release date or domestic distribution plans for "Spa Weekend," but with a proper marketing campaign, this movie could quietly break out. 

Lead performers Isla Fisher, Leslie Mann, Michelle Buteau, and Anna Faris have all anchored moneymakers before, while the larger dearth of projects aimed at female audiences means (provided it gets a good release date) this could fill a major void in the marketplace. Plus, 2026 seems to be a big year for comedies with upcoming projects like "Focker In-Laws" and "Scary Movie 6." Maybe the rising tide for this genre on the big screen lifts up "Spa Weekend" to box office numbers reminiscent of "Bad Moms."

The 12 highest-grossing horror movies of all time reflect how this genre is especially skilled at launching surprise hits nobody saw coming. One day you're working on a low-budget 70s frightfest, the next day it turns out to be "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre." May 2026's "Obsession" isn't automatically guaranteed to make "Sinners" money, but this acclaimed feature from writer/director Curry Barker seems poised for further success after garnering rave reviews from its Toronto International Film Festival premiere.

It doesn't hurt that Barker's had brushes with crowdpleaser success beforehand with his 2024 horror YouTube short "Milk & Serial." That cheaply-made piece of scary storytelling demonstrated how Barker's unique horror sensibilities can connect with a wider audience. "Obsession" could further that reality. Plus, it's being distributed by Focus Features, which has had great success launching lucrative yet oddball genre titles like "Nosferatu." If all goes right, "Obsession" could become the latest example of a tiny horror movie making unexpectedly big box office waves.