2024’s movie calendar may have closed a little bit softly, but 2025 opens with a bang and just keeps rolling. To get you ready for a year full of excellent releases, we’ve put together a list of 50 movies that should already have a spot reserved on your watch list.
The upcoming movie slate this year includes an myriad of superhero sequels and reboots from Superman to Fantastic Four: First Steps, along with some creative-looking horror movies, the long-awaited return of Parasite director Bong Joon-ho, a mysterious Kendrick Lamar musical, and Wicked: For Good. And if none of that were enough, there’s also a third Avatar movie to cap off the whole thing. Here’s all thoses movies and everything else you should be keeping an eye out for in 2025.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Release date: On Netflix Jan. 3
Directors: Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham
Cast: Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Reece Shearsmith
Drawing the eponymous doofus-and-dog team Wallace and Gromit into the era of strict IP continuity, the first Wallace & Gromit story since 2008 (and only the second full-length feature) brings back silent penguin antagonist Feathers McGraw for more hijinks around Wallace’s awkward inventions. This is the first movie with Ben Whitehead as Wallace; he’s been Wallace’s voice in marketing and video games since 2008, and is reprising the role in the movies as well following the 2017 death of original Wallace voice Peter Sallis. Expect cheese jokes, stop-motion slapstick, and periodic long-suffering eyerolls from Gromit as Wallace deals with his latest invention, a “helpful” robotic garden gnome that runs amok. —Tasha Robinson
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
Release date: In theaters Jan. 10
Director: Christian Gudegast
Cast: Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr.
The first Den of Thieves has been lovingly called (by myself and others) “Dirtbag Heat,” and, judging by the explosive trailer, the sequel is poised to continue down that route by seemingly teaming up Gerard Butler’s aggro cop “Big Nick” with O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s smooth criminal Donnie Wilson. If you ever wanted to see Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s characters from Heat team up in Europe, this is as close as you’re going to get. And if it’s anywhere near as good as the first movie, you’re in for an all-time January classic. —Pete Volk
Paddington in Peru
Release date: In theaters Jan. 17
Director: Dougal Wilson
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters
The weirdly critically beloved Paddington movie series continues the story of the hapless fish-out-of-water CG bear adopted by humans, inspired by Michael Bond’s classic kids’ books. This third installment in the series has the little bear (Ben Whishaw) returning to his homeland of Peru to visit his aunt, and getting involved in an Amazonian mystery-adventure. This movie has already been out for a while in some countries, and critical word has been a pretty universal “It’s OK, but not as good as the first two.” So temper your sky-high Paddington expectations accordingly. —TR
Wolf Man
Release date: In theaters Jan. 17
Director: Leigh Whannell
Cast: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth
Director Leigh Whannell’s 2020 version of The Invisible Man was a terrific yet sadly overlooked update of the classic monster-movie story. It expertly pulled the story into modern times by letting it prey on 21st-century anxieties about technology, power, and human connection. Hopefully his new update of The Wolf Man is just as successful and even more widely recognized. —Austen Goslin
The Color Within
Release date: In theaters Jan. 24
Director: Naoko Yamada
Cast: Akari Takaishi, Sayu Suzukawa, Taisei Kido
Animator-director Naoko Yamada (A Silent Voice, Liz and the Blue Bird) is back with an all-new feature film, this time produced by Science Saru, the acclaimed studio behind Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! and Inu-Oh. The Colors Within centers on the story of Totsuko, a high school student with synesthesia, who is inadvertently recruited to play in a band alongside her classmates Kimi and Rui. Together, the trio’s friendship grows alongside their love of music, while each of them confronts their own struggles in coming of age. —Toussaint Egan
Presence
Release date: In theaters Jan. 24
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, Chris Sullivan
