Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful evening and are looking forward to the year ahead. Speaking of 2025, are you ready to dive into the new movie year? I thoroughly enjoy doing these pieces even though they take forever and I am thrilled for what it looks like we’ll get from film this year. My Top 50 Most Anticipated Movies of 2025 list is filled with unique projects, blockbusters, and big name directors returning to the screen. 2025 is certainly gonna be…a year…but we’ll have something major to look forward to nearly every week in the theaters.
Top 50 Most Anticipated Movies of 2025
28 Years Later
Dir. Danny Boyle
Writer: Alex Garland
Starring: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes
Synopsis: It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.
Release Date: June 20
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
Dir. Kogonada
Writer: Seth Reiss
Starring:Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, Calahan Skogman, Lily Rabe, Jodie Turner-Smith, Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Synopsis: An imaginative tale of two strangers and the unbelievable journey that connects them.
Release Date: May 9
After the Hunt
Dir. Luca Guadagnino
Writer: Nora Garrett
Starring: Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Chloë Sevigny
Synopsis: A college professor is forced to grapple with her own secretive past after one of her colleagues is faced with a serious accusation.
Release Date: TBD
Atlantis
Dir. Michel Gondry
Writer: Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson
Starring: JKelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Quinta Brunson, Janelle Monáe, Jaboukie Young-White, Tim Meadows, Anderson .Paak, Missy Elliott, and Andre 3000
Synopsis: Set in 1977, the film draws inspiration from Virginia Beach’s Atlantis Apartments.
Release Date: May 9
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Dir. James Cameron
Writer: James Caeron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, and Giovanni Ribisi
Synopsis: The next sequel in the Avatar series.
Release Date: December 19
Black Bag
Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Writer: David Koepp
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Regé-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, Naomie Harris, Pierce Brosnan
Synopsis: A spy thriller.
Release Date: March 14
Bugonia
Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
Writer: Will Tracy
Starring: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemmons, Alicia Silverstone
Synopsis: Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
Release Date: November 7
Captain America: Brave New World
Dir.Julius Onah
Writer: Julius Onah, Peter Glanz, Matthew Orton
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Giancarlo Esposito, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford
Synopsis: Following the election of Thaddeus Ross as the president of the United States, Sam Wilson finds himself at the center of an international incident and must work to stop the true masterminds behind it.
Release Date: February 14
Companion
Dir. Drew Hancock
Writer: Drew Hancock
Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén and Rupert Friend
Synopsis: You are cordially invited to experience a new kind of love story.
Release Date: January 31
Die My Love
Dir. Lynne Ramsay
Writer: Lynne Ramsay and Enda Walsh
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, LaKeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek, Nick Nolte
Synopsis: In a farmhouse on the Montana countryside, a woman has mental health issues as her marriage breaks up.
Release Date: TBD
Eddington
Dir. Ari Aster
Writer: Ari Aster
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Luke Grimes, Austin Butler, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, and Clifton Collins Jr
Synopsis: The plot follows a small-town New Mexico sheriff with higher aspirations.
Release Date: TBD
Frankenstein
Dir. Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Christian Convery, Charles Dance, Felix Kammerer, and Christoph Waltz
Synopsis: Victor Frankenstein strives to restore life to the dead, and succeeds in creating a horrific creature.
Release Date: TBD
Hedda
Dir. Nia DaCosta
Writer: Nia DaCosta
Starring: Tessa Thompson, Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman
Synopsis: Henrik Ibsen’s renowned stage drama from 1891 is reimagined in an epic and emotional way in this production, Hedda Gabler.
Release Date: February 14
Highest 2 Lowest
Dir. Spike Lee
Writer: Spike Lee and Alan Fox
Starring:Denzel Washington, Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice, and ASAP Rocky
Synopsis: t is an English-language remake of the 1963 Japanese film High and Low, itself loosely based on the 1959 novel King’s Ransom by Ed McBain.
Release Date: TBD
Him
Dir. Justin Tipping
Writer: Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie
Starring: Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies, Guapdad 4000, Tierra Whack
Synopsis: An up-and-coming athlete goes to train with a legend who is about to retire.
