Oh look, it’s 2025! Entering the last year of the first half of the decade, and the film line up is looking strong. There are plenty of horror offerings to be had, especially in the first half of the year, but it looks like the big screen is going to be dominated by sequels this year. From new entries in the Avatar, Knives Out, Jurassic World, The Conjuring and Mission: Impossible series, new Marvel and DC superhero films as both studios face a make or break moment for superhero cinema, and the highly anticipated sequel to last year’s Wicked. But this year also sees fan favourites returning for sequels like Bridget Jones and her fourth big screen outing, the highly anticipated next entry in the 28 Days Later series, or the long awaited legacy sequel to the Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis classic Freaky Friday. And with new films from popular directors like Guy Ritchie, Guillermo Del Toro and Edgar Wright (who is teaming up with the man of the hour himself, Glen Powell), 2025 is already shaping up to be one exciting year for cinema.
10. The Conjuring: Last Rites
James Wan, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson brought Ed and Lorraine Warren to life on screen in The Conjuring, starting one of the biggest horror franchises of the twenty-first century. Though, the latest entry in the main series of films marks the final outing for Farmiga and Wilson, given the teasing of what is coming at the events of The Nun II and Michael Chaves great direction of that film, it is looking promising that The Conjuring: Last Rites is going to send off Ed and Lorraine Warren in a glorious and terrifying fashion this September!
9. Jurassic World: Rebirth
Steven Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park remains one of the greatest blockbusters ever made, and it’s become a staple of Hollywood. The latest entry in the franchise has great potential with a cast of Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali, Gareth Edwards directing after doing wonders with Rogue One and Godzilla, and original screenwriter David Koepp returning. Dare I say, but I think life will find a way to make Jurassic World: Rebirth one of the biggest summer blockbusters!
8. Wake Up Dead Man - A Knives Out Mystery
Rian Johnson is largely responsible for the renewed interest in the whodunnit murder mystery subgenre with the Knives Out series, and the it’s time for another Benoit Blanc mystery! While it will be sometime before we get any details on the circumstances of Blanc’s latest case, with Daniel Craig returning as the beloved detective and a star studded cast of Kerry Washington, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Andrew Scott, Jeremy Renner and many more, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is destined to be one of the most hilarious and exciting films of the year!
7. The Fantastic Four: First Steps
There have been two attempts to bring The Fantastic Four to the big screen in all their glory, and while I have a nostalgic childhood soft spot for the 2005 and 2007 films, the characters have yet to be given a just adaptation. Hopefully the third time will be the charm as the iconic Marvel characters officially join the MCU in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Even with the plot shrouded in mystery, given the film features some of the characters’ most iconic villains with Galactus and the Silver Surfer and a lead cast of Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, I bet this will be the big screen treatment fans have been waiting for.
6. Thunderbolts*
With three films, 2025 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the MCU. Thunderbolts* promises to be the anti-hero team up event with fan favourite characters like Bucky and Yelena going on what appears to be a darker, more Reservoir Dogs esque Marvel adventure that finally lets audiences see what Valentina’s larger purpose in the MCU will be. With no shortage of star power, Thunderbolts* should kick off the summer movie season with a bang!
5. The Running Man
Glen Powell, one of the most in demand and talented younger actors in the game, his latest starring role and remaking the Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick, The Running Man should be an exciting action spectacle. Combined with the talents of director Edgar Wright and a supporting cast featuring Josh Brolin, Lee Pace, Katy O’Brian and Emilia Jones, The Running Man seems destined to be one of the biggest hits of the year.
4. Avatar: Fire and Ash
A return to Pandora is always reason to be excited, as James Cameron has created one of the most breathtaking and exhilarating cinematic series with Avatar. While the plot is being kept tightly under wraps, the third film in the franchise that continues the saga of the Sully family after the events of Avatar: The Way of Water is certainly going to be one of the must see events of the year!
3. Captain America: Brave New World
Captain America has always been my favourite superhero, and Sam Wilson is getting his big screen moment in Captain America: Brave New World. With the trailer calling back heavily to the tone of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which remains one of the greatest MCU films to date, and adding Harrison Ford to the MCU while finally acknowledging the events of Eternals, fingers crossed this will be the film to reignite the MCU!
2. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
For almost three decades, Tom Cruise has been Ethan Hunt and pulling off the most heart pounding and intense stunts ever captured on camera. But that seems to be coming to an end with the latest entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, that based on that excellent teaser trailer will offer tons of phenomenal action and high stakes as Hunt as his team try to stop Gabriel and The Entity.
1. Wicked: For Good
Wicked was my favourite film of 2024 and remains one of my all time favourite Broadway musicals, so naturally Wicked: For Good which adapts the second act of the beloved stage musical is my most anticipated film of the year. With two new songs from Stephen Schwartz written for the film (with one being co-written by Cynthia Erivo), this is going to be an emotional and brilliant conclusion to Jon M. Chu’s sensational two part film.
Honourable Mentions:
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Snow White, 28 Years Later, Freakier Friday, Fountain of Youth, Frankenstein
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