It never hurts to plan ahead — especially when it comes to Hollywood’s biggest flicks!
From long-awaited sequels to an animated musical reboot, these are the 2025 movies worth making
some room on your calendar for!
Originally intended for release in November of 2024, Marvel Studios' "Fantastic Four"
reboot has been pushed back to February 14, 2025.
The long-awaited project is set to be one of the first films of the MCU's Phase 6, which
will also include two "Avengers" films — but more on that later.
In September of 2022, Deadline reported that Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer had been brought
on to write the screenplay for the film, with Matt Shakman directing.
While Springer and Kaplan haven't had a ton of high-profile work go up in Hollywood yet,
Shakman is an experienced TV director with episodes of "Fargo," "Game of Thrones," and
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on his resume.
He's worked with Marvel Studios before, having directed and executive produced the first
Marvel Disney+ series, "WandaVision," in 2021.
Few story details have been released about the new "Fantastic Four," but as always, there
are some clues as to what fans can expect.
For one, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has suggested that he wants to avoid a traditional
origin story, considering how many times "The Fantastic Four" has been adapted for the big
screen since the turn of the century.
"This is the story that Kevin wants."
"Okay, then I wanna talk to Kevin."
[laughter]
Popular fancast John Krasinski has already played a version of Reed Richards in "Doctor
Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," but the actor has stated that he isn't necessarily
planning on returning.
There was a time when the whole point of an MCU movie was to help build up to a new entry
in "The Avengers" series — but ever since Iron Man snapped his fingers and turned Thanos
into dust back in 2019, that hasn't been the case.
By the time "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" is released in 2025 — currently scheduled for
May 2 — the MCU will have gone two entire phases without an entry in "The Avengers" saga.
That should be enough to build plenty of excitement for the series' fifth installment, but there
are plenty of other reasons to look forward to it.
"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" director Destin Daniel Cretton is set to direct
"The Kang Dynasty," with Jeff Loveness writing the script.
Loveness, who comes from a background writing for comedy shows like "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
and "Rick and Morty," also penned the screenplay for "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," which
brings Kang the Conqueror to the MCU for the first time.
As such, he seems like a perfect choice to write "Avengers 5," and it's likely that the
Phase 5 film will set up a lot.
As of now, all we know about "The Kang Dynasty" is that it will star the titular time-traveling
villain, who seems ready to usurp Thanos' throne as the MCU's scariest antagonist.
The comic run from which the film takes its title may offer some clues: in it, Kang successfully
takes over the entire world, bringing unparalleled destruction and terror along the way.
The Avengers will definitely have their hands full in Phase 6.
"See you soon."
The all-star horror movie team of James Wan, Jason Blum, and Akela Cooper united to release
"M3GAN" in early 2023 — a surprise hit about a young girl's robotic companion who turns murderous.
Directed by Gerard Johnstone, the film grossed nearly $175 million at the global box office
on a budget of just $12 million, sparking rumors of a sequel that has since been confirmed.
According to Deadline, "M3GAN 2.0" is planned for release on January 17, 2025.
Original stars Allison Williams and Violet McGraw are both set to return, with Williams
stepping into a full producer role as well.
In an interview with New Zealand's 1 News, Johnstone said he's in talks to return as director.
While we don't have any leads on story details yet, it's not hard to imagine where "M3GAN
2.0" might go.
The first film ends on a victorious, but ominous note that ensures viewers know that the titular
M3GAN is far from dead.
Given the sci-fi trappings of the franchise, there are any number of ways she could return
— bigger, scarier, and deadlier.
Cooper returns to pen the script while both Blum and Wan are set to act as producers,
which means that it's safe to assume that the sequel will have the same overall feel
as the original.
In an interview with Collider, Wan said he already has ideas for a "bigger world" for
the series.
Could this be the start of the next hit horror franchise?
Only time will tell.
In early 2021, fans of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" rejoiced at the announcement of Avatar Studios,
a new division of Paramount+ and Nickelodeon fully focused on developing the beloved franchise.
Original series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino will serve as chief
creative officers for the studio's first animated film intended for theatrical release.