Release Date: September 29
Welcome to Holland
Dir. Mimi Cave
Writer: Andrew Sodroski
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Gael Garcia Bernal, Matthew McFayden
Synopsis: Suspicious that her husband is cheating on her, a midwestern woman enlists a new friend to help investigate.
Release Date: TBD
In the Grey
Dir. Guy Ritchie
Writer: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rosamund Pike, and Eiza González
Synopsis: Two agents and a woman team up to get hold of millions of dollars in stolen money.
Release Date: TBD
Jay Kelly
Dir. Noah Baumbach
Writer: Noah Baumbach and Emily Mortimer
Starring: George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern and Billy Crudup
Synopsis: TBD
Release Date: TBD
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Dir. Bill Condon
Writer: Bill Condon
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, Tonatiuh, Tony Dovolani
Synopsis: Set in an Argentinian prison in 1981 during the Dirty War, Luis Molina, a gay hairdresser, is serving an eight-year sentence for allegedly corrupting a minor. To escape the horrors of his imprisonment, Molina imagines films starring a classic screen actress named Ingrid Luna, including a role of the spider woman, who kills her prey with a kiss. Molina’s life is upended when a Marxist, Valentin Arregui Paz, is brought into his cell, and the two form an unlikely bond.
Release Date: January (Sundance)
Love, Brooklyn
Dir. Rachael Abigail Holder
Writer: Paul Zimmerman
Starring: André Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise, Roy Wood Jr., Cassandra Freeman and Cadence Reese
Synopsis: Three Brooklynnites navigate love, loss, career and friendship.
Release Date: January (Sundance)
M3gan 2.0
Dir. Gerard Johnstone
Writer: Akela Cooper
Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ivanna Sakhno, Timm Sharp, Aristotle Athari and Jemaine Clement
Synopsis: A sequel to M3GAN.
Release Date: June 27
Materialists
Dir. Celine Song
Writer: Celine Song
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal
Synopsis: Set in New York City, the film follows the story of a match-maker, her ex-boyfriend and a wealthy businessman.
Release Date: TBD
Mickey 17
Dir. Bong Joon-ho
Writer: Bong Joon-ho
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo
Synopsis: Wanting to get out of Earth, Mickey Barnes signs up to be an “expendable”: a disposable employee where after one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of their memories intact. After one of his “multiples”, Mickey 17, unintentionally survives a human expedition to colonize the ice world Niflheim, he goes head-to-head with a new multiple, Mickey 18.
Release Date: April 18
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Dir. Christopher McQuarrie
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, and Rolf Saxon
Synopsis: Our lives are the sum of our choices.
Release Date: May 23
Mother Mary
Dir. David Lowery
Writer: David Lowery
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Micaela Coel
Synopsis: Follows the relationship of a musician and a fashion designer.
Release Date: TBD
Move Ya Body: The Birth of House
Dir. Elegance Bratton
Synopsis: Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement.
Release Date: January (Sundance)
My Dead Friend Zoe
Dir. Kyle Hausmann-Stokes
Writer: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes and A. J. Bermudez,
Starring: Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Gloria Reuben and Utkarsh Ambudkar
Synopsis: Merit must try to be socially present while also being with the ghost of her dead best friend.
Release Date: February 28
Nobody 2
Dir. Timo Tjahjanto
Writer: Derek Kolstad, Aaron Rabin, Bob Odenkirk, and Umair Aleem
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, RZA, Michael Ironside, Colin Salmon, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath, Christopher Lloyd, Sharon Stone, Chris Pine, Colin Hanks, John Ortiz, and Mckenna Grace
Synopsis: The sequel to the 2021 film.
Release Date: August 15
One of Them Days
Dir. Lawrence Lamont
Writer: Syreeta Singleton
Starring: Keke Palmer and SZA
Synopsis: When best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa discover Alyssa’s boyfriend has blown their rent money, the duo finds themselves going to extremes in a race against the clock to avoid eviction and keep their friendship intact.
Release Date: January 17
On Swift Horses
Dir. Daniel Minahan
Writer: Bryce Kass
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva and Sasha Calle
Synopsis: Muriel and her husband Lee are beginning a bright new life in California following his return from the Korean War, which is upended by the arrival of Lee’s charismatic younger brother, Julius.
