2025 will be a year of sequels and live-action reimaginings of blockbuster animated films. Marvel and DC are feeding comic book fans’ appetites with a handful of 2025 theatrical releases. Wicked wraps up, we’ll finally get a look at the world 28 years after Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s came up with their version of a zombie apocalypse, and Mission: Impossible serves up its first direct sequel of the franchise with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
Ana de Armas slips into the John Wick world, horror fans will be treated to The Bride and Wolf Man, and Edgar Wright takes on a new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man with Glen Powell in the lead. Theaters will also be filled with fans of James Cameron’s Avatar franchise with the December release of the third film of the franchise, Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Here’s a look at 25 of the most anticipated 2025 movies in release date order:
Wolf Man (January 17)
Director: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Julia Garner, Christopher Abbott, Matlida Firth, Sam Jaeger, Ben Prendergast, and Benedict Hardie
The Plot: Christopher Abbott stars as Blake, a San Francisco husband and father, who inherits his remote childhood home in rural Oregon after his own father vanishes and is presumed dead. With his marriage to his high-powered wife, Charlotte (Garner), fraying, Blake persuades Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the property with their young daughter, Ginger (Firth).
But as the family approaches the farmhouse in the dead of night, they’re attacked by an unseen animal and, in a desperate escape, barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter. As the night stretches on, however, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable, and Charlotte will be forced to decide whether the terror within their house is more lethal than the danger without.
Captain America: Brave New World (February 14)
Director: Julius Onah
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, and Tim Blake Nelson
The Plot: After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, Sam (Mackie) finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
Paddington in Peru (February 14)
Director: Dougal Wilson
Starring: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Carla Tous, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Olivia Colman, and Antonio Banderas
The Plot: Full of Paddington’s signature blend of wit, charm, and laugh-out-loud humor, Paddington in Peru finds the beloved, marmalade-loving bear lost in the jungle on an exciting, high-stakes adventure. When Paddington discovers his beloved Aunt Lucy has gone missing from the Home for Retired Bears, he and the Brown family head to the wilds of Peru to look for her, the only clue to her whereabouts a spot marked on an enigmatic map.
Determined to solve the mystery, Paddington embarks on a thrilling quest through the rainforests of the Amazon to find his aunt…and may also uncover one of the world’s most legendary treasures.
Mickey 17 (March 7)
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo
The Plot: The unlikely hero, Mickey Barnes (Pattinson) has found himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living,” reads Warner Bros Pictures’ synopsis.
Black Bag (March 14)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan
The Plot: From director Steven Soderbergh, Black Bag is a gripping spy drama about legendary intelligence agents George Woodhouse and his beloved wife Kathryn. When she is suspected of betraying the nation, George faces the ultimate test – loyalty to his marriage or his country.
Disney’s Snow White (March 21)
Director: Marc Webb
Starring: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, and Andrew Burnap
The Plot: Disney’s Snow White is a live-action musical reimagining of the classic 1937 film. The magical music adventure journeys back to the timeless story with beloved characters Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy.
A Minecraft Movie (April 4)
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, Sebastian Eugene Hansen, and Eugene Hansen
The Plot: Welcome to the world of Minecraft, where creativity doesn’t just help you craft, it’s essential to one’s survival! Four misfits—Garrett ‘The Garbage Man’ Garrison (Momoa), Henry (Hansen), Natalie (Myers), and Dawn (Brooks)—find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they’ll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like Piglins and Zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve (Black).
Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative…the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.
Sinners (April 18)
Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, and Delroy Lindo
The Plot: 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.
Thunderbolts* (May 2)
Director: Jake Schreier
Starring: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman, and Geraldine Viswanathan
The Plot: A group of supervillains are recruited to go on missions for the government.
Lilo & Stitch (May 23)
Director: Dean Fleischer-Camp
Starring: Maia Kealoha, Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Tia Carrere, Hannah Waddingham, Courtney B. Vance, and Zach Galifianakis. The original film’s director Chris Sanders returns to voice Stitch.
The Plot: A live-action reimagining of Disney’s 2002 animated classic, Lilo & Stitch is the wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (May 23)
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Haley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Ving Rhames, Pom Klementieff, and Esai Morales
The Plot: In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his IMF team embarked on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan’s past closing in, a deadly race around the globe began. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan was forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.
The studio released this short description of The Final Reckoning: “Our lives are the sum of our choices.”
