Unlock the Pulse-Pounding Action Flicks of 2026 That Everyone’s Whispering About—Ready to Elevate Your Movie Night?

No, this isn’t that John Wick spin-off from last year. But Pretty Lethal is actually, ahem, on point. (Thank you, thank you.) In this Prime Video release, a troupe of bickering ballerinas must rely on their unlikely training, and each other, to survive one bloody night against a small army of killers. Iris Apatow, Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Avantika, Maddie Ziegler, and Uma Thurman lead this female-fronted ballet of violence.—E.F.

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It’s been eight long years since Samara Weaving’s Grace lived through her wedding nightmare in Ready or Not. But her problems aren’t over. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come sees Weaving return as Grace, who teams up with her estranged sister (played by Kathryn Newton) and engages in a new fight for survival. This time, they’re up against multiple families in a bloodthirsty hunt for power.—E.F.

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Pirates of the Caribbean fans won’t find another tale of Jack Sparrow vs. Davy Jones in The Bluff’s adventures on the high seas, but the swashbuckling action flick produced by the Russo Brothers and starring Karl Urban (perfect casting) is the next best thing. The ARR-rated adventure—you know, because pirates—was the first time Urban picked up a blade since Lord of the Rings, as the actor told Esquire in an exclusive interview. “To reconnect with that skill set was a lot of fun,” he said. “Every kid wants to play pirates, and this project delivered in spades.”—Josh Rosenberg

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It’s a great time to be James Marsden. He’s perpetually on TV—Your Friends & Neighbors season 2 premieres right as Paradise ends—and he’s even about to rejoin the Marvel universe in Avengers: Doomsday. But before then, he’s starring in Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, a Hulu crime comedy where it’s actually not so great to be Marsden.

In the new film, he plays a hit man named Mike who is attempting to leave the business (James Wick?) when he’s framed for murder. He’s sleeping with loan shark Nick’s (Vince Vaughn) wife Alice (Eiza González), so Nick tricks him into pullin off one last job. Turns out, the man he’s sent to kill is none other than Nick himself. How? Well, Nick is involved in time travel shenanigans and now he’s involved the whole love triangle. I don’t know if it’s a film that works without the powerhouse combo of Marsden and Vaughn, but thankfully we don’t need to imagine that future.—J.R.

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This spy thriller became the highest-grossing Indian film in North America ever after it premiered in March, and it’s easy to see why. The Indian film market is probably the only entertainment industry that aims to produce even more big-budgeted, jingoist action films than the U.S.—and the Dhurandhar sequel is no exception. The film follows an undercover Indian intelligence agent who investigates criminal syndicates in Pakistan, blending in real-world geopolitical events such as the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Politics-wise… well, that’s another story entirely. The film is also nearly four hours long. But the action set pieces? Top notch.—J.R.

In theaters

Jason Statham action films are starting to blend in my mind. There are the famous ones where he’s a driver who can kill you, the two recent ones where he’s a beekeeper who can kill you, and seemingly a billion more wherein he’s some sort of trained mercenary who holds a different job. In Shelter, he’s a lighthouse keeper who, of course, is a former government assassin. But when his past catches up with him, this thriller from the Angel Has Fallen director is all about the action.—J.R.

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