7 Upcoming Thriller Movies, Ranked by Anticipation

Thriller anticipation is different from normal hype. With superhero movies or giant fantasy films, people get excited over scale first. Thrillers have to earn excitement through promise. A setup. A pairing. A trailer beat. A director’s rhythm. One image that tells you the movie might actually get under your skin instead of just filling release-calendar space. That is why ranking upcoming thrillers is so fun and so dangerous. You are not only guessing what will be good. You are guessing which projects already feel like they have tension in their bloodstream.

And 2026 is shaping up to be a very particular kind of thriller year. There is glossy literary psychodrama, post-apocalyptic menace, star-driven action paranoia, one big Guy Ritchie covert-op play, at least one high-concept bank-heist crowd-pleaser, and a couple of projects that feel one trailer away from either exploding or completely disappearing. So this ranking is not about prestige on paper. It is about the projects that, right now, feel most likely to make thriller fans start leaning forward.

8

‘The Wizard of the Kremlin’ (2026)

Image via Gaumont

The Wizard of the Kremlin is last only because the anticipation feels cooler and more wary than the title should inspire. On paper, Olivier Assayas directing Paul Dano and Jude Law in a political thriller about power formation around Putin should be catnip. And there is real intrigue in that setup. Jude Law as young Putin is exactly the kind of casting that makes you want to see at least one scene immediately. Vertical acquired North American rights for a 2026 release, so it is not some vapor project drifting in development fog. It is a real movie with a real runway.

But the anticipation is complicated because it has already premiered abroad and the response sounds more mixed than electric. That’s crucial feedback. A thriller lives or dies on urgency, and when the early conversation tilts toward interesting rather than “you have to see this,” the pulse drops a bit. I am still curious, absolutely. Political thrillers with rot at the center always tempt me. But among these eight, this is the one where my anticipation is powered more by concept and cast than by the feeling of an incoming knockout.

7

6

‘Runner’ (2026)

Image courtesy of Keri Anderson / ©Amazon / Everett Collection

Runner has the kind of setup that can suddenly become way more exciting once you imagine the movie moving. Alan Ritchson plays a former soldier thrown into a brutal race against time, and Owen Wilson is there too, which immediately gives the whole thing a slightly weirder flavor than standard action-thriller muscle. Angel Studios added it to its 2026 slate for September 11, and the cast additions make it sound like the film knows exactly what kind of stripped-down pursuit engine it wants to be.

Why is it not higher? Since it still feels a little like a bet on ingredients rather than a bet on identity. Ritchson in danger is easy to buy. A brutal timed mission is easy to buy. Scott Waugh can absolutely deliver physical momentum. But I still need that one detail, the one story kink, one tonal choice, one trailer moment, that turns “this sounds solid” into “I need this now.” Right now, Runner feels promising in a very efficient way. I can already see it being a good night at the movies. I just cannot yet see it being a thriller event.

5

‘Mutiny’ (2026)

Image via Lionsgate

Mutiny starts with a combination that is already enough to make my pulse pick up a little. Jason Statham plus Jean-François Richet is a strong beginning. The premise helps too: Statham’s character is framed for the murder of his billionaire boss and uncovers an international conspiracy while trying to clear his name. That is old-school thriller fuel in the best sense. Lionsgate has dated it for August 21, 2026, and the project has been steadily locking in cast and release movement rather than wobbling around in rumor territory.

What I like here is that the movie sounds one notch more conspiracy-driven than some recent Statham vehicles, which matters. He is at his best when the action has a little institutional grime under it, when it is not just “one man kills many men,” but one man is being squeezed by a bigger machine and decides to break the machine instead. Mutiny sounds like it might give him exactly that lane. I am not ranking it higher only because Statham thrillers have become a little too automatic as an anticipation object for me. I trust the baseline. I am waiting to see whether this one has an actual nasty streak.

4

‘Cliffhanger’ (2026)

Image via TriStar Pictures

Cliffhanger is a dangerous pick because it could still go completely wrong, but that risk is part of the anticipation. The reboot stars Lily James and Pierce Brosnan, with Jaume Collet-Serra directing, and the released setup is pure high-altitude nightmare: a luxury Dolomites trip turns into a kidnapping ambush, one daughter escapes, and now has to save her father and sister from the mountain and the gang. That is wonderfully direct thriller architecture. Heights, family, isolation, pursuit, exposure, all the old fear buttons lit at once. It is currently lined up for an August 28, 2026 U.S. release, though trade reporting has also noted the distributor situation has had instability, which is worth keeping in mind.

