| SCARYMOVIE | Horror-parody franchise whose latest installment came out in 2026 |
| POADA | "The Devil Wears ___ 2" (Anne Hathaway sequel due out in 2026) |
| AVATAR | Franchise whose latest film is competing with Dhurandhar at box office. (6) |
| MARIOKART | Nintendo franchise whose latest release features an open-world design |
| MOVIE | Horror parody film series, Scary ___ (5) |
| FASTX | Latest installment in an action franchise about cars, Corona, and family |
| LONGSHADOWS | Seventh and latest installment in the Amos Decker crime novel series: 2 wds. |
| HOUSEFULL | Film series known for star-studded casts, over-the-top humor, and a brand-new murder mystery twist in its latest installment. (9) |
| LIFE | Board game whose earliest version came out in 1860 |
| CASH | Change in the banks came out in the wash (4) |
| CECIL | Liverpool band whose Bombar Diddlah LP came out in '96 (5) |
| GREER | Bonnie, critic and broadcaster whose memoir A Parallel Life came out in 2014 (5) |
| PUBLIC | Came out in the open in the middle of the republican gathering (6) |
| BARRY | Artist ___ Can't Swim, whose debut album came out in 2023 |
| TEDDY | Artist ___ Swims, whose debut album came out in 2023 |
| SAW | Horror movie franchise whose ninth film Spiral will be released in May |
| SCREAM | Franchise whose seventh film is slated to be released in 2026 |
| CAPITALOFZAIRE | Z (By the way, I made this puzzle in mid-May 1997 when the country was still called this, and by the time the puzzle came out in newspapers just two weeks later, the country's name had been changed. |
| DIETCOKE | A lime-flavored version of it came out in 2004 |
| EMERGED | Came out in front of entrance and mingled (7) |
