Twelve upcoming 2026 releases appear especially vulnerable to financial underperformance, each for distinct reasons. Some belong to franchises that arguably should have concluded years ago, and their anticipated flops will likely underscore this sentiment. Other films are standalone projects overly reliant on actors who lack the draw of a bankable star. Meanwhile, some suffer from oddly timed releases or insufficient marketing campaigns, suggesting their path to profitability will be challenging. These factors are just a few of the hurdles facing these 12 films, which seem poised to be among the year’s most notable box office letdowns.

One such film is “Mercy,” a major release for Chris Pratt in January 2026. It represents Pratt’s first leading role in a non-sequel live-action feature since 2016’s “Passengers.” Known for his roles as Mario, Star-Lord, and Owen Grady in “Jurassic World,” Pratt typically draws over $350 million at the domestic box office. However, “Mercy” is unlikely to replicate such success or achieve significant profitability. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, who previously collaborated with Pratt on 2008’s “Wanted,” the film casts him as a detective attempting to clear his name by outsmarting an A.I. judge.

Further complicating prospects, co-star Rebecca Ferguson’s inconsistent box office results outside of hits like “Dune” and “Mission: Impossible” suggest “Mercy” may struggle financially. Fortunately, Pratt’s involvement in “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” later in 2026 could help stabilize his box office reputation.

The production of “Scream 7” faced upheaval after the dismissal of Melissa Barrera due to contentious social media posts, leading to Jenna Ortega and original director Christopher Landon’s exits. Consequently, “Scream 7” was reimagined, shifting its focus from a “Scream VI” sequel to revisiting the franchise’s roots. This reboot centers on Neve Campbell’s character, Sidney Prescott, and reportedly features the return of several classic “Scream” actors, including David Arquette and Matthew Lillard, despite their characters’ previous demises.

Throw in “Mercy” co-star Rebecca Ferguson’s messy box office track record outside of “Dune” and “Mission: Impossible” movies, and it sure looks like Pratt’s next star vehicle won’t break out financially. At least 2026’s “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” will get his box office track record back on steadier ground.

Once “Scream 7” fired Melissa Barrera over her controversial social media comments, the whole project became consumed in turmoil. Soon, Jenna Ortega and original director Christopher Landon also departed the production. Subsequently, “Scream 7” got overhauled to become not a “Scream VI” follow-up but a return to original “Scream” lore. Now, this endeavor is focused on Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, while a bevy of vintage “Scream” actors (like David Arquette and Matthew Lillard) are allegedly returning for this installment despite their respective characters previously perishing.

“Scream 7” reuniting Neve Campbell and writer/director Kevin Williamson has now doomed this franchise on multiple levels, including at the box office. Ditching the new characters of the last two “Scream” movies is already a bad idea. Doing that and then going backward by embracing Prescott and company once again just reflects a franchise desperate to please its audience rather than confidently pursuing new ideas. Meanwhile, there’s not much novelty in doing a “Scream” legacy sequel focused on the denizens of the initial “Scream” outing. “Scream 4” and 2022’s “Scream” already did that. Thus, “Scream 7” doesn’t even have the novelty factor to attract moviegoers to their local multiplex.

“Scream 7” is also opening close to other horror-tinged projects like “The Bride!” that could thoroughly overshadow it in the realm of must-see movie events. Barrera might just have the last laugh when it comes to this horror sequel, given how it’s been spiraling toward box office doom ever since her firing.

In late 2009, a modern live-action movie update of the “Masters of the Universe” centered around Prince Adam/He-Man began active development at Sony/Columbia Pictures. Since then, countless studios and filmmakers have tried to crack how to deliver a big-budget blockbuster vision of this Mattel property. Netflix even briefly acquired the feature in the early 2020s and had Kyle Allen set to play the titular role. Come June 2026, audiences will finally get to see “Masters of the Universe” on the big screen courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios and “Bumblebee” director Travis Knight. Nicholas Galitzine is now playing He-Man in a project that just feels like it’s arriving too late.

