Apple TV+ has officially unveiled an ambitious and carefully curated lineup of original series and films for 2026 that blends prestige drama, genre experimentation, and bankable star power across the calendar year. Spanning thrillers, comedies, horror, action, and psychological drama, the slate stretches from early winter through late autumn, clearly designed to capture both critical attention and mainstream loyalty.

More importantly, these releases reflect Apple’s continued evolution as a content powerhouse rather than a prestige boutique. Following the sustained success of titles like Ted Lasso and For All Mankind, Apple is doubling down on original storytelling that favors tonal confidence over algorithmic safety. The 2026 calendar balances returning favorites with bold new narratives, strategically spaced to keep subscribers engaged throughout the year.

Below are the most anticipated Apple TV+ shows and films of 2026…

#1. Shrinking Season 3 (January 28) 

New Season | Comedy-Drama

As Shrinking enters its third season, it continues to dismantle the sitcom rulebook with surgical precision. Grief, humor, and ethically questionable therapy remain its emotional fuel, but this time the stakes feel deeper and messier. With Jason Segel and Harrison Ford returning alongside new additions like Jeff Daniels and Michael J. Fox, the show leans further into vulnerability without losing its bite. Few series balance sincerity and self-awareness this deftly, and Apple knows it.

#2. Eternity (February 13) 

New Movie | Romantic Fantasy Comedy

Produced by A24, Eternity brings existential whimsy back into romantic comedy territory. Elizabeth Olsen stars as a woman navigating an afterlife where souls are given one week to choose their eternal partner. The premise is charmingly bureaucratic, but the execution is quietly philosophical. What begins as a love triangle evolves into a meditation on choice, regret, and emotional permanence without losing its sense of play.

#3. The Last Thing He Told Me Season 2 (February 20) 

New Season | Drama

Season 2 of The Last Thing He Told Me pushes its domestic thriller framework into darker, more emotionally complex terrain. Jennifer Garner remains its quiet anchor, playing restraint and fury with equal precision. While mysteries about missing husbands are hardly rare, this series distinguishes itself by prioritizing emotional fallout over shock twists. Trust, loyalty, and survival become the real battlegrounds.

#4. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 (February 27) 

New Season | Sci-Fi 

Season 2 leans harder into the MonsterVerse mythology, expanding its kaiju chaos while grounding it in human consequence. Kong returns, a new sea beast looms, and the personal stakes rise alongside the titans. This is blockbuster television that understands scale means nothing without emotional gravity.

#5. Imperfect Women (March 18) 

New Series | Psychological Thriller

Adapted from Araminta Hall’s novel, Imperfect Women places Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington, and Kate Mara inside a psychological pressure cooker fueled by memory, intimacy, and suspicion. One death, three women, and a friendship rotting from the inside out. It’s sharp, uncomfortable, and acutely aware of how desire and resentment often coexist.

#6. Your Friends and Neighbors Season 2 (April 3)

New Season | Crime Drama

Jon Hamm robbing his wealthy friends shouldn’t work this well, but it does. This suburban noir continues its critique of entitlement and moral decay with dark humor and unnerving precision. Hamm’s charm is once again weaponized, and Apple’s fascination with affluent implosion shows no signs of slowing. Expect discourse.

#7. Outcome (April 10) 

New Film | Black Comedy

Keanu Reeves stars as Reef Hawk, a disgraced movie star navigating scandal and reputation collapse. Directed by Jonah Hill, who also plays Hawk’s crisis lawyer,  Outcome becomes a self-aware autopsy of fame, brand preservation, and Hollywood hypocrisy. It’s indulgent, yes, but knowingly so.

#8. Margo’s Got Money Troubles (April 15) 

New Series | Comedy-Drama

Based on Rufi Thorpe’s novel, this sharp, empathetic series follows a young mother navigating financial instability, internet labor, and inherited male chaos. Elle Fanning leads with tonal agility, balancing humor and quiet devastation. The show treats the internet as economic infrastructure, not a punchline, and that restraint makes it resonate.

#9. Criminal Record Season 2 (April 22) 

New Season | Crime Drama

Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo return for another icy excavation of institutional power and moral compromise. Beneath the procedural framework lies a story about authority—who wields it, who resists it, and who is crushed beneath it. Familiar territory for Apple, but sharpened.

#10. Widow’s Bay (April 29) 

New Series | Comedy Horror

A cursed seaside town comedy sounds cozy until it starts biting. This horror-comedy hybrid leans into folk terror, civic denial, and escalating absurdity, anchored by Matthew Rhys’s deadpan authority. Katie Dippold’s comedic instincts suggest laughs won’t undercut the dread. If the balance holds, Widow’s Bay could become Apple’s stealth genre breakout.

