TOP 10: Anticipated Films of 2025
Confession time: our Top 10 most-anticipated films of 2025 list is super heavy on sequels, big-budget IP adaptations, and would-be blockbusters. We’ll say upfront that it’s missing more auteur-driven projects, and smaller movies that will surprise everyone and dominate conversations come awards time. (Think The Substance in 2024.)
But that’s the nature of Hollywood in the 21st Century. These films are the ones currently generating buzz, with everyone watching to see how they perform. It’s those smaller gems that we come to appreciate only once they’re released into the wild.
That said, do you have any suggestions for smaller or alternative films due to release in 2025? We would love to hear them. Drop them in the comments below!
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Honorable Mentions:
January 17: Wolf Man
March 7: Sinners
March 14: Black Bag
May 2: Thunderbolts*
June 6: Ballerina
June 13: Elio
July 2: Jurassic World Rebirth
September 16: The Bride
10. Tron: Ares (October 10)
The third film in the Tron franchise will not be a direct continuation of 2010’s Tron: Legacy, but instead a full reboot focusing on a new protagonist, Ares, played by Jared Leto. Who somehow keeps getting cast in everything, despite nobody seemingly liking him. Anyway, this one will focus on Ares and other programs accessing the real world. The only returning cast member is Jeff Bridges, who appeared in both the previous films. New this time around will be Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhah, Gillian Anderson, and Greta Lee. Footage was shown at D23 in Brazil, but has not been officially released as of yet.
9. Snow White (March 21)
We’ll use the term “anticipated” to also mean “morbidly curious” in this case. Disney finally turns its live-action remake engine to the O.G. animated feature, 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb shot from a film co-written by Barbie’s Greta Gerwig, starring West Side Story’s Rachel Ziegler as the titular princess and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. The project has been a controversy magnet since it started filming three (!) years ago, specifically around the decision to use CGI for the dwarves; those concerns were exacerbated by the trailer, which was…not great. But of all the Disney films most deserving of modern attention, the nearly 100-years-old Snow White has to be among them. Here’s hoping that the finished project does the original justice.
8. The Naked Gun (August 1)
Liam Neeson stars as Frank Drebin Jr., presumably the son of Leslie Nielsen’s detective from the first three films, in this legacy reboot of the slapstick police comedies from the 80s/90s. This new version was conceived by Family Guy/Ted creator Seth McFarlane, and also stars Pamela Anderson (2025 will be a big year for Pam), character actress CCH Pounder, wrestler Cody Rhodes, and rapper Busta Rhymes.
7. 28 Years Later (June 20)
This third entry in the survival-horror franchise follows 2002’s 28 Days Later and 2007’s 28 Weeks Later, as an island enclave of humans tries to protect itself from a world overrun by the Rage Virus. This movie brings back original director Danny Boyle and original writer Alex Garland, stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, and Jack O’Connell, and even brings back original star Cillian Murphy. The whole film was shot on an iPhone, as was its already-filmed sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which is scheduled to release in early 2026.
6. Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (May 23)
Picking up from 2023’s Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, the eighth installment in the spy franchise sees Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt continuing his mission to destroy the rogue AI known as The Entity, which has infected the entire internet and is tooling around in a stolen Russian stealth submarine. In addition to Cruise, look for returns from Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, and Angela Bassett.
5. A Minecraft Movie (April 4)
A quartet of regular people – including Jason Momoa and Danielle Brooks (Orange is the New Black) – find themselves transported to a bizarre, cubic world where they encounter the mysterious Steve (Jack Black). They’ll have to survive dangers and put their creativity to the test as they embark on an adventure in this movie based off the super-popular video game. And if you’re thinking, “I can’t believe they’re making a Minecraft movie,” just be grateful it’s not a film based on Skibidi Toilet. Yet.
4. Wicked: For Good (November 21)
While the first Wicked movie broke box-office records and delighted crowds of all ages when it was released in November 2024, there was some grousing from people who didn’t realize it was a two-part film. I have good news for you: if you liked Part 1, the conclusion to Elpheba’s story is less than a year away! If you didn’t like Part 1, you can save your money and stay home. Problem solved! In this writer’s opinion, the second act of the musical has always been incredibly rushed, crammed into roughly 30 minutes as critically important plot developments happen at breakneck speed. I’m glad they gave it its own movie, so the story has time to breathe.
3. Avatar: Fire & Ash (December 19)
The third in the five-film (for now) Avatar franchise will see Jake Sully and his alien family discover yet another tribe of Na’vi, this one fire-based and living in a volcano. Will it feature basically the same plot as the first film, but with fire instead of water, as the second film did? We’ll have to see! This filmed so long ago – from 2017 to 2020 – that co-star Edie Falco said she thought the movie had already come out and flopped. LOL.
2. Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25)
We have been waiting SO long for Marvel’s First Family to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe properly. That said, expect an unconventional introduction to Marvel’s family-based sci-fi foursome; the promo materials make it clear that they’re in a very 60s setting, and one would think that preeminent genius Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) would have surely popped up before now given the several many existential crises the Avengers have faced. Speaking of threats, the Four (also featuring Vanessa Kirby as Susan Storm, Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bacharach as Ben Grimm) will reportedly be squaring off against planet-destroying cosmic force Galactus, in this film represented as an actual titanic humanoid, not as a big angry space cloud, as in his previous cinematic appearance. We’re excited.
1. Superman (7/11)
You want to talk about anticipated, the recently released trailer for James Gunn’s reboot of the DC Comics’ icon got more than 250 million views and inspired 1 million social-media posts in its first 24 hours of release. Showing a marked swing away from the grim and gritty tone that defined (and ruined) Zack Snyder’s DC Extended Universe, Gunn’s Superman actually seems to focus on hope, colorful concepts, and wild and unexpected characters (Krypto the Super-Dog! That insane but comics-accurate haircut on Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner!). David Corenswet dons the cape this time, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel breakout Rachel Brosnahan takes on Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult seems perfectly cast as Lex Luthor.
What movies are YOU looking forward to in 2025? Leave a comment below!