Honestly, the anticipation here is almost entirely tonal. If Collet-Serra really leans into mountain dread, physical geography, and the humiliating terror of vertical vulnerability, this could be terrific. If it goes generic, it is dead. That edge makes it exciting to me. I do not want a prestige reimagining. I want a beautiful panic machine where every step and ledge matters. With James and Brosnan, there is at least a chance the movie understands both glamour and danger. That is enough to push it this high.

3

‘How to Rob a Bank’ (2026)

Image via Searchight Pictures

How to Rob a Bank already feels fun in the bloodstream. David Leitch directing a heist thriller with Nicholas Hoult, Anna Sawai, Zoë Kravitz, Pete Davidson, John C. Reilly, Christian Slater, and others is such an immediately alive piece of studio scheduling. Amazon MGM has dated it for September 4, 2026, and the trade coverage makes it clear this is not being sold as some small-bore programmer. This is a big Labor Day play with a crowd-friendly engine. The social-media-hooked heist premise only adds to that.

Why is it top three? Since Leitch has the exact kind of skill set that can make this premise sing, not just action fluency, but rhythm, ensemble deployment, vibe control. And Hoult is having a very specific kind of career right now where he keeps feeling one role away from becoming the guy who can anchor slick, dangerous, half-winking thrillers without losing his edge. Add Sawai and Kravitz and suddenly the whole movie starts sounding like one of those criminal-good-time thrillers where attractiveness, velocity, and betrayal all arrive together. This could be empty fun. It could also be really good empty fun, which is one of cinema’s noblest forms.

2

‘The Dog Stars’ (2026)

Image via 20th Century Studios

The Dog Stars is the one some people will call more sci-fi drama than thriller, but the anticipation is absolutely thriller anticipation for me. Ridley Scott directing a post-apocalyptic story about a pilot, a dog, a devastated world, and the possibility of better life beyond the current perimeter already sounds like a movie built around tension and longing in equal measure. Then you add Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Allison Janney, Guy Pearce, and Benedict Wong, and suddenly the whole thing starts looking like one of those intimidatingly stacked projects that either becomes a major late-period Scott triumph or a fascinating near-miss. 20th Century has it dated for August 28, 2026, after moving it from an earlier slot, and CinemaCon footage is already out there teasing its mood.

The reason it is this high is emotional threat. A lot of thrillers promise adrenaline. The Dog Stars promises dread, solitude, and the possibility that one human connection in a broken world might feel more dangerous than gunfire. That is my kind of anticipation. Ridley Scott working in post-apocalyptic mode can still be deeply potent when the imagery and melancholy lock together, and this source material has exactly that kind of bruised scope. Of all the titles here, this is the one that feels most likely to leave me staring at the screen afterward rather than just grinning through the ride.

1

‘Verity’ (2026)

Image via Amazon MGM Studios

Verity had to be number one. It just had to. Not because it is guaranteed to be the best movie here, but because in pure anticipation terms it already has the most dangerous cocktail: literary fandom, psychological-thriller architecture, a loaded love triangle, a “hidden manuscript” hook that is basically engineered to make people scream in a theater, and a cast built to weaponize ambiguity. The film stars Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway, and Josh Hartnett, with Michael Showalter directing, and Amazon MGM has it dated for October 2, 2026. The teaser is already out, and the early coverage is doing exactly what a thriller campaign should do, selling unease, erotic shadow, and the feeling that the house itself may be keeping score.

And the reason I am most excited for it is that the premise is so gloriously impolite. A struggling writer enters the home of an injured bestselling author to finish her work, finds a manuscript that may or may not reveal monstrous truth, and gets pulled into a family dynamic that already looks diseased before the real suspense even starts. That is catnip. Hathaway playing Verity is catnip. Hartnett back in this kind of dark-romantic-danger lane is catnip. This is the one on the list that most fully feels like a proper: clear the room, I need to see this opening weekend thriller. It has the strongest current under it already.

Verity

Release Date

October 1, 2026

Director

Michael Showalter

Writers

Nick Antosca, Colleen Hoover

Producers

Anne Hathaway, Stacey Sher, Alex Hedlund, Jordana Mollick, Colleen Hoover, Michael Showalter, Nick Antosca