Over a year later, Nickelodeon teased — through Avatar Korra voice actor Janet Varney — that
the film would follow "Avatar Aang and his friends."
In November of 2022, a release date of October 10, 2025, was announced.
No other story details have been confirmed, but given the recent history of the "Avatar"
franchise, we can assume a few things.
The official comics from Dark Horse take place in the immediate aftermath of the original
show's finale, and it seems unlikely that the movie — the franchise's triumphant return
to animation — would simply recycle those stories.
Plus, the original voice cast is grown up now, and Zach Tyler Eisen, the actor behind
Aang, doesn't really do voice-over work anymore.
For these reasons, it might make more sense for the film to follow adult versions of the
"Avatar: The Last Airbender" characters with either new voice actors or the ones used for
flashbacks in "The Legend of Korra."
"Well, that's just silly.
I don't sound like that!"
"Oh man, this writer's a genius!"
Either way, the film definitely sounds promising.
In addition to Konietzko and DiMartino, longtime franchise director Lauren Montgomery is helming
the project, and the versatile Australian animation studio Flying Bark Productions will produce.
Hopefully things go better than the last time Aang and his friends hit cinemas.
The past few years have been rough for "Star Wars" on the big screen.
After the lackluster responses to "Solo: A Star Wars Story" and "Star Wars: The Rise
of Skywalker," Disney officially declared a "hiatus" on its planned slate of future
films, deciding to focus instead on building out the franchise on Disney+ instead.
For a time, "Star Wars" was set to return to theaters in 2023, with Patty Jenkins' "Rogue
Squadron" movie looking like the likely choice.
However, Jenkins' film has been temporarily derailed, with Lucasfilm president Kathleen
Kennedy telling Vanity Fair in 2022 that it was undergoing rewrites.
As of now, a "Star Wars" movie is still slated for release in December of 2025, but it's
hard to predict what it will be.
Numerous projects have been rumored over the past few years, including potential films
from Taika Waititi, "Stranger Things" producer Shawn Levy, and "Star Trek Into Darkness"
writer Damon Lindelof.
A story from The Hollywood Reporter in October of 2022 claimed that Lindelof's film may be
the next one up in 2025 — and that a writer's room has already assembled at Lucasfilm to
work on ideas.
It's clear that Disney is experimenting with many different ideas, which makes it hard
to predict what we'll get next.
At the very least, Lucasfilm doesn't seem to be lacking ideas.
Kennedy told Total Film in 2022 that she wants to create "a whole new saga," and there have
been reports of both a "Knights of the Old Republic" project and more movies set in the
sequel era.
Whatever happens, the return of "Star Wars" to the big screen is an exciting prospect
for fans.
It may feel strange if you grew up watching "SpongeBob SquarePants" on Nickelodeon, but
the animated undersea comedy franchise is now nearly as prolific on the big screen as
the small.
The series first made its way to theaters with 2004's "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie,"
which carried the same core animation style as the show.
Over a decade passed before the next big-screen outing, 2015's "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge
Out of Water," which became a huge success.
"The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run," followed in 2020, and another film in the
modern 3D style has been announced for May 23, 2025.
Nickelodeon hasn't revealed any real details of what the story will entail, and with the
franchise now more expansive than ever, the possibilities are endless.
"SpongeBob SquarePants" has become a major IP asset for Paramount in the company's modern
hybrid release era, with the movies supplementing multiple series across both traditional television
and streaming distribution on Paramount+.
It could even be said that the studio is overloaded with "SpongeBob SquarePants" content, but
it still shows no signs of slowing down.
"Sponge Out of Water" was a box office hit and received strong reviews, but "Sponge on
the Run" was met with a much more lukewarm reception a few years later.
"Hey now, buck up!
It's, it's not over yet, SpongeBob!"
"It sure feels over… and crappy!"
It remains to be seen if the third film of this modern series will continue a decline
or return to the franchise's former peaks.
With some luck, it will be the latter.
"A Quiet Place" has become one of the biggest surprises in recent movie history, growing
from a one-off horror movie made on a $17 million budget to a blockbuster franchise.