For starters, pop culture has been oversaturated with 80s nostalgia. Doing yet another revival of a major property from this era feels extremely redundant. Plus, the title’s gargantuan $170+ million budget means it would have to clear $440+ million worldwide to even begin looking profitable. That’s a tall order in the 2020s, when even MCU movies regularly gross under $420 million globally. Then there’s the man playing live-action Skeletor, Jared Leto. Between “Morbius,” “The Haunted Mansion,” and “Tron: Ares,” every 2020s blockbuster Leto comes into contact with becomes a legendary box office flop.

Right now, there’s no sign “Masters of the Universe” can eschew that trend. All the years of effort to bring He-Man back to multiplexes will likely result in one of summer 2026’s bigger flops.

Glen Powell’s “The Running Man” becoming a flop at the box office underscored the shocking riskiness of modern remake movies. Audiences can’t get enough of nostalgia-infused legacy sequels continuing their favorite stories. However, unless it’s a remake of an animated Disney movie from the 90s, moviegoers just aren’t interested in a straightforward remake dismissing the continuity of their favorite features. Whether it’s “Total Recall,” “RoboCop,” or “Point Break,” among many others, there’s a tremendously dismal track record associated with post-2010 remakes. 2026’s “Cliffhanger” update could become the next dud in this phenomenon.

This Jaume Collet-Serra directorial effort, an update of the 1993 Sylvester Stallone feature of the same name, stars Lily James and Pierce Brosnan. James has proven a solid box office draw in women-skewing projects like “Yesterday” and “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again.” It’s unlikely that demographic shows up in droves for a “Cliffhanger” remake. The original film also isn’t very well known in today’s pop culture. Why not just make something original instead of regurgitating a faintly remembered (if even that) brand name?

The “Cliffhanger” U.S. release is also being handled by newbie distributor Row K Entertainment. This label has zero experience launching costly summer blockbusters, another challenge this project will have to surmount. Above all else, though, the apathy audiences now have for traditional remakes spells doom for “Cliffhanger.” The producers of this feature should maybe chill out on those plans for a sequel.

Six months after its premiere at the Annecy International Film Festival, “Animal Farm” was picked up by Angel Studios for U.S. distribution, with the “Sound of Freedom” and “David” studio planning a summer 2026 theatrical launch for this George Orwell adaptation. This CG-animated take on the classic novel comes courtesy of director Andy Serkis and features a plethora of A-list performers in voice-over roles, many of whom have worked with Serkis on past live-action projects.

It’s been a challenge for even original Pixar animated titles to gain much box office momentum in the 2020s. Convincing families to show up in large numbers for a new iteration of “Animal Farm” already sounds like a tremendous uphill battle. More specifically, “Animal Farm” was also greeted with mixed reviews after its Annecy debut, which doesn’t spell out much hope for the project gaining traction with audiences of all ages. Then there’s the mixed box office track record that Angel Studios has cultivated as a distributor. For every “Sound of Freedom,” Angel has also launched flops like “Rule Breakers.” 

A risky project like “Animal Farm” needs a more assured distributor to guarantee box office glory. Perhaps Angel Studios can pull off a miracle here on par with their April 2025 hit “The King of Kings.” More likely, though, “Animal Farm” won’t make much hay in its theatrical run.

Years after the original “Social Network” movie brought Mark Zuckerberg’s creation of Facebook to the silver screen, now further exploits connected to the social media platform will be chronicled in a quasi-sequel to that 2010 classic. “The Social Reckoning,” starring Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison, will also see Jeremy Strong taking on the role of Zuckerberg that Jesse Eisenberg played in “The Social Network.” That casting shift alone may alienate some “Social Network” fans from giving this project a chance. 