Ballerina (June 6)
Director: Len Wiseman
Starring: Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, and Ian McShane
The Plot: Taking place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the film follows Eve Macarro (de Armas) who is beginning her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.
Elio (June 13)
Director: Adrian Molina
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, America Ferrera, Jameela Jamil, and Brad Garrett
The Plot: For centuries, people have called out to the universe looking for answers — in Disney and Pixar’s all-new movie Elio, the universe calls back! The original feature film introduces Elio, an underdog with an active imagination who finds himself inadvertently beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide.
Mistakenly identified as Earth’s ambassador to the rest of the universe, and completely unprepared for that kind of pressure, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, survive a series of formidable trials, and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be.
How to Train Your Dragon (June 13)
Director: Dean DeBlois
Starring: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gerard Butler, and Gabriel Howell
The Plot: On the rugged isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations, Hiccup (Thames) stands apart. The inventive yet overlooked son of Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, reprising his voice role from the animated franchise), Hiccup defies centuries of tradition when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking society.
With the fierce and ambitious Astrid (Parker) and the village’s quirky blacksmith Gobber (Frost) by his side, Hiccup confronts a world torn by fear and misunderstanding. As an ancient threat emerges, endangering both Vikings and dragons, Hiccup’s friendship with Toothless becomes the key to forging a new future. Together, they must navigate the delicate path toward peace, soaring beyond the boundaries of their worlds and redefining what it means to be a hero and a leader.
28 Years Later (June 20)
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, and Ralph Fiennes
The Plot: Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle and Academy Award-nominated writer Alex Garland reunite for 28 Years Later, a terrifying new story set in the world created by 28 Days Later. 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.
F1 (June 27)
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem, Tobias Menzies, Sarah Niles, Kim Bodnia, and Samson Kayo
The Plot: Starring Brad Pitt as a former driver who returns to Formula 1, alongside Damson Idris as his teammate at APXGP, a fictional team on the grid, the feature has been shot during actual Grand Prix weekends as the team competes against the titans of the sport.
Jurassic World Rebirth (July 2)
Director: Gareth Edwards
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo
The Plot: Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.
Academy Award nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on an island where they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades.
Superman (July 11)
Director: James Gunn
Starring: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Isabela Merced, Nathan Fillion, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, María Gabriela de Faría, and Wendell Pierce
The Plot: In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor, and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25)
Director: Matt Shakman
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner, and Ralph Ineson
The Plot: Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
The Bride (September 26)
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Starring: Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, and Penelope Cruz
The Plot: A lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to seek the aid of a Dr. Euphronius in creating a companion for himself. The two reinvigorate a murdered young woman and the Bride is born. She is beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police, and a wild and radical social movement.
TRON: Ares (October 10)
Director: Joachim Rønning
Starring: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, and Gillian Anderson
The Plot: TRON: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings.
The Running Man (November 7)
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Glen Powell, Katy O’Brian, Josh Brolin, Lee Pace, Daniel Ezra, William H. Macy, and Michael Cera
The Plot: Glen Powell stars as a desperate man, needing money for his sick daughter, who joins the most popular show, The Running Man, in which teams of killers hunt down contestants. The longer a contestant survives, the more money that person makes. But as the game show’s producers and killers will find out, this desperate man will break all the rules and expose the show’s dark secrets.
Wicked: For Good (November 21)
Director: Jon M. Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, and Michelle Yeoh
The Plot: The sequel continues to explore the complex relationship between Elphaba and Glinda as they become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.
Zootopia 2 (November 26)
Director: Byron Howard, Rich Moore
Starring: Jason Bateman, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ke Huy Quan, and Fortune Feimster
The Plot: In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2, detectives Judy Hopps (Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Bateman) find themselves on the twisting trail of a mysterious reptile who arrives in Zootopia and turns the mammal metropolis upside down. To crack the case, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before.
Avatar: Fire and Ash (December 19)
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Oona Chaplin, Jack Champion, Britain Dalton, Trinity Bliss, and Bailey Bass
The Plot: Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third film in the phenomenally successful Avatar franchise, opens exclusively in theaters worldwide December 19, 2025. James Cameron takes audiences back to Pandora in an immersive new adventure with Marine turned Na’vi leader Jake Sully (Worthington), Na’vi warrior Neytiri (Saldaña), and the Sully family.
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