Germain Lussier is a senior reporter covering entertainment for the io9 section of Gizmodo. He lives in Los Angeles, specializes in film coverage, and is also our top film critic. You can follow his coverage hereand email story ideas and tips to [email protected].
The top story
Next year is pretty much what you'd expect in terms of big Hollywood releases. Sequels, reboots, superheroes, etc. But one genre that continues to be popular, but often overlooked, is horror–and 2025 brings it in terms of horror. There are big-budget monster movies, mid-budget slasher movies, returning franchises, franchises hoping to take off, and even some big-name filmmakers dipping their toe in blood.
Every year, horror films are hugely successful and people act like it's a surprise. Well, 2025 is the year it won't be a surprise. Among the biggest films to come is Leigh Whanell's Wolf ManGuillermo del Toro's Frankensteinand Maggie Gyllenhaal The Bride. New movies in progress Predator, Final Destination, Saw, Insidious, Conjuring, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and 28 Days franchises are also coming. Highly anticipated sequels to Black Phone, Five Nights at Freddy's, and M3GAN will come And what about filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh presenceRyan Coogler with Sinnersand Edgar Wright with The Running Man joining the fun? And that's not all. Yes, 2025 will be bloody.
What we are waiting for
Aside from all the potentially awesome horror movies, 2025 should bring another big year for superhero movies thanks to Captain America: Brave New World, Superman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and more. (In fact, that's a can of worms that we'll cover in another article.) In addition, though, 2025 brings a lot of movies that seem like the products of another generation. Movies we really want to love and enjoy, but also have major misgivings about.
So what are we waiting for? To surprise. That's because, on paper, many of them are more than questionable. For example, movies like Karate Kid: Legends and Tron: Ares. We love those original movies but will audiences flock to theaters in 2025 to see them? That has live-action Snow White remake that feels like it was released years ago. Speaking of, does the world need live-action remakes Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon? Even some of the biggest blockbusters, from the eighth Mission Impossible and seventh Jurassic Parkeverything feels a little late. We wish them all the best! I hope they are. But, we all know how it usually turns out.
Unconventional wisdom
Most years, genre films like the ones we cover on this site devolve into more conventional and dramatic fare when award season rolls around. But in recent years, those films have kept popping up in major awards conversations: Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Shape of Water, Dune: Part Two, Black Pantheretc. We have a feeling this year could be another big year to change that narrative. When filmmakers like del Toro, Coogler, Soderbergh, Danny Boyle, and Bong Joon-ho are all making weird sci-fi or horror movies, you understand that those movies can push the envelope. of awards.
People to follow
James Gunn – Gunn remains one of the last major filmmakers, and now studio executives, to interact with fans on an almost daily basis. And, with him Superman upcoming movie in theaters, as well as many other DC projects coming to fruition, his social media is worth following.
Michael Giacchino – The award-winning composer is pretty good at checking out his social media and his work Fantastic Four preparing for release, not to mention his transition to a director, it's always good and fun to see what he's up to.
John M. Chu – He released one of the biggest movies of the year with bad and he will do it again in 2025 with Wicked: For Good. Plus, after those two smashes, you know he can do whatever he wants next. He might break it online when it happens.
Jason Blum – If 2025 is the year of horror, you better watch out for one of the most prolific horror producers out there. He got his hands on many, many of the films listed above.
Companies to watch
Blumhouse – Again, it's remarkable how many big-time horrors are coming out in 2025, and one of the companies directly responsible is Blumhouse, especially since it has now teamed up with James Wan's Atomic Monster.
Sony Animation – Sony is one of the more underrated animation houses out there and while 2025 should be the year of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verseunfortunately that is no longer the case. But that's in the works, as well as a Ghostbusters movie and more, it's worth tracking down.
Netflix – Since Netflix doesn't often date or announce many of its biggest movies too early, it's easy to forget that the streamer makes some of the biggest movies in the world. Next year will continue that trend with films from the Russo Brothers, del Toro, and others, and you can be sure there will be more announcements to come.
A longshot bet
In 2024, I guessed one of many high-profile sequels scheduled for release will garner major awards consideration. And that's accurate, thanks to Denis Villeneuve. For 2025, I think that will happen again but you can't make the same prediction twice. So, for the long shot this year, I think one or more of the on-paper major blockbusters—a superhero movie, Jurassic Park, Mission ImpossiblePixar, Disney remakes—do the opposite, and bomb badly.
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