Release Date: July 25
Opus
Dir. Mark Anthony Green
Writer: Mark Anthony Green
Starring: Ayo Edebiri, Amber Midthunder, Juliette Lewis, and John Malkovich
Synopsis: A young writer is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. Surrounded by the star’s cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan
Release Date: January (Sundance)
Presence
Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Writer: David Koepp
Starring:Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, and Chris Sullivan
Synopsis: A family discover they are not alone when they move into a new house.
Release Date: January 24
Rabbit Trap
Dir. Bryn Chainey
Writer: Bryn Chainey
Starring: Dev Patel and Rosy McEwen
Synopsis: Set in 1973, the life of a married couple changes following their relocation to an isolated cabin in Wales.
Release Date: January (Sundance)
Ricky
Dir. Rashad Frett
Writer: Rashad Frett and Lin Que Ayoung
Starring: Stephan James, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Titus Welliver, Maliq Johnson, Imani Lewis, Andrene Ward-Hammond
Synopsis: Newly released after being locked up in his teens, 30-year-old Ricky navigates the challenging realities of life post-incarceration, and the complexity of gaining independence for the first time as an adult.
Release Date: January (Sundance)
Roofman
Dir. Derek Cianfrance
Writer: Derek Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn
Starring: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, Peter Dinklage, Uzo Aduba, Juno Temple, Emory Cohen and LaKeith Stanfield
Synopsis: The film is a biopic of the fugitive Jeffrey Manchester, a former United States Army Reserve officer, known colloquially as Roofman due to his propensity to steal from branches of McDonald’s after entering their premises via the roof and evaded capture from police by hiding in the roof of a Toys “R” Us store.
Release Date: October 3
Sabar Bonda
Dir. Rohan Parashuram Kanawade
Writer: Rohan Parashuram Kanawade
Starring: Bhushaan Manoj, Suraaj Suman, Jayshri Jagtap
Synopsis: Anand, a 30-something city dweller compelled to spend a 10-day mourning period for his father in the rugged countryside of western India, tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, Anand must decide the fate of his relationship born under duress.
Release Date: January (Sundance)
Seeds
Dir. Brittany Shyne
Synopsis: An exploration of Black generational farmers in the American South reveals the fragility of legacy and the significance of owning land.
Release Date: January (Sundance)
Sinners
Dir. Ryan Coogler
Writer: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, and Delroy Lindo
Synopsis: Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
Release Date: TBD
Superman
Dir. James Gunn
Writer: James Gunn
Starring: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, María Gabriela de Faría, Wendell Pierce, Alan Tudyk
Synopsis: The film explores Clark Kent / Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his adoptive human family in Smallville, Kansas.
Release Date: July 11
The Battle of Baktan Cross
Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall, Sean Penn, Alana Haim, Teyana Taylor, Wood Harris, and Benicio del Toro
Synopsis: TBD
Release Date: August 8
The Bride!
Dir. Maggie Gyllenhaal
Writer: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, and Annette Bening
Synopsis: The film draws inspiration from James Whale’s 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein.
Release Date: September 26
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Dir. Matt Shakman
Writer: Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer, Josh Friedman, Cameron Squires, Eric Pearson, and Peter Cameron
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Synopsis: In a 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic Earth, the Fantastic Four must protect their home from being devoured by the cosmic being Galactus and his enigmatic herald, the Silver Surfer.
Release Date: July 25
The History of Sound
Dir. Oliver Hermanus
Writer: Oliver Hermanus and Ben Shattuck
Starring: Josh O’Connor and Paul Mescal
Synopsis: It’s about the relationship of two young men who meet in 1916 and then travel together in the summer of 1919 to record the folk songs of their countrymen in rural New England.
Release Date: TBD
The Phoenician Scheme
Dir. Wes Anderson
Writer: Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Starring: Benicio del Toro, Michael Cera, Bill Murray, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rupert Friend, Willem Dafoe, Bryan Cranston, and Mia Threapleton
Synopsis: An an upcoming espionage comedy-drama thriller film.