The latest in Steven Soderbergh’s endless experiments with the cinematic form is an unconventional ghost story, seen from the POV of the “presence” of the title — an invisible figure watching the struggles of a mother and father (Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan) dealing with family stresses in a new house. It got a strongly positive response in festival screenings, which emphasized that it isn’t a blood-and-guts-and-jump-scares horror movie, just a melancholy, haunting story centered on, as the title has it, a disturbing unseen presence. —TR
Love Hurts
Release date: In theaters Feb. 7
Director: Jonathan Eusebio
Cast: Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose, Daniel Wu
Independent production company 87North has quickly gone from action movie upstart to one of Hollywood’s major players in the genre. It started with the John Wick movies, continued with hits like Atomic Blonde and The Fall Guy, and now, Ke Huy Quan gets another chance to be an action star with Love Hurts. The movie will also be the directorial debut of veteran stunt performer and action director Jonathan Eusebio, who worked as a fight coordinator on the first three John Wick movies, Doctor Strange, and The Fall Guy, and as a stunt coordinator on Black Panther and Birds of Prey. The guy’s got the goods. —PV
Captain America: Brave New World
Release date: In theaters Feb. 14
Director: Julius Onah
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas
The Marvel Cinematic Universe returns to theaters this year with the next installment of the Captain America franchise. Written in part by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier alums, Anthony Mackie’s Cap will face off against Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk and Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder. —Susana Polo
The Gorge
Release date: On Apple TV Plus Feb. 14
Director: Scott Derrickson
Cast: Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver
The Gorge has an incredible concept. It’s an sci-fi action movie about two snipers who are each tasked with guarding one side of a massive gorge with no idea what’s inside. If that weren’t enough, it’s directed by the great Scott Derrickson (The Black Phone, Sinister, Doctor Strange), and stars the always excellent Anya Taylor-Joy as well as Miles Teller. —Austen Goslin
The Monkey
Release date: In theaters Feb. 21
Director: Osgood Perkins
Cast: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood
Hot off the massive success of Longlegs, writer-director Oz Perkins is back in theaters less than a year later with this new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic story about a clapping toy monkey that’s far more dangerous and sinister than it appears. Longlegs expertly mixed bizarre black humor with scares, which sounds like a perfect tone for The Monkey to strike too. —AG
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
Release date: In theaters Feb. 28
Director: Peter Browngardt
Cast: Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol
The Looney Tunes are set to return to the big screen this year with their first original fully animated feature film! The Day the Earth Blew Up stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, who, after a series of hijinks at a bubblegum factory, accidentally discover a clandestine alien plot to conquer the world! The good news is that they have each other to rely on in order to save the day. The bad news is… well, they have to rely on each other in order to save the day. —TE
The Legend of Ochi
Release date: In theaters Feb. 28
Director: Isaiah Saxon
Cast: Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson
Is “elevated fantasy” the next discourse-worthy film label? After arguably creating its own subgenre with Hereditary and The Witch, A24 is ready to rethink magical realism with The Legend of Ochi, the debut feature from puppets-and-practical-effects visionary Isaiah Saxon. Unlike the studio’s horror outings, Ochi looks more like heartfelt, all-ages fantasy, following the journey of a young girl, Yuri (Helena Zengel), and a baby “ochi,” a primate-ish creature from a nearby foggy forest. A spin on E.T. with the heart of Jim Henson and a Moonrise Kingdom sheen sounds like exactly the antidote to big-budget Lord of the Rings wannabes. —Matt Patches
Sinners
Release date: In theaters March 7
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are teaming up once again, this time for an original supernatural horror film set in the 1930s Jim Crow-era South. Sinners stars Jordan in the dual role of Elijah and Elias, twin brothers who return to their hometown in search of relief and a chance to start over. What they find, however, is a horror greater than anything they could imagine brewing beneath the surface. —TE
Black Bag
Release date: In theaters March 14
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Regé-Jean Page
