What’s New in Theaters This Weekend: September 25, 2026

Heart of the Beast

Brad Pitt heads into survival-thriller territory in Heart of the Beast, playing James Belmont, a former Special Forces soldier whose plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness. Stranded far from civilization, Belmont must survive the elements, wild animals, injury, and isolation with only his military dog Odin beside him.

David Ayer, best known for Fury, End of Watch and The Beekeeper, directs from a screenplay by Cameron Alexander. J.K. Simmons and Anna Lambe co-star, although much of the film rests squarely on Pitt and his canine companion. The picture runs a relatively lean 101 minutes and is rated PG-13.

This looks like the weekend’s safest choice for audiences wanting a straightforward, old-fashioned adventure with some heart behind it. Anyone who is susceptible to movies about people and their dogs may want to bring tissues.

Primetime

Much darker is Primetime, A24’s fictionalized drama about the rise of To Catch a Predator and its host Chris Hansen. Robert Pattinson plays Hansen during the mid-2000s as the television journalist becomes increasingly famous for confronting men lured to houses by people posing online as underage teenagers.

Documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim makes his narrative-feature directing debut, with Merritt Wever playing producer Andie Bender and Skyler Gisondo portraying Dan Plumb, a young decoy caught inside the increasingly disturbing machinery of reality television. Phoebe Bridgers and Matt Maher also appear. The film is rated R and runs approximately 110 minutes.

There are no meaningful verified audience scores yet because the movie has not officially opened. For viewers interested in media history, true-crime culture and the uncomfortable line between journalism and entertainment, however, this may be the most provocative release of the weekend.

Forgotten Island

Families have a much brighter alternative in DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado. Best friends Jo and Raissa are preparing to go their separate ways when they stumble through a mysterious portal and land on Nakali, a fantastic island populated by creatures drawn from the Filipino folklore they heard about growing up.

H.E.R. voices Jo, while Liza Soberano provides the voice of Raissa. They are joined by Dave Franco as the lovable weredog Raww, along with Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, Ronny Chieng, Dolly de Leon and Lea Salonga, who voices the fearsome Manananggal. The girls eventually discover that escaping the island may require them to sacrifice the memories of their friendship. For families—or adults who simply enjoy well-made animation—Forgotten Island looks like one of the weekend’s pleasant surprises.

Avengers: Endgame — Encore

Seven years after its original release, Marvel is putting Avengers: Endgame back where it was designed to be seen: on a very large theater screen.

The 2019 blockbuster once again brings together Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and the enormous Marvel ensemble as the surviving Avengers attempt to reverse the devastation caused by Thanos. There is obviously nothing new to review about the film itself; audiences already know whether they consider Endgame a triumphant conclusion to Marvel’s original saga or simply too much superhero spectacle packed into three hours.

The reason for the rerelease is what Marvel is calling Avengers: Endgame — Encore. The September 25 engagement includes an exclusive look at the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, due December 18, with an additional sneak peek promised for audiences attending certain IMAX and Infinity Vision screenings.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Opening in more limited release is a new screen adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s autobiographical drama Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Jessica Lange stars as Mary Tyrone opposite Ed Harris as her husband James, with Jonathan Kent directing.

Set during a single day in August 1912, the story follows the Tyrone family as they confront illness, resentment, addiction and decades of buried pain. Edmund may be suffering from tuberculosis, while Mary’s fragile recovery from morphine addiction threatens to collapse under the strain. The material is heavy, intimate and dependent almost entirely on its performances.

Those performances are precisely what critics have praised. Lange has received particularly strong notices, while Harris has also been singled out for the subtlety of his work. Reviews describe the adaptation as emotionally punishing but engrossing, with the strength of O’Neill’s writing and the actors carrying the film.