3 Best Movies To Watch On Disney+ This Weekend (#1 Is The Biggest Sci-Fi Epic Of All Time)

By Published Apr 24, 2026, 1:45 PM EDT Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2026. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2026, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more.

Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

is the streaming service to go to this weekend if you are looking for a healthy dose of excitement, as there are three movies from different genres that promise to keep audiences entertained for the whole weekend. On , I talked about Night at the Museum, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

All three of those recommendations were timely, as they connected to the new trailer for Ben Stiller's Focker In-Law, the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer being shown at 2026's CinemaCon, and Spider-Man: No Way Home finally joining the on Disney+. This time around, I did not include any superhero movies. After two entries last weekend, it is time to shake things up.

Disney+ subscribers can look forward to experiencing very different universes on the streaming service this weekend. One of the movies is an adventure film in the vein of the Indiana Jones franchise and the Uncharted games, while the other is a live-action fantasy movie with a major star. The last entry on the list is a visually stunning sci-fi movie that happens to be the genre's biggest release of all time and the industry's top earner.

With only one weekend left in April, I looked at crowd-pleasers that would help close out the month in style. One of the three movies is even surging on the streamer. As such, Disney+'s subscribers can rest assured that all three films are worth watching on the streaming service this weekend.

3 National Treasure (2004)

First up is the Nicolas Cage classic National Treasure. With the actor's live-action Spider-Man series, Spider-Noir, releasing on Prime Video in May, it is high time we started warming up for Cage's franchise return. With that in mind, National Treasure, which is one of the actor's most popular projects, emerges as a thrilling weekend watch on Disney+.

National Treasure follows Cage as the historian Ben Gates in a major adventure that sees him in a race against time to find a hidden treasure tied to the creation of the United States, with the Declaration of Independence and more playing a crucial role. National Treasure's cast also features Sean Bean, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, and more stars. The Indiana Jones-like movie holds a solid 76% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

2 Maleficent (2014)

Next is Maleficent, which stars Angelina Jolie as the iconic Disney villain in a very different live-action take on the classic Sleeping Beauty story. Instead of focusing on Elle Fanning's Aurora, the movie opts to dive deep into Jolie's Maleficent, explaining her tragic backstory. It is a masterclass in humanizing a villain and offers a fresh take on a story that most people have heard about.

Maleficent is currently experiencing a resurgence on streaming. At the time of writing, Maleficent stands as the 6th most-watched movie on Disney+. Maleficent also has a solid audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, at 70%. Aside from Jolie and Fanning, the includes stars like Titans' Nightwing actor Brenton Thwaites as Prince Philip and Fallout's Ella Purnell as a teenage version of Maleficent.

1 Avatar (2009)

Ending the list is 2009's Avatar, the highest-grossing movie of all time, with $2.9 billion. The sci-fi movie is the first entry in James Cameron's jaw-dropping franchise, which has released three successful movies thus far. In Avatar, viewers watch as Sam Worthington's Jake Sully sees his life completely change as he gets to know and be a part of the alien world of Pandora.

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Avatar's CGI holds up to this day, making for one of the most visually stunning sci-fi movies ever. There is plenty of high-stakes action and intriguing world-building for new viewers. Avatar boasts a high 81% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, with a slightly better 82% audience score. It stands as the perfect ride to end the weekend on Disney+.

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Like Follow Followed PG 6/10 9.3/10 Release Date November 19, 2004 Runtime 131 minutes
Cast
- Benjamin Franklin Gates
- Diane Kruger Abigail Chase
Director Jon Turteltaub Franchise(s) National Treasure Expand Collapse
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Like Follow Followed PG 4/10 6.1/10 Release Date May 30, 2014 Runtime 1h 37m
Cast
- Sam Riley
Director Robert Stromberg Franchise(s) Maleficent Expand Collapse
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Like Follow Followed PG-13 7/10 44 8.4/10 Release Date December 15, 2009 Runtime 162 minutes
Cast
- Jake Sully
- Neytiri
Director Franchise(s) Expand Collapse