Steven Soderbergh never misses, which is why it’s so exciting that his immediate follow-up to Presence is going to be a spy thriller starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett as a married couple. It seems like it’s going to have a Mr. & Mrs. Smith-type vibe, but perhaps with a bit more political intrigue sprinkled on top. —AG
Disney’s Snow White
Release date: In theaters March 21
Director: Marc Webb
Cast: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap
The live-action Snow White has somehow attracted the most heated discourse — is it feminist for Snow White to not need a prince? Are the Dwarfs played by little people or are they magical creatures or just CGI monstrosities? What’s up with that dress? But damn it if Rachel Zegler doesn’t have the voice of an angel. We’re here to see her belt her heart out in a movie that probably doesn’t deserve her. —Petrana Radulovic
A Minecraft Movie
Release date: In theaters April 4
Director: Jared Hess
Cast: Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Emma Myers
The highly anticipated, long-in-development Minecraft movie finally arrives in 2025, and it sure looks… interesting. Director Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre) is taking a familiar narrative approach to the adaptation, as four misfits find themselves pulled through a mysterious portal and dropped into the blocky, creative world of Minecraft, with Steve (Jack Black) serving as their guide in this cubic universe. The unlikely heroes of A Minecraft Movie will be challenged to “be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative” as they fight to find their way home. —Michael McWhertor
Mickey 17
Release date: In theaters April 18
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette
Bong Joon-ho follows up his Oscar-winning film Parasite with an adaptation of Edward Ashton’s 2022 sci-fi novel Mickey 7. Mickey 17 centers on Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), a space colonist who agrees to become an “expendable” as part of his job colonizing the ice planet Niflheim. Mickey is killed multiple times during his job, only to be subsequently cloned over and over again to continue his mission. But when a terrible accident results in two of Mickey’s clones existing at the same time as one another, they’ll have to figure out a way to make their situation work without either of them being killed.
Initially slated to be released on March 29, 2024, before being pushed back to January of this year, due in part to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Mickey 17 was once again pushed back to this April. —TE
The Accountant 2
Release date: In theaters April 25
Director: Gavin O’Connor
Cast: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, J. K. Simmons
After a poor performance at the box office when it came out in 2016, Gavin O’Connor’s (Warrior) The Accountant has become a bit of a cult hit as the kind of TNT-ass movie that would replay on cable endlessly. It’s a fun action movie with a strong lead performance by Ben Affleck as an autistic accountant in deep with some very dangerous people, and the upcoming sequel returns most of the major players (including Affleck, O’Connor, writer Bill Dubuque, and Affleck’s co-stars J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson). As someone always down for a TNT-ass movie, I will be there. —PV
Until Dawn
Release date: In theaters April 25
Director: David F. Sandberg
Cast: Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Ji-young Yoo
PlayStation 4 game Until Dawn was a Choose Your Own Adventure-style slasher-horror game that built on decades of cinematic horror tropes and featured some pretty big stars (Hayden Panettiere, Rami Malek, Peter Stormare). Now, that interactive story is being adapted for the big screen as an “R-rated love letter to the horror genre.” Since it’s based on a branching story, it’ll be interesting to see what choices director David F. Sandberg (Annabelle: Creation, Shazam!) makes in his adaptation of the 2015 game. Until Dawn, the movie, will feature a young new cast of potential slasher victims, with Stormare reprising his role from the game. —MM
The Thunderbolts*
Release date: In theaters May 2
Director: Jake Schreier
Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour
The MCU has its Suicide Squad in the Thunderbolts, a team of villains and other shady types brought together when some force in the world sets out to kill all of them. Why does the movie’s title have an asterisk? That’s for them to know and us to find out. —Susana Polo
Final Destination: Bloodlines
Release date: In theaters May 16
Directors: Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein
Cast: Brec Bassinger, Teo Briones, Tony Todd
No one in the Final Destination movies can escape death… including the franchise itself. Fourteen years after Final Destination 5, the premonition-heavy horror series is back in hopes of a Scream-style relaunch.
