Sci Fi Movies This Week: Weekly column tracking what is coming in the current week in the way of sci fi, fantasy, and horror releases as well as news and updates on genre films, streaming and theatrical.
Premiering This Week:
The next contender in the Summer 2026 Blockbuster sweepstakes steps up this week as Mortal Kombat II has its premiere on Friday. Animal Farm turned out to be a disappointment this past weekend (more on that at this link), so now the video game franchise will see how it fares in the theaters. Also releasing this weekend on Sunday is the anime film Labyrinth, which will be getting a limited engagement. You can see highlights for the week below, and you can watch trailers and get info for all the current and upcoming sci fi and fantasy films at this link.
Mortal Combat II (In Theaters, May 8th): This time, the fan favorite champions—now joined by Johnny Cage himself—are pitted against one another in the ultimate, no-holds barred, gory battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.
Directed by: Simon McQuoid
Starring: Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks
Labyrinth (In Theaters-Limited, May 10th):Shiori is a typical high school student who dreams of online stardom, but struggles to capture attention. After an embarrassing video of her goes viral, she gets trapped in her smartphone and replaced by a charismatic alter ego. As the doppelganger charms the internet and devises a nefarious plot to replace mankind with brainrot, Shiori must partner with other online outcasts to stop her digital counterpart and reclaim her life in the real world.
Directed by: Shoji Kawamori
Starring: Aoi Ito, Maaya Sakamoto, Jun Saito, Tomokazu Sugita, Show Hayami, Taizô Harada
Sci Fi Movie News of Note
The Planet of the Apes franchise will be getting rebooted yet again, and that will be coming from director Matt Shakman (Fantastic Four: First Steps) and writer Josh Friedman (Avatar: Fire and Ash). And while Friedman previously worked on 2024’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the new movie will not be a continuation from that. According to Deadline, this “will mark a return to the planet where apes are the superior species ruling all”, and that Shakman and Friedman are working on an original story for the film. With Disney now controlling 20th Century Studios, which owns the rights to the property, this is apparently their attempt to pivot with the franchise and take it in a new direction. Whether audiences are ready for a reboot remains to be seen.
I have been seeing an entry for Starman in the Production Weekly Listings, which I thought was a reboot of the 1984 John Carpenter film, but it turns out that it is an all-new property. Brendan Fraser will be starring in the production, and it is based on an original screenplay by Josh Wakely. Deadline gives the following description:
In Starman, Fraser will portray visionary technologist Tom Adams — an architect of the future — who launches a historic expedition to Mars, positioning himself at the forefront of humanity’s next frontier. But when unforeseen events find him millions of miles from Earth, his mission becomes an unexpected and urgent race against time, driven not by survival alone but by love.
Wakely will be directing the film and David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight) will be onboard as executive producer.
James Cameron is known for the multiple director’s cuts of his films, and he is currently eyeing an update of one of his earliest sci fi entries, Aliens. In an interview with Letterboxd, he was talking about his use of 3D technology and how he would like to go back and apply that to the 1986 movie that helped establish him as a major player in the genre. Following are his comments:
We are thinking about converting Aliens [to 3D], because I know now that the tools are so much better than they were for creating depth maps. We’re probably going to wind up converting Aliens, which will be a fun experience. That film seems to be evergreen. People still go back to it a lot.
Note that this is just Cameron talking at this point, and nothing is actually in the works. But it is possible that those infamous xenomorphs could be popping out in 3D at some point.
In casting news, Matthew Lillard (Scooby Doo) will be joining the upcoming second Superman film from the DCU reboot Man of Steel. There is no word at this point on what character he will be playing.
In production news, A Quiet Place III will start filming next week with John Krasinski back in the director’s chair. That one currently has a premiere date set for July 2027.
New on Home Video
Mercy: In the near future, a detective (Chris Pratt) stands on trial accused of murdering his wife. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the advanced A.I. Judge (Rebecca Ferguson) he once championed, before it determines his fate.
Cast and Crew: Chris Pratt (Actor), Rebecca Ferguson (Actor), Timur Bekmambetov (Director)
Now Available: 4K UHD | Blu-ray | DVD | VOD
More new releases at this link.
Recent Trailers
Evil Dead Burn (In Theaters, July 10th): After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home. As one by one they are transformed into Deadites—turning the gathering into a family reunion from hell—she comes to discover that the vows she took in life… live on even in death.
Directed by: Sébastien Vanicek
Starring: Sébastien Vanicek, Souheila Yacoub, Luciane Buchanan, Maude Davey
Be sure to follow our Sci Fi Movie Schedule page to keep up with all the upcoming genre releases.
