January 2026 Is the Weirdest Box Office Season of the 21st Century

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The past few years have been unusual for Hollywood. The COVID-19 pandemic and the growing popularity of streaming services have created challenges for the film industry. Between problems at DC Studios and A24’s focus on unique and often strange films like Eddington, Black Adam, and The Monkey, the recent film landscape feels surreal. As the January 2026 box office results come in, it’s become clear that this has been the most bizarre month for movies in the 21st century.

Hollywood these days is a bit of a mixed bag – some movies are great, and some aren’t as successful. With big studios focusing more and more on established franchises, smaller, independent films are really starting to shine, and some directors are taking bigger risks with unusual ideas. Companies like A24 have become known for letting filmmakers be creative, and audiences have been happily surprised by films like Sinners. While 2025 brought a lot of popular hits, 2026 has gotten off to a strange and uncertain start.

There Has Been Turmoil in Hollywood Throughout the 2020s

The 2020s started off rough for movie theaters, as they were largely shut down for nearly a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This forced major film studios to delay releases and experiment with streaming options like Disney+. As a result, some movies have leaned into being unconventional or even controversial, using that as a way to attract new audiences eager for something different.

The movie industry hasn’t just been dealing with the impact of pandemic lockdowns; it’s also seen a lot of internal changes at studios. We’ve seen Disney go through multiple CEOs and major mergers, and power struggles at DC Studios, among other things. Combined with how real-world events and a drastically changed media environment have reshaped the industry, this all led to a particularly unusual month for new movie releases.

The First Films of 2026 Are Bizarre and Underwhelming

Despite the huge success of the film Fire and Ash, 2025 was a pretty unremarkable year for movies overall. Both DC and Marvel films struggled at the box office, while horror movies like Sinners and Weapons showed that audiences are still eager for original and compelling stories.

That excitement, however, did not extend to the January release circuit.

January 2026 was a strange month for releases. A Melania Trump documentary was widely panned and almost completely ignored. Meanwhile, YouTuber Markiplier wrote, directed, produced, and starred in his own film. Sam Raimi made a comeback with Send Help, his best-reviewed movie since Spider-Man 2 in 2004. And in a truly bizarre offering, audiences witnessed Ralph Fiennes dancing to Iron Maiden in a horror film about a cult obsessed with Jimmy Saville.

It’s hard to think of a more unusual or unpredictable release schedule lately. The way these films are being made and promoted is just as strange and unexpected as the films themselves.

January wasn’t just unusual because of movie release dates—the 2025 Oscar nominations were surprising too. Films like Oppenheimer winning over Everything, Everywhere All At Once and The Return of the King, and One Battle After Another being nominated for Best Picture, really shook things up. Everyone expected big, well-known franchises to dominate, but that didn’t happen in 2025.

Despite the unusual mix of movies at the box office this season, the stories surrounding their creation are just as interesting – sometimes in positive ways, and sometimes not. The films released this month really reflected current trends, covering topics like politics, internet celebrities, mind-bending horror, and artificial intelligence, though one attempt at featuring AI wasn’t very successful.

The films weren’t all bad, but a strange combination of issues – like behind-the-scenes problems, unusual beginnings, and just plain bizarre moments – really stood out. The fact that a fairly typical blockbuster ended up being the most successful movie of the month says a lot. Ultimately, horror fans were the biggest winners this month.

January 2026 Began a Promising Year for Film on a Sour Note

January is traditionally a slow month for new movie releases. Studios usually save their biggest films for the summer or holidays when more people have time and money to spend at the cinema. After the holidays, people are back to work and school, and aren’t as likely to go to the movies.

Honestly, the movies they’ve been offering haven’t been great lately – they used to be much more interesting. It was especially disappointing to see The Bone Temple, which everyone liked, not do well – it might mean we won’t get any more of those! And with everything else going on in the world, it’s no surprise people weren’t exactly thrilled about what was showing when the year started.

Movie theaters need a strong year-round performance, and right now, January 2026 is looking unusually weak. With films like Markiplier’s Iron Lung, the poorly received Melania, and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple all releasing early in the year, it feels like a strange start to the film season and could make it difficult for the box office to succeed throughout the rest of the year.

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2026-02-07 06:39