Michael Block is a 14 time GLAM Award nominated writer, producer, and host of the podcast Block Talk. Throughout his time in the entertainment industry, he has worked on and off Broadway as a stage manager, written several produced plays, critiqued hundreds of theatrical performances, drag and cabaret shows, and has produced events randing from drag competitoons to variety concerts!
On Block Talk, he interviews nightlife personalities, covers the wide world of entertainment through features, ranking episodes, and recaps ALL of Drag Race, as well as Dragula and Survivor. He has interviewed hundreds of RuGirls that span the globe at DragCon NYC, DragCon LA, and DragCon UK.
In his free time, he makes one-of-a-kind jewelry and gift baskets with his mom. He is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community.
The draw to science fiction is that the genre is wide-spanning. In one film, you could be watching your favorite superhero saving the day, and in the next, you’re preparing for a life after an invasion of aliens. Then, before you know it, you’re watching a bounty hunter and the most adorable little space kid on a daring adventure. Science fiction, whether dark, comedic, or terrifying, tends to be box office gold.
Not to bury the lede, but let’s just say that 2026 is destined to be a major year for science fiction films. From major MCU projects to a new addition to the DCU to the return of Gore Verbinski and adaptations of beloved novels, the calendar is already stacked with highly anticipated films that could shape the future of the genre. Which film are you most stoked for?
13 ‘The Dog Stars’
3/27/26
Ridley Scott is returning with a brand-new thriller with his adaptation of Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars. The post-apocalyptic thriller is set in the aftermath of a catastrophic flu virus that nearly wiped out humanity. The film follows Hig (Jacob Elordi), a crop duster pilot living on an abandoned Colorado airfield isolated in the foothills of a mountain range, and Bangley (Josh Brolin), a tough ex-marine. Together, they must navigate a dangerous, uncompromising new world as they face invaders and the hope of a better life beyond their current dwelling.
Also starring Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, and Benedict Wong, The Dog Stars has the potential to be another hit for the acclaimed director. The film was originally meant to star Paul Mescal as Hig, but scheduling conflicts caused the casting swap. After a major year for Elordi with Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, the young actor is set to kick off the new year in style. Having filmed in Italy, the production is destined to be visually stunning.
12 ‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’
2/13/26
Gore Verbinski is giving movie lovers an action-packed science fiction comedy with Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. Claiming to be from the future, a man (Sam Rockwell) takes hostages at a Los Angeles diner to recruit unlikely heroes to help him save the world from rogue artificial intelligence. As the trailer comedically shows Rockwell in wild attire, his character says, “I come from a nightmare apocalypse,” to the stunned diner patrons. “This is the height of f***ing fashion.”
Joining Rockwell are Haley Lu Richardson, Juno Temple, Michael Peña, Dino Fetscher, and Zazie Beetz, among others. Though some audiences saw the film at Austin’s Fantastic Fest in September, the official release is set for February 13. As of now, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die holds a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score. With critics calling it “funny, disturbing, and deeply relevant,” Verbinski is “officially back and better than ever.” The excitement for Verbinski comes as this is his first feature since 2017’s horror film, A Cure for Wellness. If moviegoers agree with the critics, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die might be one of the best sci-fi films of the year.
11 ‘Disclosure Day’
6/12/26
It wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that we officially got a title for the new Steven Spielberg science fiction thriller. Now, we can call it Disclosure Day. The film focuses on humanity’s sudden, simultaneous confrontation with alien life as a meteorologist (Emily Blunt) and a whistleblower (Josh O’Connor) attempt to reveal the truth to the world. Tackling themes of wonder, fear, and the consequences of revealing we aren’t alone in the universe, Disclosure Day brings upon topics of government conspiracies, mysterious alien signals, and how it impacts society.
