Two Big Science-Fiction Releases to Watch in 2026

Science-fiction fans have a lot to look forward to as 2026 moves toward the end of the year. Two major franchises are returning with new stories: Blade Runner 2099 on Prime Video and Dune: Part Three in theaters.

Both continue science-fiction worlds that have become known for their incredible visual design, futuristic settings, and larger questions about humanity, technology, power, and survival.
 

Blade Runner 2099 — Coming to Prime Video

The world of Blade Runner returns with Blade Runner 2099, a new eight-episode limited series coming to Prime Video on November 25, 2026. The series is set 50 years after the events of Blade Runner 2049.

The series stars Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer, with Silka Luisa serving as showrunner. Original Blade Runner director Ridley Scott is also involved as an executive producer.

The story returns viewers to Los Angeles in the year 2099, continuing the franchise's exploration of humans, Replicants, artificial identity, and what it means to be alive in an increasingly technological world.

For longtime fans, Blade Runner 2099 is especially interesting because the franchise has always imagined futures shaped by artificial intelligence, corporations, environmental change, surveillance, and advanced technology. Many of those ideas feel even more relevant today than when the original Blade Runner arrived in 1982.

Blade Runner 2099 premieres November 25, 2026, exclusively on Prime Video.
 

Dune: Part Three — December 18, 2026

Another major science-fiction story returns to theaters with Dune: Part Three.

Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. have officially scheduled the movie for December 18, 2026.

The film continues Denis Villeneuve's cinematic journey through the universe created by author Frank Herbert. After the enormous scale of Dune and Dune: Part Two, the third film moves the story into its next stage and is based on material from Herbert's second Dune novel, Dune Messiah.

The world of Dune combines science fiction with politics, religion, warfare, ecology, family legacy, and questions about leadership and power. That combination has helped make the modern films feel different from many traditional science-fiction blockbusters.

For viewers who have followed Paul Atreides from the beginning, Dune: Part Three should provide another major chapter in his story while continuing to explore the consequences of the events that transformed Arrakis.

Dune: Part Three arrives in theaters December 18, 2026.
 

A Big End to 2026 for Science Fiction

With Blade Runner 2099 arriving in November and Dune: Part Three following in December, the end of 2026 is shaping up to be an exciting period for science-fiction fans.

The two franchises approach the future very differently. Blade Runner looks toward artificial intelligence, Replicants, technology, and futuristic cities, while Dune presents a distant civilization shaped by politics, prophecy, resources, religion, and competing families.

What they share is a willingness to use science fiction for more than spectacle. Both worlds ask questions about where humanity is going—and what we may become along the way.