The creative collaboration between real-life couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt was
a standout hit, and a spin-off film set before the events of the original is set for release
in 2024.
Those who want the proper conclusion to the story of the Abbott family, however, will
have to wait until 2025.
Blunt has been open for some time about the original story being intended as a trilogy,
which suggests that "A Quiet Place: Part III" will wrap up the major character arcs that
began in 2018.
In early 2022, Krasinski declared a 2025 release for the threequel.
Presumably, he will be directing once again.
With a full-on prequel set to release before "A Quiet Place: Part III" comes out, there
could be a lot of new elements added to the hit horror saga.
That should make the eventual conclusion even more exciting — but for now, details are
being kept under wraps.
After a somewhat confused period for the Caped Crusader's film career following Christopher
Nolan's "The Dark Knight" trilogy, director Matt Reeves and star Robert Pattinson returned
Bruce Wayne to his former glory with "The Batman."
The 2022 film received excellent reviews and performed well at the box office, succeeding
on the merits of its gritty, noir-inspired tone and stellar production design.
It wasn't long before a proper sequel was announced, with Pattinson and Reeves both
returning along with "Project Power" writer Mattson Tomlin on scripting duty.
The film is set to release on October 3, 2025.
"The Batman" has already done an excellent job of building out a distinct version of
Gotham City, and it's easy to imagine all kinds of directions in which the sequel could go.
Pattinson himself told Den of Geek in 2022 that he'd be interested in a version of the
popular Court of Owls storyline, while Reeves has expressed interest in a "grounded version"
of Mr. Freeze.
It's also likely that Barry Keoghan's Joker, who debuted at the end of "The Batman," could
play a major role.
There's even the possibility that we haven't yet seen the last of Paul Dano's Riddler.
"And you know…
Gotham loves a comeback story."
Gotham City has a nearly endless trove of bad guys to pull from, and Reeves has proved
himself a very competent filmmaker with both "The Batman" and other projects like the latter-day
"Planet of the Apes" movies.
Wherever his team decides to take the story, it should be exciting to watch.
The Smurfs haven't had the steadiest track record at the modern box office, with Sony
Pictures' 2010s film series receiving poor reviews throughout its run.
In 2022, it was announced that Nickelodeon and Paramount would be putting their own spin
on the classic franchise with an animated musical film scheduled for release in 2024.
That date was later pushed to February 14, 2025 to make room for "Sonic the Hedgehog 3."
As you might expect, the upcoming reboot is intended to be a family film with plenty of
cartoon whimsy and musical charm.
Chris Miller has been tapped to direct the picture — he's quite experienced in the
genre, having previously helmed the DreamWorks Animation features "Shrek the Third" and "Puss
in Boots."
There's been little in the way of official casting news, but it seems safe to assume
that the new "Smurfs" film will follow the modern Hollywood trend of casting an ensemble
of recognizable stars to play the various roles.
Hopefully, Paramount can finally do the brand justice and properly relaunch "The Smurfs"
for a new generation.
The "Tron" franchise is one of Disney's oddest.
The original 1982 film wasn't exactly a box office smash, but it developed a cult appeal
thanks to its groundbreaking CGI effects — a rare sight at the time.
A sequel, "Tron: Legacy," followed in 2010, but momentum stalled on any further development
of the franchise.
Now, a third film, currently going by the name of "Tron: Ares," is finally back on the
books with Jared Leto set to star and Joachim Rønning directing.
The movie is currently expected on December 19, 2025.
Under Rønning's direction, it could be quite a spectacle: the filmmaker is no stranger
to the contemporary live-action Disney blockbuster machine, having previously helmed films like
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" in 2017 and "Maleficent: Mistress of
Evil" in 2019.
Leto may be less of a sure thing, as he's developed a reputation for box office bombs
in addition to his questionable on-set behavior.
Regardless, a return to the digital grid of "Tron" with today's advancements in computer
animation technology is an exciting idea.
The series has always been more about a certain look and feel than a hard-hitting narrative,
and it's likely that this trend will continue into the future.
Maybe Disney can even get Daft Punk back together to do the soundtrack again — but we're not
getting our hopes up that high.
"This is going to be quite a ride."