The Pamphleteer's 2025 Comprehensive Film Guide

Revisit our most anticipated films of 2025.

Theatrical Must Sees

Mickey 17 Bong Joon Ho’s long-awaited follow-up to his Oscar darling, Parasite, finds Robert Pattinson as an expendable clone who goes rogue when colonizing an ice planet. Expect some visionary imagery, grandiose absurdity, and populist social commentary. (3/7)

Black Bag As if January’s experimental ghost story Presence weren’t enough, indie legend Steven Soderbergh plants another flag in 2025’s movie calendar with this sleek espionage flick starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett as real-life spies George and Kathryn Woodhouse, who try to save their marriage in the wake of treason charges  (3/14)

The Alto Nights  Robert DeNiro proves himself no slouch during his golden years playing dual roles as real-life gangster Frank Costello AND his arch nemesis, Vito Genovese. If TDS finally broke the seasoned actor, at least Rain Man director Barry Levinson is at the helm. (3/21)

A Working Man Jason Statham reteams with Training Day writer David Ayer after last year’s glorious The Beekeeper for the tale of an ex-black ops soldier who trades in his quiet life as a construction foreman for the vigilante world when his boss’s daughter falls prey to human traffickers. Sure to be the biggest blast of the spring (3/28)

Warfare A year after the release of the polarizing megahit Civil War, Alex Garland sets his sights on a less speculative combat film in this collaboration with veteran Ray Mendoza that embeds viewers with a group of SEALs in an Iraqi family’s home during a move through insurgent territory. And it takes place in real-time. (4/11) 

Hurry Up Tomorrow We’d feel more confident about this thriller featuring The Weeknd as an insomniac popstar pulled into a stranger’s existential odyssey if it weren’t helmed by uneven indie director Trey Edward Shults (Waves). With Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. (5/16)

F1 Apple hopes that director Joseph Kosinski does for racing what he did for fighter jets in Top Gun: Maverick in this old-school Hollywood summer epic featuring Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem as drivers back to take on the new blood. (6/27) 

Caught Stealing As Noah and Black Swan proved, Darren Aronofsky has no patience for subtlety in his quests for cinematic perfection. Now he’s back fresh from the Oscar-winning The Whale with an adaptation of the Charlie Huston novel series about a former baseball player caught up in 90s New York City’s criminal underworld with Austin Butler as the lead (8/29).

Good Fortune Aziz Ansari roars back from a half-baked cancellation attempt with this body swap comedy about a budget guardian angel (Keanu Reeves) who loses his wings after his It’s a Wonderful Life riff involving a loser (Ansari) and a millionaire (Seth Rogen) goes awry. If it’s half as good as Master of None, it could prove the savior of bigscreen comedy (10/17).

Marty Supreme (12/25) Timothée Chalamet goes from Bob Dylan to 50s ping-pong star Marty Reisman for Josh Safdie (half the sibling team behind Uncut Gems). Featuring the year’s most eclectic cast:  Tyler the Creator, Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, Gwyneth Paltrow, Fran Drescher, and Penn Jillette (12/25).

The Smashing Machine The other Safdie, Benny, makes a sports movie of his own with The Rock as MMA fighter Mark Kerr and Emily Blunt as his put-upon wife (TBA).

The Housemaid The adaptation of Freida McFadden’s bestselling thriller finds Sydney Sweeney as a domestic worker who discovers the secrets of a wealthy couple (Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar) under the direction of Bridesmaids’s Paul Feig. (12/25)

Materialists All we know about Celine Song’s follow-up to Best Picture nominee Past Lives is that it's a romcom about a NYC matchmaker starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. (TBA)

Eddington Ari Aster’s ambitious Beau is Afraid arguably ended the art-horror streak he began with Hereditary and Midsommar. So, the indie golden boy switches gears to a darkly comic western about a sheriff who feels he’s made for something more than his quiet New Mexico town. Featuring Beau star Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, and Pedro Pascal. (Early 2025)

Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague Indie film’s father, Richard Linklater, takes a break from decades-long endeavors like Boyhood for two sprawling biopics. In the former, Ethan Hawke plays composer Lorenz Hart having a real-time nervous breakdown at the opening night party for his former partner Richard Rodgers’s Oklahoma! that not even the presence of Margaret Qualley can stop. In the latter, Linklater retraces the steps of Jean-Luc Godard during the making of French New Wave classic Breathless with Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg. (TBA)

The Mastermind Kelly Reichardt brings her indie sensibility to an art heist drama set during the Vietnam War that stars Josh O’Connor and Alana Haim. (May) 

Ella McKay James L Brooks (Terms of Endearment, As Good As It Gets) returns from a 15-year hiatus for this story of an up-and-coming politician (Emma Mackey) who has to balance her family and constituents when she unexpectedly finds herself taking over as her state’s governor. With Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson, Ayo Edebiri, and Albert Brooks. (TBA)

