Whoa! The Criterion Collection will unleash a raft of new releases in June 2026, led by two by John Waters -- Desperate Living and Hairspray -- along with Lisa Cholodenko's 90s queer romance High Art.
The lead title in Criterion's official release is West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty, directed by Med Hondo, described as "one-of-a-kind musical spectacular--a collective effort of unprecedented scale and ambition that proved a watershed event in African cinema.
"Aboard an enormous mock slave ship, Hondo stages a series of imaginative reenactments and intricately choreographed dance numbers that trace the devastating effects of French imperialism across centuries of enslavement and injustice. Beyond mere extravaganza, West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty is a stirring call to Pan-African independence and a dazzling yet critical reconception of an entire people's history of oppression and rebellion."
Also featured will be the Academy Award-nominated It Was Just an Accident, by Jafar Panahi, as well as the even more recent Magellan by Lav Diaz.
Naturally, Criterion also dips into the past, not only with the aforementioned trio of films by John Waters and Lisa Cholodenko, but also Bob Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces, starring Jack Nicholson, and Stanley Donen's comic thriller Charade, starring Cary Grant.
As if that weren't enough, there is also Eclipse Series 6: Carlos Saura's Flamenco Trilogy. Read all about these films, and the details on what's included so you can make your purchasing decisions, at the official Criterion Collection site.