As one of the greatest directors of science fiction, Disclosure Day has many cinephiles eager and hopeful that the new film will be reminiscent of Spielberg’s best films. Even with a trailer drop, the director and the stars remain tight-lipped about the specifics of the film. We don’t even have character names! All we have to go off of is the logline: “If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you?” In addition to Blunt and O’Connor, audiences can expect to see Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, and Eve Hewson in the cast. All will be revealed on June 12, 2026.
10 ‘Mercy’
1/23/26
Chris Pratt is back in the world of science fiction in Timur Bekmambetov’s Mercy. The sci-fi thriller is set in 2029 Los Angeles, where Detective Chris Raven stands on trial, accused of murdering his wife (Annabelle Wallis). With only 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the advanced AI judge (Rebecca Ferguson) he once championed, Chris is determined to save his own life before his on-the-spot execution. In addition to Pratt and Ferguson, Mercy will feature Kali Reis, Chris Sullivan, Kylie Rogers, Jeff Pierre, Rafi Gavron, Jamie McBride, and Kenneth Choi.
Having been hyping the film for nearly a year, Pratt hopes to recover from the ill-fated The Electric State. And for that reason alone, many sci-fi fans are hoping it’s not another flop. Moved from an August 2025 release to a January 2026 one, Mercy will have less competition, but is destined to have more attention thrust upon it.
9 ‘The Bride!’
3/6/26
She’s alive! If 2025 was about Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, 2026 will be about Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! Drawing inspiration from the 1935 film The Bride of Frankenstein, the new take brings the action to 1930s Chicago, where Frankenstein’s creature (Christian Bale) asks Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. They give life to a murdered woman as “the Bride” (Jessie Buckley), sparking romance, police interest, and radical social change. A punk rock reimagining, the stylized approach takes Mary Shelley’s original story and completely turns it on its head.
With female liberation at the forefront and the titular character portrayed as a powerful, independent figure, the upcoming film is an ambitious project set to rival past horror films. While it’s likely to be compared to Emma Stone’s resurrected heroine in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, Gyllenhaal’s monster mash will have a drastically different sensibility. Gyllenhaal will be reuniting with Buckley, who collaborated on the director’s debut film, The Lost Daughter. Rounding out the cast are Peter Sarsgaard, Penélope Cruz, Julianne Hough, and the director’s brother, Jake Gyllenhaal. Arriving on March 6, audiences can’t wait for The Bride!
8 ‘Masters of the Universe’
6/5/26
Since Mattel introduced the world to He-Man and She-Ra in the 1980s, Masters of the Universe characters have played an important part in pop culture history. Finally, a live-action reboot is hitting the big screens in truly epic proportions. After a very long journey to fruition, Masters of the Universe is scheduled for a major June release. The premise of the film follows Adam Glenn (Nicholas Galitzine), who crash-lands on his mother’s home planet of Earth, separating him from his ancestor’s Power Sword of Grayskull. Two decades later, he takes his sword back and dons the mantle of He-Man as he battles for his home planet, Eternia, against the evil forces of Skeletor (Jared Leto).
The reboot is set to be a nostalgia-driven modern take on the classic IP, and the stakes couldn’t be any higher. Directed by Travis Knight, the epic film will feature an epic cast that includes Galitzine, Leto, Camila Mendes, Alison Brie, Idris Elba, James Purefoy, Sasheer Zamata, and Kristen Wiig. In July, Galitzine revealed that filming had officially wrapped with a major Instagram post featuring himself as He-Man. As we await an official trailer, we can continue to be hyped up by the star himself.
7 ‘Project Hail Mary’
3/20/26
More than a decade after their last collaboration, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller will be hopping back into the director chairs for the science fiction adventure Project Hail Mary. Inspired by Andy Weir’s 2021 novel, Ryan Gosling stars as Dr. Ryland Grace, who awakens on an interstellar spacecraft with no memory of how he came to be there. On a mission to save humanity from an alien microorganism called Astrophage that’s dimming the sun, Ryland must solve the riddle behind the threat, calling upon his scientific training and sheer ingenuity.
