These 10 Iconic Films Are All Turning 20 in 2026 |
Just like Back to the Future II predicted we’d all be zipping around on hoverboards and flying cars in 2015, according to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 2026 will be all about fighting to stay alive under primate rule.
There’s plenty to be dubious about in 2026, but thankfully a ruling elite of apes isn’t one of them (yet). Perhaps scariest of all is the rapid passing of time, as demonstrated by a bunch of classic films that are set to celebrate their 20th birthday.
From the cringe to the critics’ favourites, here’s what’s turning 20 this year.
High School Musical
Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez would be in their mid-thirties now. Probably making sickeningly cute couples TikToks complete with the millennial pause and coaching the hell out of a school musical theatre club. When we first met them in 2006, played by then little known actors Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, it caused a Disney phenomenon. The musical film about a maths geek and a basketball jock falling in love through a shared talent for singing kicked off sequels, merch, theatre shows, and a dedicated fanbase still going strong today.
The Departed
Martin Scorsese’s gangster drama featured Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon as an undercover cop and career criminal respectively who have to uncover each other’s identities to save themselves. Considered amongst Scorsese’s classics and his best movie since 1990’s Goodfellas, the film was a critical and commercial success, scooping four Oscars and appearing on ‘best of 2006’ lists far and wide.
The Holiday
Cameron Diaz and Jude Law in The Holiday
One of the absolute classics in the Christmas rotation along with Love Actually and Home Alone, The Holiday is two whole decades old this year. In a way it feels like we’ve always had