2026 Best Picture Power Rankings, and the Best Movies at TIFF. Plus: Zach Cregger on ‘Resident Evil’!

The Further Misadventures of Cliff Booth 2026

Trailer dropped online. Sean: a David Fincher movie with Tarantino gags.

Heart of the Beast 2026

Brad Pitt dog movie they'll cover next week.

Slay Ground 2026

Jeremy Saulnier's next, teased with a Blair Witch-style surveillance clip and a runlikehell.com countdown; previously titled 'October.'

You Can See Everything 2026

A24 surprise-release play for the fall.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew 2026

Greta Gerwig's version, moved to 1950s London with a rock-opera vibe; Meryl Streep as Aslan. Feb 12, wide.

La Bola Negra 2026

People's Choice Award winner, first Netflix film to take it. Los Javis won Best Director at Cannes.

Elsinore 2026

International PCA winner. Andrew Scott performance buried under over-cut direction in the home stretch.

Being Human 2026

Opening-night film, third in PCA voting.

Every Time 2026

Sandra Wollner. Adam's favorite by a mile; mysterious, After Sun-adjacent (same cinematographer). Germany's Oscar submission.

Possible Love 2026

Lee Chang-dong. Closer to 'Burning' than 'Parasite'; strong second half, odd audience laughter.

Josephine 2026

Beth de Araújo, with Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan. Mixed on the literal haunting; applause breaks it wasn't built for.

River 2026

Josh Ruben-ish slasher, ~$8M to Blumhouse/Universal. Jessica Rothe and Jane Levy; the one genre film Adam liked.

Club Kid 2026

Jordan Firstman. Sean and Amanda are in the bag; Adam finds it effective but shallow and self-flattering.

The Debut 2026

Telluride applause film; also not for Adam.

I Play Rocky 2026

Peter Farrelly. Prohibitive PCA favorite, came in second. Craft-of-acting piece; Tracy Letts as the studio guy.

Ink 2026

Danny Boyle heckled over pointless generative AI.

Minotaur 2026

Polite Cannes reception, not rapturous.

Fjord 2026

Palme d'Or, Neon; didn't go over in Toronto.

Behemoth 2026

Searchlight; playing NYFF, Adam hasn't seen it.

Paper Tiger 2026

James Gray opens NYFF, skipped the festival machine.

Prime Time 2026

Everything Else Is Noise 2026

Nico Pareto, Wavelength section.

The Remotes 2026

John Torres; 'vaporwave Filipino Cronenberg.'

The Odyssey 2026

No. 1: still the front-runner after the fall festivals.

La Bola Negra 2026

No. 2: Netflix's big ticket; the likely challenger to Nolan.

Wild Horse Nine 2026

No. 3: Searchlight, big Malkovich moment, McDonagh track record.

Dune: Part Three 2026

No. 4: a known quantity, positioned against 'Doomsday.'

Project Hail Mary 2026

No. 5: Amazon's one big push, reheats for March.

Fjord 2026

No. 6: the Palme carries it in.

The Invite 2026

No. 7: drip-fed to guilds; strong word of mouth.

The Debut 2026

No. 8: Julianne Moore and Giamatti; unusual storytelling choices may cost it.

All of a Sudden 2026

No. 9: Hamaguchi, one of the year's best-reviewed; a hard 3.5-hour sell.

Obsession 2026

No. 10: commercial and 'original' like F1; more likely here than Michael.

Resident Evil 2026

$60M domestic / $108M global, Cregger's biggest opening. Amanda: 'a really sick movie for the sickos.' Austin Abrams absolutely electric, the shot-a-girl-in-the-face beat the standout.

Resident Evil 2026

Shot nocturnal in the Czech Republic; storyboarded ~97% in advance, rebuilt the lab attack in prep. He reshot the typewriter and the point-blank shotgun beat to get the muzzle flash in frame.

Weapons 2025

He went straight from its edit into this; found Abrams there and cast him off that chapter.

Flood 2027

His next, written alongside Resident Evil; the 'tombstone' movie he refuses to jump ahead of.

Barbarian 2022

The debut he now cringes at over-explaining.

Irreversible 2002

Fire-extinguisher scene as a peak of movie violence.

Los Bastardos 2008

Amat Escalante; the point-blank shotgun kill he was chasing in Resident Evil.

Dead Mail 2024

His last-great-thing pick, a Shudder true-crime film.

Night of the Living Dead 1968

Romero not lecturing about Vietnam and race as the model for not over-explaining theme.