Release Date: TBD
The Smashing Machine
Dir. Benny Safdie
Writer: Benny Safdie and Mark Kerr
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt
Synopsis: The story of mixed-martial arts and UFC champion Mark Kerr.
Release Date: TBD
The Wedding Banquet
Dir. Andrew Ahn
Writer: Andrew Ahn and James Schamus
Starring: Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen, Youn Yuh-jung
Synopsis: Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend, Chris, and out of time, Min makes a proposal: a green card marriage with his friend Angela in exchange for expensive in vitro fertilization treatments for her partner, Lee. Plans change when Min’s grandmother surprises them with an elaborate Korean wedding banquet.
Release Date: January (Sundance)
The Woman in the Yard
Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer: Sam Stefanak
Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, Okwui Okpokwasili, Russell Hornsby
Synopsis: A woman in black appears on a family’s front lawn and delivers a chilling warning. No one knows where she came from, what she wants, or when she will leave.
Release Date: March 28
Untitled Kathryn Bigelow Thriller
Dir. Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Noah Oppenheim
Starring: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jared Harris, Greta Lee, Gabriel Basso, Anthony Ramos, Tracy Letts, Moses Ingram, Malachi Beasley and Aminah Nieves
Synopsis: Centered on White House staffers grappling with an impending missile strike on America, this gripping drama unfolds in real-time as tensions escalate.
Release Date: TBD
Wicked: For Good
Dir. Jon M. Chu
Writer: Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum
Synopsis: Set in the Land of Oz, before and after Dorothy Gale’s arrival from Kansas, the plot will cover the events of the musical’s second act, following Elphaba and Galinda’s friendship being put to the test as they embrace their new respective identities as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, and how the consequences of their actions will change all of Oz forever.
Release Date: November 21
Wolf Man
Dir. Leigh Whannell
Writer: Leigh Whannell and Corbet Tuck
Starring: Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner
Synopsis: Family man Blake relocates from San Francisco to Oregon with his workaholic wife Charlotte and daughter Ginger after inheriting his childhood home, left vacant following his estranged father’s mysterious disappearance and presumed death. At the farmhouse at night during a full moon, the family is attacked by a werewolf that claws Blake’s arm. They barricade themselves inside the home, but soon Blake begins to transform into something horrifying, jeopardizing the safety of his wife and daughter.
Release Date: January 17
FULL LIST
28 Years Later
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
After the Hunt
All That’s Left of You
Alpha
A Nice Indian Boy
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Ballerina
Black Bag
Bugonia
Captain America: Brave New World
Companion
Die My Love
Drop
Echo Valley
Eddington
Elio
F1
Final Destination: Bloodlines
Flowervale Street
Frankenstein
Golden
Good Fortune
Hamnet
Hedda
Highest 2 Lowest
Him
Holland, Michigan
In the Grey
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Last Breath
Levon’s Trade
Love, Brooklyn
Love Hurts
M3gan 2.0
Materialists
Mercy
Michael
Mickey 17
Middletown
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Mother Mary
Move Ya Body: The Birth of House
My Dead Friend Zoe
Nobody 2
Novocaine
One of Them Days
On Swift Horses
Opus
Peter Hujar’s Day
Plainclothes
Predator Badlans
Predators https://festival.sundance.org/program/film/6753318d68b8b7e6f3fe531c
Presence
Rabbit Trap
Ricky
Roofman
Sabar Bonda
Sarah’s Oil
Seeds
Sinners
Superman
The Accountant 2
The Alto Knights
The Amateur
The Bad Guys 2
The Ballad of a Small Player
The Battle of Baktan Cross
The Bride!
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
The History of SOund
The Life of Chuck
The Monkey
The Naked Gun
The Phoenician Scheme
The Running Man
The Salt Path
The Smashing Machine
The Wedding Banquet
The Woman in the Yard
Thread: AN Insidious Tale
Touch Me
Twinless
Untitled Kathryn Bigelow Thriller
Untitled Noah Baumbach Picture
Vicious
Wake Up a Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Warfare
Wicked Part Two
Wolfman
You’re Cordially Invited