These 3 Sci-Fi Movies Are Set in 2026: What They Got Right & Wrong

by

Many movies have imagined what the future would be like, but so far, those predictions haven’t come true. We didn’t get hoverboards as promised by Back to the Future Part II, and we never saw Jaws 19 in 3D. Other films set in 2020, like Reign of Fire, Edge of Tomorrow, and Real Steel, predicted battles with dragons, alien invasions, and giant robots – none of which happened. Similarly, Johnny Mnemonic envisioned message implants by 2021, and Soylent Green predicted a grim food source by 2022, but thankfully, neither came to pass. Now that we’re in 2026, it’s interesting to look back at older movies set in this year and see if their predictions were accurate, or just wildly off-base.

We didn’t include movies released recently that are set only a year or two in the future. This means films like Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Wake Up Dead Man, I Saw the TV Glow, and recent Marvel movies such as Captain America: Brave New World, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and The Marvels were excluded. The Final Reckoning deals with AI because AI is a current issue, not because the film predicted a future problem.

3) Doom

The 2005 Doom movie is mostly set in the present, but the events that start the story – the discovery of The Ark – actually happen in 2026.

Let’s just say we haven’t found a secret portal to Mars hidden in the Nevada desert, and the predictions in the game Doom haven’t come true. Still, it’s fun to imagine that maybe someday – perhaps by 2046 – we’ll have teleportation, even though that’s unlikely.

2) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

I’ve been following the Planet of the Apes films, and it’s interesting to think about the timeline. Rise of the Planet of the Apes covers the years 2008 to 2016, but even by 2016, we hadn’t seen that iconic moment of an ape powerfully saying “No!” to Tom Felton yet! And Dawn of the Planet of the Apes picks up about ten years after the events of Rise, so it’s set around 2026.

Perhaps the show Dawn is hinting at something. It does center around two groups struggling to agree on anything. We haven’t seen any clear heroes or villains yet, but the idea of a society becoming completely divided is definitely a major theme.

Stream Dawn of the Planet of the Apes on Hulu.

1) Metropolis

Released almost a century ago, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis accurately predicted many aspects of the future. At its heart, the film explores the stark contrast between the very rich and the struggling working class.

This is a real issue in today’s world, and unfortunately, it’s only expected to get more challenging. The film Metropolis explores what could happen if we don’t control the rapid development of technology. If artificial intelligence could experience being human, it might simply focus on its own desires and not address the potential problems.

Stream Metropolis for free with ads on The Roku Channel.

https://comicbook.com/movies/list/7-sci-fi-masterpieces-that-were-way-ahead-of-their-time/embed/#

Read More

2026-01-11 22:41