Not only does this casting mean “The Social Reckoning” is ditching one of the most acclaimed performers of its predecessor, but also, there’s not much novelty in watching “Succession” and “The Apprentice” veteran Strong play a malicious tycoon. Then there’s this movie’s release date, October 9, 2026. “The Social Reckoning” will be sandwiched in between a bunch of other titles competing for the attention of adult audiences, including a new Tom Cruise movie and “Whalefall.” Currently, “The Social Reckoning” feels the most vulnerable of these projects, particularly since it won’t be able to carry over actors or even the original director (David Fincher) who made “The Social Network” so beloved.

Filmmaker Aaron Sorkin has his work cut out for him to make “The Social Reckoning” a box office hit, especially since White and Madison aren’t massive draws yet for mainstream audiences. It seems certain that most folks will choose to stay home and revisit “The Social Network” instead of watching this sequel.

Believe it or not, Warner Bros. has not theatrically released an animated film since 2022’s “DC League of Super-Pets” (save for the occasional foreign limited release title like 2023’s “Mummies.”) That dry spell reflects the time that Warner Bros. Discovery has spent launching Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, a refresh of Warner Animation Group that hopes to be this studios answer to Illumination or Paramount Animation. The first title for this outfit is “The Cat in the Hat,” a new adaptation of the beloved Dr. Seuss book from directors Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja.

Dr. Seuss books remain popular and the distinctive red-and-white hat from “The Cat in the Hat” is as ubiquitous as ever. However, it’s currently doubtful that “The Cat in the Hat” will become a box office sensation. For one thing, this book’s already been adapted into a movie, the 2003 Mike Myers punchline “The Cat in the Hat.” “The Grinch” may get away with multiple film adaptations because of its holiday season timeliness, but this Dr. Seuss property won’t have that advantage. Also, Warner Bros. animated fare has an incredibly mixed box office track record. For every “The LEGO Movie” or “Happy Feet,” there’s a plethora of bombs like “Quest for Camelot” and “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part.” 

Resorting to yet another “Cat in the Hat” adaptation doesn’t sound like a surefire recipe for positively bucking that financial trend.

The first “Angry Birds Movie” made a tidy little sum in May 2016, but its sequel, “The Angry Birds Movie 2,” had a lifetime domestic gross only $3 million higher than its predecessor’s North American opening weekend. It did do a little more than twice its $65 million budget at the worldwide box office, but that wasn’t a ringing endorsement for the saga’s big screen appeal. That steep decline instantly signaled that “Angry Birds” would join “Stuart Little” movies: kids movie properties that audiences only wanted to see once. 

Despite that seemingly assured outcome, “The Angry Birds Movie 3” will hit theaters on December 23, 2026, courtesy of distributor Paramount Pictures. This is a bamboozling move on so many levels, including the current obscurity of the “Angry Birds” property for today’s kids. “Fortnite” and “Roblox” have dethroned “Angry Birds” as the go-to video games for youngsters. For another, “Angry Birds Movie 2” already reflects a franchise in financial decline. A lengthy seven-year wait between entries isn’t likely to reverse that trend. The inevitable collapse of “The Angry Birds Movie 3” will make it clear this franchise really should’ve ended with its 2019 sequel.

With the film securing a release date and the German equivalent of an MPA rating in Germany, it looks like Guy Ritchie’s long-delayed project “In The Grey” is finally hitting movie theaters. This thriller reunites director Guy Ritchie with some familiar faces from his past movies and, surprisingly, Jason Statham isn’t one of them. Instead, “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” leading man Henry Cavill and “The Covenant” star Jake Gyllenhaal are the leads here. The duo will share the screen with Eiza González and Rosamund Pike.

Hot off 2009’s “Sherlock Holmes,” Guy Ritchie began helming a series of major studio releases (like the “Sherlock Holmes” movies and “Aladdin”) that rocketed him to new levels of box office notoriety. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, though, he hasn’t been able to regain his financial footing, with none of his post-2020 movies exceeding $27.46 million domestically. “In the Grey” doesn’t have great odds to reverse that trend. The chief problem is that Cavill isn’t a box office draw and Jake Gyllenhaal is also erratic in his financial history. Meanwhile, audiences just haven’t clicked with Ritchie’s style of action thrillers in recent years. The generically named “In The Grey” will really have to defy the odds to overturn that norm.

