It's the start of a new year, which means it's time to kick off the 2026 slate with two upcoming action films led by familiar stars we know what to expect from.

Gerard Butler appears in the sequel Greenland 2: Migration, while Jason Statham arrives with an original titled Shelter. The big question now is who will become the undisputed king of the box office.

The past offers hope

Although January is typically a fairly cold period for theaters, Butler has enjoyed plenty of success over the years. Think of Den of Thieves as well as its sequel, or Plane, all of which became big hits.

By the end of the month, Statham could very well be kicking off a new franchise. He has also scored big in January before, as The Beekeeper wiped the floor with the competition back in 2024.

Only positives

Regardless of the outcome, there are already two winners. First, there's director Ric Roman Waugh, who directed both titles. And last but not least, of course, the audience, which has plenty of spectacle to choose from.

A previously stalled Marvel project seems to be back on the drawing board. According to new reports, Marvel Studios is breathing new life into plans for Strange Academy, a series centered around young sorcerers led by Wong, known from the Doctor Strange universe.

In 2025, it leaked that Marvel had halted development on three series that had never been officially announced: Nova, Terror, Inc. and Strange Academy. A writers' room had already been set up for the latter. The series was to revolve around a magical academy founded by Doctor Strange, where young talents are trained in the mystic arts.

Focus on magic and mutants

According to insiders, the project is now back in active development. Marvel is reportedly looking for a new screenwriter to reshape the concept. This development fits within a broader strategic shift by the studio: after Secret Wars, the emphasis would reportedly shift more towards stories involving magic and mutants.

The character Wong, played by Benedict Wong, is planned to take the lead role in Strange Academy. However, the actor is currently still busy with the second and third seasons of the Netflix series 3 Body Problem, which are being filmed simultaneously. Filming for season two is reportedly nearing completion.

Magical

Whether Strange Academy will actually go into production has not yet been confirmed by Marvel. However, it is clear that the magical genre will continue to occupy a prominent place within the MCU for the time being.

A new attempt to bring The Dark Tower to life seems closer than ever. Director Mike Flanagan has been working for years on a series based on the book series by Stephen King and now reveals that the project is in full swing. He explicitly states that the earlier 2017 film adaptation is not the final version.

In an interview, Flanagan confirms that work on the series is progressing steadily. "It is like an oil tanker, but it is moving," said the director. He says he already has multiple developed scripts. "It is our first priority."

Flanagan wants to rectify earlier failure

The director emphasizes that the 2017 film version, starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, must not be the final word on The Dark Tower. That film, directed by Nikolaj Arcel, received heavy criticism at the time and currently has a score of only 16% on Rotten Tomatoes. "We really can't accept that as the conclusion," states Flanagan.

His plans are ambitious: he envisions a series consisting of five seasons, followed by two separate films. In an earlier interview in 2022, Flanagan already said that he had finished the script for the pilot episode. For him, the project is a personal mission: "This has been my holy grail for my entire life."

Not dependent on Amazon

Remarkably, Flanagan acquired the rights to The Dark Tower separately from his general deal with Amazon. Although the platform could still pick up the series in the future, he is currently developing the project independently. Flanagan does not rule out a collaboration with Amazon in the long run.