The Best Movies of 2026 So Far That Everybody Missed

Movie theaters are back. Fueled by big blockbusters like Toy Story 5 and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and surprise hits like Obsession and Backrooms, the domestic box office for the first half of 2026 stood at $4.68 billion, up more than 14 percent from the same period in 2025, and easily the strongest stretch for theaters since before the pandemic. A dozen titles have already grossed more than $100 million in the U.S., including Scream 7, Scary Movie, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Hoppers, and GOAT.

That success has not been felt across every title released in 2026, though. Yes, Project Hail Mary exceeded expectations for a brainy sci-fi film, and Michael is now the highest-grossing biopic in history. But hundreds of films have opened in theaters in 2026 so far, and many of them struggled to find sizable audiences.

There’s always hope for underseen movies on streaming, though, so as we officially enter the second half of 2026, let’s pause and spotlight some of the movies that fell through the cracks this year. A couple of them did okay at the box office — but not great when compared to the titles that are fueling the return of audiences to multiplexes, and in some cases not even relative to the previous movies in their franchise. (Not every 2026 sequel was Toy Story 5 or even The Devil Wears Prada 2.) I’ll also point you to where they are currently available to watch at home, if applicable.

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