Produced by Spider-Man trilogy director Jon Watts, and with a script by Guy Busick (Ready or Not, Scream) and Lori Evans Taylor, the success of Bloodlines — the most direct-to-video-esque title imaginable? — really comes down to the hijinks of directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, who reportedly staged their own deaths during a Zoom call pitch session for the movie. That’s commitment, and a hope that the sixth installment can live up to the franchise’s spiritual successor, the Escape Room films. The bar is high! —MP
Lilo & Stitch
Release date: In theaters May 23
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Cast: Chris Sanders, Maia Kealoha, Sydney Agudong
All the trailers for the Lilo & Stitch remake have focused a lot on the adorable blue alien. But the movie is supposedly going to focus a lot more on the island community, fleshing out some of the side characters in Lilo and Nani’s life. The original movie’s promotions also focused more on Stitch and less on the human side of the story, so maybe it’s not that out of pocket and the movie will deliver on that front. —PR
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Release date: In theaters May 23
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames
It’s mildly bonkers how much AI has developed and become an existential threat to all sorts of industries in the year and a half since the previous Mission: Impossible movie, Dead Reckoning Part One, set up an inimical AI as the villain. The conceit already looked quaint back in 2023. Who’s to say what it’ll look like when Tom Cruise/Ethan Hunt charges back into action against the AI in 2025? Regardless, it’s unclear why this movie isn’t called Dead Reckoning Part Two, since it’s picking up at the “to be continued…” point where the last movie left off. The big question is whether it’ll actually be any kind of final reckoning — director Christopher McQuarrie has already said this movie won’t end the series, though rumors suggest it might be the final bow for Cruise as Ethan Hunt. —TR
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
Release date: In theaters June 6
Director: Len Wiseman
Cast: Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne
This John Wick spinoff movie starring Ana de Armas has gone through a bit of a tumultuous development process, but since the latest update is that the film brought in Keanu Reeves and series director Chad Stahelski for some action punch-ups, it seems like it’s finally on the right track to be a proper entry in the franchise. —AG
How To Train Your Dragon
Release date: In theaters June 13
Director: Dean DeBlois
Cast: Mason Thames, Gerard Butler, Nico Parker
Dean DeBlois, the original director of How to Train Your Dragon, returns for the live-action remake. The first trailer showed off realistic re-creations of Berk, Hiccup, and the other Vikings, and a more photorealistic Toothless. The dragon still looks cute with the texture resolution cranked up to ultra! One thing’s for certain: John Powell’s iconic score will go hard. —PR
Pixar’s Elio
Release date: In theaters June 13
Directors: Domee Shi, Madeline Sharafian, Adrian Molina
Cast: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Jameela Jamil
After some developmental hiccups and delays, Pixar’s new alien comedy is finally coming out in 2025. Originally directed by Coco’s Adrian Molina, Elio is now helmed by Domee Shi (Turning Red) and Madeline Sharafian in her directorial debut. Elio follows a young boy who’s passionate about aliens — and accidentally gets beamed up into an interplanetary organization, where he’s mistakenly identified as Earth’s leader. —PR
28 Years Later
Release date: In theaters June 28
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes
Writer Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle’s apocalyptic 28 series might quietly be one of the best horror franchises of the 2000s, which is why it’s a surprise that it took them nearly 18 years to return to the series. But if the first trailer for 28 Years Later is any indication, their brand of zombie-ish horror hasn’t stalled at all in the years since it last appeared. —AG
F1
Release date: In theaters June 27
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon
Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski is hoping that the combination of raw speed and the popularity of Formula 1 racing — oh, and the star power of Brad Pitt — will lure moviegoers to theaters to see F1 in 2025. Pitt plays a retired Formula 1 driver who returns to the sport to mentor a rookie racing prodigy (Damson Idris), starring alongside Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem, and a host of real-world F1 drivers like Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Oscar Piastri. —MM
M3GAN 2.0
Release date: In theaters July 27
Director: Gerard Johnstone
Cast: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Jenna Davis
Everyone’s favorite homicidal children’s toy robot is back in 2025 with more murder, and hopefully more dancing. While we don’t know much about M3GAN’s next outing, we know that the stars of the original will be back, along with writer Akela Cooper and director Gerard Johnstone, which is enough to get us excited. —AG
Jurassic World Rebirth
Release date: In theaters July 2
Director: Gareth Edwards
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey
After three back-to-back billion-dollar box-office hits, the Jurassic World franchise returns for a seventh outing, this time with Scarlett Johansson taking the lead. Jurassic World Rebirth follows on the events of Dominion, with Earth’s remaining dinos living in isolated equatorial environments. And in series tradition, someone’s out to make a profit, so Johansson leads a covert ops team tasked with securing dinosaur genetic material that holds the key to a drug with lifesaving benefits. Rebirth promises a “sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades,” in case you need some intrigue to go with your big dino action. —MM
Untitled Matt Stone & Trey Parker Musical
Release date: In theaters July 4
Director: Trey Parker
Cast: ?
