UPDATE: The Sundance Film Festival has officially announced its lineup, and there are new films by filmmakers like Gregg Araki (“I Want Your Sex”), Macon Blair (“The Shitheads”), Olivia Wilde (“The Invite”), Andrew Stanton (“In the Blink of an Eye”), Cathy Yan (“The Gallerist”) and David Wain (“Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass”).
We have some first look images below. Above is our first look at Araki’s film. Below this article you can find stills for Yan, Stanton and Wilde’s films. Full lineup.
Scrolling through the lineups, some additional notes: Charli XCX has three films premiering. “Carousel” from Rachel Lambert, who directed “Sometimes I Think About Dying,” could be a breakout. There’s also “Frank & Louise,” Petra Biondina Volpe’s follow up after this year’s international gem “Late Shift.”
Also, John Wilson, creator of the brilliant HBO series “How To With John Wilson,” has directed a film, “The History of Concrete.” Here’s the synopsis: “After attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, filmmaker John Wilson tries to use the same formula to sell a documentary about concrete.”
Documentary projects include new films by Alex Gibney (“Going Clear”), Liz Garbus (“Give Me the Ball!”), Judd Apatow (“Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story”), and John Wilson (“The History of Concrete”).
A total of 105 titles have been announced, so far. Sundance will take place in person from January 22 to February 1, 2026, in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah.
EARLIER: The Sundance Film Festival announcement is only two days away, but I can confirm a handful of titles that will likely show up at this final edition in Park City. A few of these were in our “missing” list from earlier in the fall.
After a two-year wait, Andrew Stanton’s “In the Blink of an Eye” will finally premiere. The Oscar-winning filmmaker known for Pixar classics “WALL-E” and “Finding Nemo” is directing the sci-fi drama for Searchlight Pictures. The film, which began principal photography in March 2023, is quite ambitious, starting off with the Big Bang and then unfolding across three interwoven timelines: 45,000 years ago during humanity’s early days, the present in America, and a spacecraft journey roughly 200 years in the future.
Then there’s Cathy Yan’s “The Gallerist,” starring Natalie Portman and Jenna Ortega, which, if you can believe it, focuses on a desperate gallerist who conspires to sell a dead guy at Art Basel Miami. Yan’s debut was the 2018 Sundance indie “Dead Pigs.” Her last film was 2020’s “Birds of Prey,” which was part of the old DCU and starred Margot Robbie — her only other directing credit since then was an episode of HBO’s “Succession.”
As I had previously reported, Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex” is also Sundance-bound. In the film, Cooper Hoffman stars as Olivia Wilde’s “sexual muse.” This marks Araki’s first feature in over a decade, based on an original script co-written with Karley Sciortino (“Slutever,” “Now Apocalypse”).
Macon Blair, coming off “The Toxic Avenger,” already has a film in the can — it’s titled “The Shitheads,” and I’m hearing it’s also going to Sundance. Starring Dave Franco and Mason Thames, the film tackles two rock-bottom drivers who transport a wealthy teen to rehab, but their simple job spirals into a chaotic journey of drugs, danger, and crime. Blair won the top prize at Sundance in 2017 for “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore.”
Then there’s Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite,” a dark comedy riff on the date-night genre. She’s assembled an impressive cast — Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton, and Wilde herself — for the adaptation of Cesc Gay’s Spanish film “Sentimental.” Wilde’s last film as a director was the infamous “Don’t Worry Darling,” and before that she gained indie cred with the comedy “Booksmart.”
A24 will be bringing “The Moment,” directed by Aidan Zamiri and based on an original idea by Charli XCX, who also stars in the film. A trailer was released recently.
A new secretly shot film from Kogonada (“Columbus,” “After Yang”) will also premiere in one of the sidebar sections. This one is said to be set in Hong Kong. I’m not sure whether he shot this film before or after “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” but it’s a micro-budgeted, experimental film about dual identity.
Not going to Sundance this year are a few filmmakers we had hoped to see show up in the lineup, including Jeremy Saulnier, Jane Schoenberg, Kristoffer Borgli, Chloe Domont, Boots Riley, Jesse Eisenberg, and The Zellner Brothers.
The last edition of Sundance, which took place this past January, produced a handful of acclaimed titles, including “Sorry Baby,” “Train Dreams,” “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” “The Perfect Neighbor,” “Together,” and “Twinless.” It’s the mecca of indie filmmaking, which has struggled mightily this decade, and a festival like this one is more important than ever to keep the fight going.
Sundance has been rooted in Utah since 1978. While the 2026 edition will remain in Park City, it will mark the festival’s final year there, ahead of its move to Boulder, Colorado in 2027. For now, the 2026 Sundance Film Festival is set to run from January 22 to February 1.
Scott says it could be “the highest budget film” of his career” before accounting for tax incentives.” If Scott isn’t bullsh*tting here, and lord knows he might be, that would put the cost in the $200M+ range.