With the second trailer recently dropping, the hype for the early calendar year release continues to grow, especially for those who adored Weir’s previous work, The Martian. An ambitious story on a massive scope, the Gosling-led film will also feature Sandra Hüller, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, and Milana Vayntrub. A story of sacrifice and friendship, Project Hail Mary has all the boxes checked for a potentially remarkable sci-fi classic.
6 ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise of the Reaping’
11/20/26
Strong science fiction franchises are not easy to come by, but with a truly compelling universe at its core, there’s the possibility for a wealth of stories. Such is the case for Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. The latest cinematic chapter in the franchise comes in the form of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. The sixth installment in the film series, the prequel takes place 24 years prior to the events of the first film. A young Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada) is selected to compete in the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, which occurs every 25 years, with a twist to the rules. For this Quarter Quell, each district of Panem must send twice the number of tributes to the Capitol, who will fight to the death in the Hunger Games. The film focuses on Haymitch’s backstory, revealing how he becomes the cynical mentor we know, and delving into themes of propaganda, societal control, and love amidst the Capitol’s manipulation.
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Diving deep into the psychological implication of the trauma caused by the games, the film’s connection to the original story is creating great hype as audiences get to see some of their favorite characters’ pasts, including Plutarch Heavensbee, Caesar Flickerman, Effie Trinket, Mags, Beetee, and Wiress, played by Jesse Plemons, Kieran Culkin, Elle Fanning, Lili Taylor, Kevin Harrison, and Maya Hawke, respectively. The giant cast also features Mckenna Grace, Billy Porter, Ralph Fiennes, and Glenn Close in the completely transformative role of Drusilla Sickle. Coming out just in time for Thanksgiving, the film is destined to be a major hit within the larger franchise.
5 ‘Supergirl’
6/26/26
After first meeting Milly Alcock’s Kara Zoe-El in Superman, fans could not wait for her own feature film. Wait no longer, as Supergirl will be saving the day in June 2026. Directed by Craig Gillespie with a script from Ana Nogueira, Supergirl follows the titular character as she travels across the galaxy on a murderous quest for revenge alongside young alien girl Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley). Based on the “Woman of Tomorrow” storyline, Supergirl’s interstellar journey of vengeance and justice will be the second entry in the James Gunn DCU and the overall Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.
Though this will not be Kara’s first film, it marks her return to cinema after the failed 1984 iteration starring Helen Slater. Furthermore, this Kara will be more pessimistic than her cousin, Superman. After Gunn dropped the teaser trailer, the film climbed up the interest chart. “So many times, female superheroes are so perfect. She’s not that at all,” Gunn told an excited crowd. “Like male superheroes have been allowed to be for a while.”
4 ‘Dune: Part Three’
12/18/26
Having watched the first film at home on an iPad during COVID, I found the first Dune filma glorious screensaver. Dune: Part Two picked up steam with some solid action. Now, we’ve reached the thrilling conclusion of Denis Villeneuve’s trilogy with Dune: Part Three. Set 12 years after the events of the previous film, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), the feared Emperor leading a galaxy-spanning jihad, grapples with immense power, prophetic burdens, and a conspiracy to dethrone him, all while dealing with his fractured relationship with Chani (Zendaya) and the birth of his twins, Leto II and Ghanima. Setting up his path to becoming a tragic antihero, Dune: Part Three’s massive time jump will lead to the thrilling finale.
Based on Frank Herbert’s 1969 novel Dune Messiah, audiences can expect the return of all their favorites, as the second sequel will feature Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, and Anya Taylor-Joy, all reprising their roles. Additionally, Robert Pattinson will be joining the ensemble as the film’s villain. Though fans may be seeking more Dune, Villeneuve has stated that this is it, as the director is set to take on the next James Bond film. Though the film is likely to see an earlier international release, the full theatrical release may coincide with a film we’ve yet to discuss, so set a large chunk of time aside for “Dunesday.”