South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have a controversial rap sheet but a high batting average when it comes to projects outside their 26-season-deep series: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is a musical masterpiece; Team America: World Police is totally underrated; The Book of Mormon needs a rewrite, but the songs are legendary. So there’s reason to think a team-up between Matt Stone, Trey Parker, and Drake-destroyer Kendrick Lamar could be the funniest damn thing we’ll see this year. At the moment, we know nothing about it — at last year’s CinemaCon, Paramount’s CEO called the untitled film the “craziest and most original scripts we’ve ever read” — and maybe we’re overhyping the next BASEketball. But you know what… with so few comedies actually finding their ways to theaters these days, the next BASEketball might be a thrill, too. —Matt Patches
Superman
Release date: In theaters July 11
Director: James Gunn
Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Isabela Merced
James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Films universe begins properly with the Gunn-written and -directed Superman, starring David Corenswet as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. Little is known about the movie’s plot, but the first teaser is big on hope and John Williams music. —Susana Polo
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Release date: In theaters July 25
Director: Matt Shakman
Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon-Moss Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn star as Marvel’s first superhero family, the Fantastic Four, and Marvel Studios is hoping the movie can breathe new life into a flagging MCU. Galactus menaces Earth in this period piece, with John Malkovich and Natasha Lyonne in undisclosed roles, and a presumed cameo from Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. —Susana Polo
The Bad Guys 2
Release date: In theaters Aug. 1
Director: Pierre Perifel, JP Sans
Cast: Zazie Beetz, Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina
The Bad Guys specials Netflix has been churning out have inevitably been a bit disappointing — visibly animated for a much lower budget than the 2022 feature movie, and lacking the movie’s reckless, wild visual sense and big-name cast. Hopefully that will change with the theatrical feature The Bad Guys 2, which brings the not-so-villanous anthropomorphic animal villains of Aaron Blabey’s popular kids’ books back under the direction of Pierre Perifel and reunites the original cast, including Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Zazie Beetz, and Anthony Ramos. This time around, the heels turned heroes are trying to live up to their new good-guy intentions, until they give into the biggest trope in crime movies, and an all-female crime crew pulls them back in for One Last Job. —TR
Nobody 2
Release date: In theaters Aug. 15
Director: Timo Tjahjanto
Cast: Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, Sharon Stone
While I’ve liked a good chunk of 87North’s work, I wasn’t a fan of Nobody, starring Bob Odenkirk. The movie had some good fights, and Odenkirk really put in the work, but some of the story elements put me off of the movie. But there is a solid foundation for potential there, and that potential skyrockets with the addition of action gore maestro Timo Tjahjanto in the director’s chair. His movies are always must-see events. —PV
The Conjuring: Last Rites
Release date: In theaters Sept. 5
Director: Michael Chaves
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson
We’re about nine movies into the Conjuring universe at this point, which is probably bigger than most of us ever thought a movie franchise based on Ed and Lorraine Warren could be. While we don’t know for sure what Last Rites will be about just yet, we do know that it’s set to be some kind of finale to the stories that the Conjuring series has told thus far, and we know it’s being directed by series veteran Michael Chaves, who directed The Curse of La Llorona, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and The Nun II in the franchise already. —AG
The Bride
Release date: In theaters Sept. 26
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz
Any fresh adaptation of Frankenstein, or Bride of Frankenstein in this case, is cause for excitement, but this version directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal is especially notable considering its incredibly stacked cast. The movie stars Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Julianne Hough, and Jake Gyllenhaal, just to name a few. —AG
Saw XI
Release date: In theaters Sept. 26
Director: Kevin Greutert
2023’s Saw X was a terrific return to form for the long-running horror franchise, reintroducing Tobin Bell as the enigmatic serial killer John Kramer in a story set between the events of Saw and Saw 2. The film’s director, Kevin Greutert, is set to return with yet another sequel later this year, with Tobin Bell presumably set to once again reprise his iconic role. —TE
Tron: Ares
Release date: In theaters Oct. 10
Director: Joachim Rønning
Cast: Jared Leto, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith
Disney’s Tron, amazingly, is still kicking — thanks in large part to Jared Leto and a flashy Disney World roller coaster. But you know what? Whatever it takes for a premise that will always result in eye-popping visuals, even if the story can’t keep up.
