Amazon MGM’s Orion label is positioning Aleshea Harris’ feature debut, Is God Is, for a 2026 theatrical launch, aligning the revenge drama with the studio’s expanded big-screen slate next year.
The film adapts Harris’ Obie-winning play about twin sisters sent by their mother to kill the father who scarred their family, and follows a year of renewed theatrical commitments from the studio, which told exhibitors it plans 14 releases in 2026 and screened early footage at CinemaCon.
Cast includes Kara Young and Mallori Johnson as the sisters, with Sterling K. Brown, Vivica A. Fox and Janelle Monáe in key roles; cameras were rolling by late 2024 under Harris, who also wrote the screenplay. The project now sits alongside a busy 2026 corridor for the studio that already features Masters of the Universe on June 5 and other titles spread through spring and early summer.
If the film does land in the summer corridor, it would enter one of the tightest competitive windows on the calendar. July 2026 is anchored by Disney’s live-action Moana (July 10), Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (July 17) and Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day (now July 31), creating a month of back-to-back tentpoles aimed at overlapping audiences.
That clustering has already prompted release-date chess moves across studios, with some animated and franchise titles shifting within the season. Is God Is arrives as Orion rebuilds a pipeline of prestige-leaning genre and character pieces, with the title currently listed among the company’s 2026 films.
The story’s Afropunk-meets-spaghetti-western tone was highlighted in exhibitor presentations this spring, signaling the studio’s intent to position it as bold counterprogramming amid franchise heavyweights.
The film also benefits from Amazon MGM’s evolving distribution setup: internationally, select titles are now handled by Sony Pictures under a new multi-year pact, widening potential reach outside North America.
Harris’ move from stage to screen caps a long gestation that began years ago with early adaptation efforts; the current iteration centers the playwright as writer-director, while the cast’s mix of breakout and established performers suggests the studio sees opportunity for discovery and awards-season conversations if the film connects theatrically.