Most Worthwhile Sequels/Remakes

Disney’s Snow White Yeah, the live-action remake with Rachel Zegler and Gal Galdot is going to be a disaster, but imagine the Monday Morning Elon and Trump shitposting. (3/21) 

The Accountant 2 Ben Affleck reprises his role as the autistic bookkeeper for the criminal underworld, who teams up with his assassin brother (Jon Bernthal) to break open a conspiracy. (4/25)

Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning While it’s almost assured there’s nothing final about the second part of 2023’s installment, the showdown between Tom Cruise and some rogue AI is the stuff summer movies are made of. (5/23)

Karate Kid: Legends OG protege Ralph Macchio joins up with Jackie Chan to bridge the worlds of Cobra Kai and the 2010 remake. Thankfully, there’s no Jaden Smith in sight.  (5/30)

Ballerina Ana de Armas reprises her character from John Wick 3 as she learns to become her own assassin with a cameo from Keanu. (6/6).

Highest 2 Lowest Spike Lee reteams with Denzel Washington for a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s classic about a shoe company executive forced to decide the fate of a servant’s child when kidnappers accidentally take him instead of his own son. (Summer)

The Naked Gun Liam Neeson takes the lead on this reboot of the Leslie Nielsen spoof franchise and hopefully earns a much-deserved career boost.(8/1)

Nobody 2 The pandemic domesticated assassin tale gets a sequel with everyman asskicker Bob Odenkirk back in top form. (8/15)

Tron: Ares Jared Leto boards the cult gamer franchise to either assist or face off against Jeff Bridges. Regardless, it’ll look amazing in IMAX. (10/10)

Predator: Badlands Elle Fanning as the lead in the storied action franchise may be left field, but, as Alien Romulus and Hulu’s Prey proved, the only thing Disney hasn’t screwed up are these sometimes related hard-R IPs. (11/7)

Avatar: Fire and Ash More blue people, $2 billion grosses, and Oscar noms for James Cameron. (12/19)

Anaconda The 1997 cult classic was hilarious enough on its own even if this comedic remake stars Jack Black and Paul Rudd. (12/25)

Also on Tap: Lilo & Stitch (5/23), How to Train Your Dragon (6/13), Freakier Friday (8/8), Downton Abbey 3 (9/12), Mortal Kombat 2 (10/24), Wicked: For Good (11/21)

Superhero Best Bet

Captain America: Brave New World Anthony Mackie takes over for Steve Rogers and faces off against a criminal syndicate that wants to turn Harrison Ford into a Red Hulk. (2/14)

Thunderbolts Marvel gets its own Suicide Squad with Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier playing off Black Widow’s Florence Pugh and David Harbour. (May 2)

Fantastic Four: First Steps Here’s hoping third time's charm for Marvel’s first proper outing focused on its signature superhero team. With Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the core four facing off against Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and The Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). (7/25)

Superman James Gunn trades in The Guardians of the Galaxy for the Man of Steel as he tries to save DC from itself. (7/11)

Multi-Demo Family & Animation

Paddington in Peru The fanbase for the film series based on Britain’s most famous bear has only grown since this third outing, which finds our hero searching for his missing aunt. WIth literally every living British actor. (2/14)

A Minecraft Movie Jack Black and Jason Momoa headline the most WTF? IP adaptation since The Lego Movie (2014). Let’s hope it’s even a third as good. (4/1)

The Legend of Ochi A24 aims to prove Marcel, The Shell With Shoes On was no fluke with its second family offering. This time, a young girl tries to bring a mythical baby creature back home with the help of Willem Dafoe and Finn Wolfhard. (4/25)

Elio Pixar’s latest follows a young boy mistaken for Earth’s ambassador on an alien planet after he is accidentally beamed into space. (6/13)

Zootopia 2 Disney’s anthropomorphic police procedural finds its buddy fox and bunny cops (Jason Bateman and Gennifer Goodwin) tracking down an anarchist reptile wreaking havoc on their town. (11/26)

Also on Tap: A Sloth Story (2/28), Night of the Zoopocalypse (3/7), Sneaks (4/18), Smurfs (7/18), The Bad Guys 2 (8/1), Light of the World (9/5), Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie (9/26), Aang: The Last Airbender (10/10), The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for Squarepants (12/19)

Top-Shelf Horrorshow

The Monkey Hot off Longlegs, Oz Perkins wades into the Stephen King adaptation with this unhinged tale of a killer monkey that tears a family apart. (2/21)

Opus Ayo Edebiri stars as a music journalist invited to the compound of a reclusive popstar (John Malkovich) who finds herself caught up in his nefarious plan. (3/14)

Drop Meghann Fahy from The White Lotus stars as a single mom newly back on the market who receives a cryptic text: kill your date or a masked killer will murder your toddler son. From the team behind Happy Death Day and Freaky. (4/11)

Sinners Ryan Coogler takes a break from Black Panther for this high-budget period possession film featuring Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld that finds a small town stalked by unrepentant evil. (4/18)

