Anya Taylor-Joy’s next move: inside the Hollywood line-up everyone will be talking about

Anya Taylor-Joy is on a tear. Over the next stretch she is bouncing from a gritty TV thriller to a sand-blasted space epic, then straight into Middle-earth, with a music legend biopic warming up in the background. Different lanes, big swings, and basically no downtime.

First up: Apple TV+ pulls the pin on 'Lucky'

Taylor-Joy leads and executive produces the seven-episode Apple TV+ miniseries 'Lucky', playing Lucky Armstrong, a woman who thinks she is out of the life until her past drags her back in. It is adapted from a bestselling novel and digs into redemption and messy family loyalty — the kind of story where protecting what you have left gets complicated fast.

Drew Starkey, Annette Bening, and Timothy Olyphant co-star, which is a very solid mix for a pressure-cooker thriller. Apple is aiming this one for mid-July — around July 15, 2026 — which is a nice counterprogramming move for the peak-summer mood. It is also Taylor-Joy's second Apple TV+ outing after 'The Gorge', so that relationship looks alive and well.

Then: back to Arrakis for 'Dune: Part Three'

Denis Villeneuve 's trilogy capper brings Taylor-Joy back as Alia Atreides. In 'Part Two' she only popped up briefly and uncredited; this time, she is not blinking past you. Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya remain the emotional anchors, while Alia's prescience promises some of the stranger, more unsettling pieces of the endgame — power with a headache attached.

The film is in post-production and expected to land late 2026. Stacked next to her bruising, physical turn in 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga', Alia gives Taylor-Joy a very different kind of franchise showcase, and with much more screen time than last round.

Middle-earth calling: 'The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum'

Andy Serkis is directing this one for theaters on December 17, 2027, and Taylor-Joy is playing Seren, a Sindar Elf in service to King Thranduil. The pitch on the character is 'graceful and lethal' — not a background extra with a bow, but an actual combat-ready presence. Jamie Dornan and Kate Winslet are also aboard, with the cast skewing more new blood than legacy cameos.

Industry footnote that might raise an eyebrow: Serkis has said the production is using AI for a specific, limited task. File that under modern tools you probably will not notice unless someone points them out.

Switching gears: the Joni Mitchell biopic

Separately, Taylor-Joy is attached to play a young Joni Mitchell in an untitled Cameron Crowe-directed biopic, with Meryl Streep set to portray Mitchell later in life. The project was announced in 2025 and is still in development with few concrete updates. It is a clear pivot from armor and prophecies to a grounded character study built around music and memory, and the casting alone has people watching the horizon for movement.