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Hot movie slate

Pauline Songco · Jan 6, 2026, 10:34 PM

‘GREENLAND 2 Migration.’ — Photograph courtesy of Lionsgate

January is no longer a quiet month for movie releases. Studios are kicking off 2026 with a packed lineup that includes sequels, horror franchises, star-led thrillers and major streaming premieres, signaling a clear push to draw audiences back to theaters and platforms early in the year.

The year begins on 2 January with Soulm8te, a science-fiction horror film from Blumhouse. Starring Lily Sullivan and David Rysdahl, the film centers on an AI-powered companion created to combat loneliness, only for the technology to develop unsettling emotional behavior.

Big-budget spectacle arrives on 9 January with Greenland 2: Migration. Gerard Butler reprises his role alongside Morena Baccarin in the sequel to the 2020 disaster hit. The story follows survivors emerging from underground shelters to navigate a devastated planet in search of a livable future, expanding the global survival narrative that drove the original film’s success.

Mid-month brings one of January’s most anticipated releases. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple premieres on 16 January, continuing the long-running post-apocalyptic horror franchise. Set decades after the original outbreak, the film explores a world permanently altered by infection, with humanity drawn toward a mysterious stronghold known as the Bone Temple.

‘THE Bone Temple.’ — Photograph courtesy of sony pictures

That same day marks a high-profile streaming debut. The Rip, a crime thriller starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, launches on Netflix. The film follows law-enforcement officers whose discovery of a massive drug cache entangles them in corruption and moral compromise, with the on-screen reunion of the two actors generating significant attention.

BEN Affleck and Matt Damon in ‘The Rip.’ — Photograph courtesy of netflix

The latter half of the month continues the momentum. On 23 January, Mercy arrives in theaters, starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson. Set in a near-future society built around predictive justice, the film follows a detective forced to question the system when a case challenges the idea of punishing crimes before they occur.

CHRIS Pratt in ‘Mercy.’ — Photograph courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

January wraps up on the 30th with two very different films. Send Help, directed by Sam Raimi, is a survival thriller about two strangers who must depend on each other after a plane crash, combining tense drama with Raimi’s distinctive style. At the same time, The Moment offers a lighter, character-driven mockumentary, using humor and staged interviews to examine how cultural stories are shaped.