With franchise-appropriate distance from 2010’s Tron: Legacy (itself a legacy sequel to 1982’s Tron), Tron: Ares finds certified Disney Director Joachim Rønning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) reviving the we’re-in-the-computer sci-fi aesthetic of Legacy but with a new pitch: This time, the computer programs are running amok in the real world. Jeff Bridges is back, but the real draw this time around is Past Lives star Greta Lee breaking into the blockbuster scene. And while we’ll miss Daft Punk doing the soundtrack, hey, we’re getting Nine Inch Nails. Let the hype (light) cycle begin. —MP
The Black Phone 2
Release date: In theaters Oct. 17
Director: Scott Derrickson
Cast: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Ethan Hawke
The existence of a sequel to The Black Phone raises a lot of questions that only The Black Phone 2 can answer. But while the original movie getting a sequel at all is a little confusing, we do know that original author Joe Hill pitched the idea for the sequel before the original was even out, and that director Scott Derrickson is back for the second iteration, along with Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, Miguel Cazarez Mora, and even Ethan Hawke, who will all be reprising their roles from the original. —AG
Mortal Kombat 2
Release date: In theaters Oct. 24
Director: Simon McQuoid
Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada, Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph
The first Mortal Kombat movie in the new reboot of the franchise was a big disappointment: Some of the casting was inspired, and the costuming looked great, but the fights were lackluster, sparse, and edited beyond recognition — it was the kind of action movie where the behind-the-scenes footage looked better than the real thing. That means there’s one thing on everyone’s mind for Mortal Kombat 2, which once again boasts a very strong cast: Will the movie actually have Mortal Kombat in it this time? —PV
Bugonia
Release date: In theaters Nov. 7
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Alicia Silverstone
The latest from Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite, Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness) stars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons in a project that seems even odder than Lanthimos’ usual fare, if only in its origins: It’s a live-action remake of the Korean comedy Save the Green Planet! about a man who kidnaps a pharmaceutical exec who he believes is an alien, paving the way for an invasion. Stone stars as the gender-swapped exec; Plemons is the kidnapper, working with his mother (Alicia Silverstone), like any good conspiracy enthusiast would. —TR
Predator: Badlands
Release date: In theaters Nov. 7
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Cast: Elle Fanning
Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) provided a jolt of energy to the Predator franchise with Prey, a very different take on the series set in 1719 that followed a young Comanche woman (Amber Midthunder). Trachtenberg returns for Predator: Badlands and takes the franchise to the future, with Elle Fanning in the leading role. Not much is known about the movie, but Trachtenberg has reportedly shot a secret Predator movie that is also slated to come out in 2025. Predator fans, we are eating good. —PV
Now You See Me 3
Release date: In theaters Nov. 14
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Dan Radcliffe, Rosamund Pike, Morgan Freeman
Who had the return of Louis Leterrier’s “stage magicians pull off a complicated heist” series Now You See Me on their bingo card for 2025? The previous movie in the series — directed by Wicked’s Jon M. Chu — was all the way back in 2016. Given the expansive cast (Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, Isla Fisher, Ariana Greenblatt, Mark Ruffalo, Dominic Sessa, Justice Smith, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Rosamund Pike), this franchise feels like someone in the background has Fast and Furious franchise aims, but nine years between installments and a third director (Venom’s Ruben Fleischer) over three movies makes that ambition seem a little dubious — unless heavy-duty Now You See Me nostalgia has set in in the interim. —TR