Back in the 70s, when major young actors played real-life figures, it was likely they were playing folks like Lenny Bruce or the “Dog Day Afternoon” protagonists who were ripped from that era’s headlines. Today, acclaimed young performers Timothée Chalamet and Jeremy Allen White are expected to dress up as musicians and other prolific figures that resonate with the Baby Boomers and Generation X crowds. It’s a bizarre, nostalgia-driven trend on so many levels, including the simple fact that audiences under 35 are driving 2020s theatrical moviegoing and would certainly like to see stories reflecting their modern reality. 

Hollywood’s 2026 offerings, though, are still aiming to tickle nostalgia for the 50+ crowd. That includes “I Play Rocky,” a new film from “Green Book” director Peter Farrelly about then-unknown artist Sylvester Stallone (Anthony Ippolito) trying to get “Rocky” off the ground. This story sounds much too inside baseball to resonate with larger audiences, while the deluge of “Rocky” and “Creed” follow-ups means that any project with the name “Rocky” in its title isn’t guaranteed to be special. Rocky Balboa always goes the distance on the silver screen. The new movie “I Play Rocky,” though, will have a far more challenging time achieving box office glory. There lies the peril with only making movies focused on pre-1985 cultural icons/events.

The brutal ending of 2008’s “The Strangers” wouldn’t seem to suggest that this creepy home invasion horror film would spawn sequels. However, Hollywood found a way to do just that. In fact, in late 2022, a trio of “Strangers” sequels were all shot simultaneously by director Renny Harlin, with the first hitting theaters in May 2024. While “The Strangers: Chapter 1” did adequate business, its September 2025 sequel absolutely bombed in its blink-and-miss-it theatrical run. Now, “The Strangers: Chapter 3” is set for a February 6, 2026, release and, presumably, will put the “Strangers” brand name to rest for a while.

After “Chapter 2” flopped, there’s clearly no more demand for a movie like “The Strangers: Chapter 3.” That reality alone would seem to seal this title’s box office fate. Compounding its inevitable demise, though, is the abysmal reception for these new “Strangers” movies. Even if no other horror titles were opening around “Chapter 3,” slavish devotees to frightening cinema likely wouldn’t give this project a chance after how badly the last two installments turned out. Of course, other chilling features are debuting close to this follow-up, including “Send Help” and “Psycho Killer,” which will make it nearly impossible for “Chapter 3” to get on people’s radars. 

There’s just no end to the problems this practically assured box office flop will face. In hindsight, assuming audiences would instantly want three more “Strangers” installments may have been a tad hasty.

A whole year before “M3gan 2.0” hit movie theaters, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse announced that the “M3gan” franchise would spill over into a spin-off movie. This project was entitled “Soulm8te” and would chronicle the chaos that unfolds when a grieving man tries to process his wife’s demise through an android. This Kate Dolan directorial effort suggested that this saga could now sustain various standalone features, all exploring what happens when technology gets out of hand. What once seemed like a license to print money soon became more complicated when “M3gan 2.0” crashed and burned at the box office in summer 2025.

With audiences declaring “M3gan 2.0” a downgrade of a sequel that rejected the original movie’s message, “Soulm8te” is now in an incredibly awkward financial position. If a direct “M3gan” sequel couldn’t click financially, what hope did a standalone spin-off have at the box office? That alone doesn’t bode well for its financial future. Even worse, though, is that, as of this writing, Universal Pictures seems to have left “Soulm8te” in limbo. Long scheduled for a January 9, 2026, theatrical debut, there’s zero marketing for the title despite its supposed “release” being just weeks away.

Between the “M3gan” franchise’s dire state and this lack of any promotion, “Soulm8te” is poised to get thrown into the box office dustbin.