28 Years Later The long-awaited third entry of the Danny Boyle-Alex Garland fast zombie franchise has a killer trailer (RIP Teletubbies fans) and an enviable cast led by Cillian Murphy, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Jodie Comer. (6/20)

M3gan 2.0 2023’s sleeper horror hit about a killer A.I. doll is back for the inevitable second helping and more social commentary about iPad kids. 6/27)

I Know What You Did Last Summer The second-string 90s slasher enters requel terrain with Freddie Prince Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt back in the saddle to fend off that demonic Gorton’s fish dude. (7/18)

Him The sports movie meets cult horror as a football star is tapped to train at an isolated compound led by a former NFL quarterback played by Marlon Wayans. (9/19)

The Bride Maggie Gyllenhaal takes on Mary Shelley with this 1930s-set reimagining of Frankenstein starring her brother, Christian Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, Jessie Buckley, and Penélope Cruz. (9/26)

The Black Phone 2 The sequel to 2022’s best horror movie sees Ethan Hawke’s 70s-era child killer, The Grabber, back for a face-off against the preteen who did him wrong. (10/17)

Could Go Either Way: In The Lost Lands (3/7), Locked (3/21), Ash (3/21), The Woman in the Yard (3/28), Until Dawn (4/25), Clown in a Cornfield (5/9), Final Destination: Bloodlines (5/16), The Conjuring 4 (9/5), Saw X (9/26), Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (12/5)

Indie Spirit

Eephus Facing demolition of their baseball field, members of two Sunday adult league teams prepare for their final game in this mournful yet hilarious rumination on small-town life. (3/7)

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl Rungano Nyoni follows up 2018’s standout I Am Not A Witch with the story of the secrets that pop up when a family’s uncle is found dead by the side of the road. (3/7)

Seven Veils Canadian indie royalty Atom Egoyan reteams with Amanda Seyfried for the first time since 2010’s Chloe for a chamber drama about an opera director haunted by her past while staging her late mentor’s final show. (3/7)

Death of a Unicorn Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega play a father and daughter who accidentally turn a unicorn into road kill and fight to protect its essence from an evil industrialist (Richard E. Grant) in A24’s absurdist comedy (3/28)

Sacramento Who wouldn’t want to take a road trip with Michael Cera and Kristen Stewart? (4/11)

Honey Don’t Ethan Coen follows the limp Drive Away Dolls with another solo comedy featuring Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Charlie Day, and Billy Eichner. (May 2025)

Americana Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, and Halsey headline this mystery about an artifact that goes missing and alters the social fabric of small-town South Dakota. (8/22) 

If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You A middle-aged woman (Rose Byrne) navigates her child’s illness, a missing person, her absent husband, and an antagonistic therapist played by Conan O’Brien in this Sundance sensation that also features A$AP Rocky (TBA)

Dreams Mexico’s Michel Franco hopes to stay on the hot streak that began with 2022’s New Order as he undertakes a ballet drama starring Jessica Chastain. (TBA)

The Ice Tower A runaway falls under the spell of a movie star (Marion Cotillard) on the set of a 1970s adaptation of The Snow Queen in this French import. (TBA)

I Want Your Sex 90s provocateur Gregg Araki returns with the story of a twentysomething (Cooper Hoffman) who becomes the sexual muse of a fringe artist. With Olivia Wilde, Mason Gooding, and Charli XCX. (TBA)

Odds and Ends

The Unbreakable Boy Franklin-based  Kingdom Story’s latest features Zachary Levi as the father of the titular kid who has a rare genetic bone disease and autism. Based on a true story. (2/21) 

Last Breath It’s The Martian underwater as a team of deep-sea divers led by Woody Harrelson risks life and limb to rescue a team member. (2/28)

Novocaine Jack Quaid plays a mild-mannered bank teller whose ability not to feel pain turns him into a vigilante when robbers kidnap the girl of his dreams. (3/7)

The Amateur An introverted CIA decoder (Rami Malek) takes matters into his own hands when his wife dies in a London terrorist attack and the Deep State just does its Deep Stating. (4/11)

Fight or Flight Josh Hartnett plays a mercenary forced to protect his target when an army comes to kill them both in this black comedy. (5/9)

Untitled Trey Parker/Matt Stone Kendrick Lamar Movie The guys behind South Park team up with Lamar for a ribald musical about a dude who realizes his girlfriend's family owned his ancestors. (7/4)

Beneath The Storm A coastal town fends off sharks after a natural disaster because we can’t have August without a shark movie. With Phoebe Dynevor and Djimon Hounsou. (8/1)

Michael Antoine Fuqua goes from Training Day to Michael Jackson biopic–if it ever sees the light of day, thanks to lawsuits. (10/3)

Regretting You Here is hoping this Colleen Hoover adaptation from the guy behind The Fault in Our Stars goes better than It Ends With Us. With Mckenna Grace, Allison Williams, and Dave Franco as a family marred by tragedy and rising to meet life’s challenges. (10/24)