If you’ve been wondering where one of the world's most famous women has been hiding, you aren't alone. Honestly, for a few years there, it felt like she’d basically retired from the big screen to focus on her kids and her humanitarian work. But things are changing. Fast. Angelina Jolie is currently in the middle of a massive career pivot that is taking her from "prestigious opera singer" to "hardcore action hero" in a way that’s kinda giving everyone whiplash.
She's back.
Between her recent run on the awards circuit for Maria and the gritty thrillers she’s filming right now, the Angelina Jolie new movies slate is looking more crowded than it has in a decade. We aren’t just talking about another Disney sequel either. She is diving into dark, R-rated gangster territory and high-stakes spy games that feel a lot more like Salt than Maleficent.
The Maria Callas Buzz and the Oscar Race
Before we get into the guns and the car chases, we have to talk about Maria. This is the movie that has dominated the conversation for most of 2024 and early 2025. Directed by Pablo Larraín—the same guy who did those intense biopics Jackie and Spencer—the film follows the final tragic days of opera legend Maria Callas in 1970s Paris.
If you caught it on Netflix, you know it’s a total mood. It’s dreamy, a bit depressing, and incredibly beautiful to look at. Jolie actually trained for seven months to sing for this role. She’s not just lip-syncing; the final audio is a mix of her actual voice and the real Callas. People were shocked. She ended up landing a Best Actress nomination at the 82nd Golden Globes and the 97th Academy Awards. While she didn't take home the top prize in every ceremony (Cynthia Erivo and Mikey Madison were tough competition this year), it proved she still has that "movie star" gravity that defines Hollywood.
Sunny: Angelina’s Return to Gritty Action
While Maria was all about elegance and silk scarves, her next project, Sunny, is a complete 180.
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Directed by Eva Sørhaug, this one is basically a dark, violent gangster flick. Jolie plays a woman caught in the middle of a mob war who has to protect her sons from a drug kingpin. Think John Wick energy but with a much more emotional, maternal core.
Production has been spotted all over New York’s Hudson Valley recently. In fact, just this month—January 2026—she was seen filming high-tension scenes in Rhinebeck. The village basically shut down for a day while she filmed at a local hardware store. Producers are calling her performance a "tour de force," and from the rumors coming off the set, it’s going to be a lot more brutal than anything we've seen from her in years.
The Spy Games: Maude v Maude and The Initiative
Remember Mr. & Mrs. Smith? Of course you do. Well, Jolie is finally leaning back into the "spy vs. spy" trope that made her an icon.
First up is Maude v Maude. This is the one everyone is talking about because it pairs her with Halle Berry. It’s being described as "Bond vs. Bourne," and honestly, it’s about time these two worked together. They are both producing it, and while the plot is mostly under wraps, the bidding war for the script was legendary. It’s meant to be a global action thriller, which usually means lots of cool locations and expensive stunts.
Then there’s The Initiative. This project reunites her with Doug Liman, the director who gave us Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
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- The Plot: She plays a rogue spy named Bright.
- The Vibe: Insiders are calling it "Training Day but for spies."
- The Status: Pre-production is wrapping up, and they are expected to start rolling cameras any minute now in 2026.
What’s Actually Happening with Maleficent 3?
Every few months, a new "concept trailer" for Maleficent 3 pops up on YouTube and goes viral. You've probably seen them—the ones with Megan Fox or some AI-generated dragon.
Ignore the fan-made stuff.
Here is what we actually know: Angelina Jolie confirmed back in late 2023 that she is returning for a third installment. However, Disney has been slow-rolling the development. As of right now, the film is tentatively slated for a 2028 release. It’s not coming out tomorrow. She has a lot of other things on her plate first, including a fashion-centric film called Coutures by director Alice Winocour, which is set to hit theaters in February 2026.
Behind the Camera: Without Blood
We can't talk about Angelina Jolie new movies without mentioning her work as a director. Her latest film, Without Blood, premiered at TIFF recently and is finally getting its wider release in April 2025.
It stars Salma Hayek and Demián Bichir. It’s based on a book by Alessandro Baricco and deals with the heavy themes of war, trauma, and revenge. It’s a "two-hander," meaning most of the movie is just two people talking in a room, but the tension is supposed to be through the roof. Critics have been a bit split on it—some call it "inert" while others find it "poetic"—but it shows that she’s still committed to telling stories that aren't just popcorn blockbusters.
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Why This Career Shift Matters
It feels like Angelina is finally done with the "celebrity" phase of her life and has moved into the "legend" phase. She’s picking roles that either challenge her artistically (like Maria) or let her have fun with her action roots (like Sunny).
She’s also being way more selective. She’s talked openly about how Hollywood can be a "shallow place" and how she prefers to spend her time in Cambodia or working on her "Atelier Jolie" fashion brand. This means when she does sign onto a movie, it’s because she actually wants to be there, not because she needs the paycheck.
How to Keep Up With Her New Releases
If you want to stay ahead of the curve, keep an eye on these specific dates:
- April 10, 2025: Without Blood (Director) releases in select markets.
- February 18, 2026: Coutures is scheduled for theatrical release.
- Late 2026: Keep an ear out for a firm release date for Sunny.
- 2027/2028: The big franchise returns (Maleficent 3 and The Initiative).
Stop waiting for a Salt 2 or a Lara Croft reboot. It’s not happening. Instead, get ready for a version of Angelina Jolie that is older, grittier, and significantly more dangerous than the one we knew in the 2000s. She's evolving.
The best way to see these movies is to track the festival circuits—Toronto and Venice have become her second homes lately. If a movie has her name on it and it's premiering in Italy, you can bet it's going to be an awards contender. For the action flicks, just wait for the trailers to drop; Sunny is expected to have a massive marketing push by the end of this year.
Next Steps:
To stay updated, you can set a Google Alert for "Angelina Jolie Sunny movie" to catch the first official trailer when it drops later this year. If you haven't seen Maria yet, it is currently streaming on Netflix and is the best way to understand her current acting range before she jumps back into the action genre.