#11. Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed (May 20)

New Series | Dark Comedy 

There’s comedy, and then there’s Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed. The title feels less like a logline and more like a dare from Apple’s content strategy team. This darkly comic thriller stars Tatiana Maslany as Paula, a newly divorced mom who spirals into a labyrinth of blackmail, possible murder, and conspiratorial soup. With Jake Johnson alongside her, this is Apple’s bold cross-genre gambit: half neo-noir, half existential sitcom, all tangled up in suburban anxieties.

#12. Cape Fear (June 5)

New Series | Crime Drama

This modern reimagining reframes the Max Cady mythos through contemporary lenses of trauma, justice, and entitlement. Javier Bardem’s casting alone signals menace, while Amy Adams grounds the chaos. It’s not nostalgia; it’s reinvention with teeth.

#13. Sugar Season 2 (June 19)

New Season | Mystery Drama 

If you thought the first season’s blend of sci-fi noir and quirky detective energy was bananas, wait until this thing opens its case files again. Colin Farrell returns as John Sugar, the private investigator caught in a missing-persons mystery. The story unfurls into a sprawling conspiracy, and perhaps the kind of city politics that make you grateful this remains fiction. This second season deepens the mythology and brings in new players, promising a blend of character weirdness and plot machine energy that few shows pull off without collapsing.

#14. Lucky (July 15)

New Series | Psychological Thriller

Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine energy meets Apple’s sleek production values in this stylish thriller adaptation. Based on the bestselling novel, Anya Taylor-Joy plays a woman dragged back into the underworld she tried to leave behind. With Annette Bening and Timothy Olyphant rounding out the cast, the series feels like half psychological thriller and half twisted family drama. And it’s anchored by a lead performance that could win whatever awards season looks like in 2027.

#15. The Dink (July 24)

New Movie | Sport Comedy 

A comedy about a tennis player pivoting to pickleball? Yes, that is the blurb. Jake Johnson leads this summer-ready sports comedy as a washed-up tennis pro forced into pickleball, seeking his father’s respect while confronting past failures. With Mary Steenburgen, Ed Harris, and cameos from real athletes, Apple’s underdog story leans into physical comedy and surprising heart. In other words, it’s a fun, feel-good riff on America’s newest obsession. 

#16. Mayday (September 4)

New Movie | Action Comedy 

Pair Ryan Reynolds with Kenneth Branagh, set them loose in a Cold War rescue comedy, and you basically have Hollywood’s answer to “why not?” Mayday throws a high-flying U.S. Navy pilot behind enemy lines, where his only hope of survival is an ex-KGB agent with a soft spot for Western pop culture. The vibe is buddy comedy meets geopolitical slapstick, and with John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein behind the lens, you should expect sharp pacing and genuine laugh bites. 

#17. Matchbox: The Movie (October 9)

New Movie | Action Comedy 

Apple’s attempt to turn a beloved toy brand into a globe-trotting action comedy isn’t asinine. In fact, it might be delightful. With John Cena doing his well-established John Cena thing (absurd physicality and deadpan affability) supported by an eclectic ensemble, this looks like a love letter to childhood nostalgia and spy cinema. High-octane stunts, absurd stakes, and car-themed chaos could make this unexpectedly fun. And yes, fun is underrated. 

#18. Way of the Warrior Kid (November 20)

New Movie | Family Drama 

Chris Pratt in a family-friendly martial arts coming-of-age tale? Sign us up. Based on the best-selling book, this story follows a bullied middle schooler trained by his decorated Navy SEAL uncle. It’s about confidence, yes, but the film’s heart lies in its interrogation of toughness, vulnerability, and real courage. With Pratt and Linda Cardellini anchoring the cast, Way of the Warrior Kid looks like Apple’s answer to family action dramedy that doesn’t insult your intelligence. 

#19. Ted Lasso Season 4 (Summer 2026)

New Season | Sports Comedy-Drama

Is it a sports show? A meditation on kindness in an amoral world? A global hygge festival disguised as sitcom television? Whatever Ted Lasso is, fans will tell you it’s one of the era’s most sincere, weirdly terrific shows. After what seemed like a perfect farewell, Apple resurrects its flagship feel-good series for a fourth round of Richmond football chaos. Now, Ted takes on a second-division women’s team. The show continues to grapple with optimism’s limits and emotional growth in environments that are as absurd as they are earnest.

Featured image: Apple TV+

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