Several of the best movies of 2025 may still be complete unknowns. They could be titles that will be acquired at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice—or under-the-radar gems that will derive their power from unpredictable word of mouth. But several of the biggest movies of the year will definitely be found on this list, which focuses on studio films either dated for 2025 or scheduled to appear at some yet-to-be-disclosed point in the next 12 months.
And what a list it is, stacked with work from several of the industry’s most reliable auteurs—Bong Joon-Ho, Ryan Coogler, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Soderbergh, Guillermo Del Toro, Celine Song, Yorgos Lanthimos, Maggie Gyllenhaal—as well as the usual superhero movies and brand extensions. Hell, even some of those look more interesting than usual: We’re going to see James Gunn step up to the plate with a reimagined Superman; Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn suit up for a new, hopefully more successful take on the Fantastic Four; and James Cameron returns to the world of Avatar. All that, and there’s a whole new Wicked coming in November? Truly, it’s an embarrassment of riches even before you get to Jeremy Allen White doing his best Bruce Springsteen impression.
From Universal/Everett Collection.
Wolf Man
Premiere Date: January 17
Director: Leigh Whannell
Noteworthy Cast: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner
Universal continues its interesting project of reimagining its stable of classic movie monsters, following up on the 2020 success of The Invisible Man. That film’s director, Leigh Whannell, is at the reins of this modern update of the old werewolf story, done in the grittier, indier house style of coproducer Blumhouse. The early trailers are promising, as is the presence of both Abbott and Garner—two talented and serious indie actors who might get to have a little gory fun here. We’d love to see this movie do well, so that Universal and Blumhouse might forge ahead with a new reimagining of The Mummy. Wouldn’t it be fun to see, say, Adam Driver lurching around while wrapped up in bandages? —Richard Lawson
From Everett Collection.
Presence
Premiere Date: January 17
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Noteworthy Cast: Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, Chris Sullivan
America’s most peripatetic auteur ventures into the horror genre with this curiosity—a ghost story shot entirely from the perspective of said ghost. It’s a bit like 2024’s Nickel Boys that way, though a lot less weighty with political urgency. Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan play the new owners of a haunted house, watched by an invisible entity as they go about the typical squabbling of a family with teenagers, until things take a turn for the seriously dark. A riveting exercise in style (if not always story), Presence should be another sturdy entry in Soderbergh’s fascinating body of work. —RL
You’re Cordially Invited
Premiere Date: January 30
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Noteworthy Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell, Geraldine Viswanathan, Meredith Hagner
