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 on genre films.
Premiering This Week:
This weekend does not have too much to offer sci fi and fantasy fans, with only three films hitting theaters, all in limited release. That includes the indie zombie film This Is Not a Test, the parallel universe thriller Redux Redux, and the horror/fantasy The Dreadful. Below are some highlights, and you can read more about these and see the trailers for all the upcoming sci fi and fantasy films at this link.
This Is Not a Test (In Theaters-Limited, Feb 20): Sloane and a small group of her classmates take cover in their high school to escape their suddenly apocalyptic hometown. As danger relentlessly pounds on the doors, Sloane begins to see the world through the eyes of people who actually want to live and takes matters into her own hands.
Directed by: Adam MacDonald
Starring: Olivia Holt, Froy Gutierrez, Corteon Moore, Carson MacCormac, Chloe Avakian, Luke MacFarlane
Redux Redux (In Theaters-Limited, Feb 20): In an attempt to avenge her daughter’s death, Irene Kelly travels through parallel universes, killing her daughter’s murderer over and over again. She grows addicted to the revenge streak, putting her own humanity in jeopardy.
Directed by: Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus
Starring: Jim Cummings, Michaela McManus, Jeremy Holm, Stella Marcus
Sci Fi Movie News of Note
In the latest Production Weekly listings, there is an entry for Videodrome suggesting that the long-in-the-works reboot of that 1983 David Cronenberg cult classic is moving forward. The last update on that was over ten years ago when music video director Adam Berg was attached to the project. The original film focused on Max Renn (played by James Woods), the president of a sleazy cable TV station who discovers a mysterious broadcast featuring extreme violence and torture. As he investigates, he begins to experience disturbing hallucinations and bodily transformations, blurring the line between reality and media-induced illusion. The direction for the reboot was to add nano-technology to the storyline and turn it into an action sci fi thriller. Whether those plans are still in place and whether Berg is still attached is uncertain at this point, and we will keep an eye out for further updates on this film.
According to Chris Henmsorth, the Norse God Thor may be returning to action after making an appearance in the upcoming film Avengers: Doomsday. He had the following to say during the Smartless podcast:
I was talking to Kevin Feige about it, and he said it’s cool because the audience now expects dramatic turns with the character… And whatever we do next – we’ve got some ideas to do something pretty unique again and hopefully be [different].
A fifth Thor movie has been in the planning stages, but nothing relating to that is on the MCU schedule at this point.
Predator: Badlands arrived on Hulu February 12th, and it has become the top movie premiere for the service with 9 million views worldwide across its first five days of availability. It topped Hulu’s previous best premiere Prey, which was a Predator prequel that arrived on the service in August 2022. In the theaters, Badlands pulled in $184.5 million in global receipts vs. a budget of $105, and it will need home video sales to get it into the black.
The sci fi action film Mercy starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson has not done well in its theatrical run, falling out of the Box Office Top 10 after only two weeks. It will be heading to On Demand availability after only 25 days, where it will try to turn a profit with home video sales.
Luc Besson’s cult classic The Fifth Element will be headed back to theaters as part of Fathom Entertainment’s Big Screen Classics series. That 1997 sci fi film starred Bruce Willis, Chris Tucker, Milla Jovovich, and Gary Oldman, and it will be back on the big screen for a limited engagement on July 26th and 27th.
You can see the Box Office results for sci fi and fantasy films from this previous weekend at this link.
Recent Trailers
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (In Theaters, April 17, 2026): The young daughter of a journalist disappears into the desert without a trace— eight years later, the broken family is shocked when she is returned to them, as what should be a joyful reunion turns into a living nightmare.
Directed by: Lee Cronin
Starring: Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, Verónica Falcón
Be sure to follow our Sci Fi Movie Schedule page to keep up with all the upcoming genre releases.