The Running Man
Release date: In theaters Nov. 21
Director: Edgar Wright
Cast: Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Lee Pace
Did the world need another adaptation of Stephen King’s comparatively minor book The Running Man, after the deeply cheesy 1987 version starring Arnold Schwarzenegger at the height of his “kill an antagonist, make a bad pun about it” era (Re: the guy he just cut in half: “Ah, he had to split.”) Consider this, though: This new version comes from Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World director Edgar Wright. And the advance summaries emphasize that it’s set in the hideous dystopic future of… 2025. Given the themes about wealth inequity and desperation — in this world, poor people compete on lethal game shows for money — this one might feel all too timely. The cast (Glen Powell in the lead, Lee Pace as the antagonist, William H. Macy and Josh Brolin in the wings) sounds pretty promising, too. —TR
Wicked: For Good
Release date: In theaters Nov. 21
Director: Jon M. Chu
Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh
There were some eyebrow raises when director Jon M. Chu announced that he was splitting Wicked into two movies, myself included among them. But after the splendor of Wicked: Part I, I fully support that decision. It’s an epic story that needs time to build and breathe! And now the time skip between the two acts will hit all the harder! Wicked: For Good will likely expand on the play’s second act more than the first part did with the first act, and possibly include more of the Wizard of Oz. —PR
Zootopia 2
Release date: In theaters Nov. 26
Directors: Jared Bush, Byron Howard
Cast: Jason Bateman, Fortune Feimster, Ginnifer Goodwin
Disney Animation returns to the anthropomorphic well for this sequel to 2016’s Zootopia. Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman return as prey-predator buddy cop pair Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, hunting Ke Huy Quan’s Gary, a suspicious snake. —Susana Polo
Five Night at Freddy’s 2
Release date: In theaters Dec. 5
Director: Emma Tanmi
Cast: Matthew Lillard, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail
The tween-friendly scares of Scott Cawthon’s Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise made for a very profitable movie adaptation in 2023, so Blumhouse is quickly making a sequel. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 will see Josh Hutcherson return as the security guard paid to survive his stint at an abandoned pizzeria home to killer animatronic mascots for more PG-13-rated horror. —MM
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Release date: In theaters Dec. 19
Director: James Cameron
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver
James Cameron proved the skeptics wrong with Avatar: The Way of Water, which revived the dormant sci-fi property with spectacular advancements and classic epic-story rigor. Fire and Ash, the next chapter, faces a different kind of task: Can Cameron really build a franchise on the moon of Pandora With only a few years since The Way of Water, the filmmaker is relying on years of world-building with a crack team of Hollywood screenwriters to advance the world of Avatar in a way that can go toe-to-toe with Marvel and Star Wars. The promise of Fire and Ash is pretty basic: This time there are fire Na’vi! Whether Cameron can deepen the stories of Jake Sully and Neytiri while concocting bigger and wilder set-pieces is the exciting unknown. —MP
Frankenstein
Release date: In theaters and streaming on Netflix in 2025
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth
2025 is set to be a huge year for Guillermo del Toro, as the Academy Award-winning filmmaker is set to unveil one of the biggest passion projects of his career. Del Toro has been trying to produce an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s seminal horror classic Frankenstein in some form or another since as early as 2007, at one point calling the book his “favorite novel in the world.” Can del Toro manage to create a film that lives up to his own lofty expectations? —TE
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