2026 Has a Huge Lineup of Film Scores!

Think about your favorite film score for a second. What is it that actually makes it stand out for you?

For me, it’s because those themes, the music itself, are grown directly from the story!

A great score has this way of placing you inside the world and making you feel the weight of every character emotion without a single word needing to be said.

Looking at the slate for the rest of 2026, I’m so excited because we have both returning themes from AAA composers coming back to their previous work, but also a lot of room for new stories where we get to see pure innovation and exploration.

So much of what we’re returning to this year is built on nostalgia and a connection we’ve made with the stories over a span of time, which naturally leads to high expectations! Think movies like…

• Toy Story

• Avengers

• Spider-Man (etc.)

It’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, an already established theme or idea can give a composer the foundation and the space to explore.

On the other hand, spending years reimagining and developing a single theme only to do it again can be daunting and harder to live up to what the audience expects.

But I’ve realized that for returning composers, it’s less about “outdoing” themselves and more about approaching the story and these characters for where they are now.

Not so much the theme itself and more so the intentionality behind new arrangements and orchestrations!

We should be looking for how they weave new ideas into existing material or build new themes from what is already there.

A perfect example of this (not from a film but my favorite video games) is Yoko Shimomura’s work on the Kingdom Hearts series.

She’s recreated “Dearly Beloved,” her most iconic theme, for every single game in the franchise. The versions range from melancholic piano solos to grand orchestral or jazz-inspired pieces, but every single one has a specific purpose and intention that reflects the tone of that specific game.

(Here’s a compilation of every major version of “Dearly Beloved”…they’re incredible 🥹)

Then you have the new stories with a completely blank canvas for textures and ideas.

Starting fresh can be much harder because you have to explore and define the sound of that world with no history to lean on, but it also means you have no baggage to be compared to (within the context of the film of course!)

In these cases, I don’t need an iconic “Main Theme” to hit me over the head right off the bat.

I want the music to reflect the characters and the narrative subtext. I want to hear how a theme can adapt and develop throughout the film. I want to hear what it sounds like in an intimate setting versus a larger, grander scale.

Innovation is hard, and I don’t expect every composer to reinvent the wheel for every single film. What I care about more is the approach to the story. I’m looking for composers who write for emotion and context.

I just posted my first video in months where I go through my top 10 anticipated scores that I’m tracking most closely for the rest of 2026! (Yes- I know I’m a bit late with this one!)

These are the film scores I can’t wait to hear…the ones that I know will either add to an existing story or help define a new one!

So what do you think? Which film score are you most excited for this year? After watching the video, did your top pick make my list? What else am I missing?

Let me know!

PS: I’m currently looking for a small number of composers to work with me 1:1 for the next year. The goal is to get you to a place where the music you’ve been wanting to write for years is the music you’re actually getting paid for.