My 20 cinema expectations for 2025 — Archive

A preview from its original moment

This selection was made at the beginning of 2025 and combines sequels, new genre projects and familiar material in different forms. The following expectations belong to that moment. They are neither current release dates nor a quality ranking; later changes to release plans mean not all twenty films actually opened in 2025.

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Returning to Pandora represented the hope for large-scale visual cinema and a deeper look at the Na’vi. Cameron’s connection between nature, technology and emotional character development particularly interested me.

Mickey 17

Bong Joon-ho’s story about a replaceable person promised science fiction about identity, morality and existence. Robert Pattinson and the unusual mixture of genres made the project especially appealing to me.

Captain America: Brave New World

Sam Wilson becoming Captain America offered a new perspective on responsibility and identity. Beyond the superhero action, I was interested in how Anthony Mackie would carry that succession.

Jurassic World Rebirth

Gareth Edwards suggested fresh visual energy for the dinosaur franchise. My expectations centred on survival tension, large-scale spectacle and questions behind humanity’s relationship with these creatures.

Mortal Kombat 2

The sequel belonged to my preview of the cinema year at the time. New characters, hard-hitting fights and more narrative room for the game’s world were the attraction; this was anticipation, not a finished quality assessment.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Marvel’s first family and the retro-futuristic setting promised a different tone within the MCU. For me, the central appeal was the four characters’ dynamic, rather than simply their place in a larger universe.

Thunderbolts*

The group of antiheroes suggested more morally complicated missions. Yelena Belova and Bucky Barnes interested me as characters whose loyalties do not fit a simple heroic template.

Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning

Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie inspired expectations of elaborate stunts and an emotional conclusion. The prospect of a substantial finale mattered more here than a promise of simply bigger action.

Snow White / Schneewittchen

The live-action adaptation interested me through its balance between a familiar fairy tale and a new interpretation. Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot were among the reasons to be curious about the execution.

Elio

A boy accidentally representing Earth offered Pixar an appealing premise. I hoped for a combination of humour, belonging and courage that could reach children and adults alike.

Michael

The biopic with Jaafar Jackson belonged to the plans on which this selection was based. I was interested in how Antoine Fuqua would connect artistic success with a complicated biography.

28 Years Later

Danny Boyle’s return to the world of the rage virus promised horror about its long-term consequences. For me, the appeal lay in combining terror with an examination of human behaviour under extreme pressure.

F1

Brad Pitt and Joseph Kosinski suggested intense racing sequences. After Top Gun: Maverick, I was particularly interested in whether Kosinski could make motorsport feel similarly immediate and emotionally engaging.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc and Rian Johnson’s approach to crime fiction made the next case attractive. Clever turns, humour and a strong ensemble were the expectations behind this choice.

Tron: Ares

Returning to the digital world represented the hope for distinctive images and a story about humanity and technology. I was interested in how the franchise might develop its visual identity.

Wolf Man

Leigh Whannell’s interpretation promised physical and psychological terror. Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner made the connection between a relationship, loss and threatening change especially interesting.

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera

Gerard Butler’s Big Nick and the European setting offered the prospect of a dense action thriller. I hoped that complicated entanglements and hard action would complement each other.

A Working Man / Levon’s Trade

The Jason Statham project discussed under its earlier title Levon’s Trade promised a direct, physical thriller. My expectations focused on his intensity and the connection between personal motivation and the criminal underworld.

Ballerina

Expanding the John Wick universe with Ana de Armas suggested precisely choreographed action. What mattered to me was whether the personal revenge story would also gain an emotional foundation of its own.

Back in Action

Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx as returning agents promised a mixture of pace and comedy. The attraction was less about new genre ideas than the hope for entertaining chemistry between them.

What interested me in the selection

Large fictional worlds sat alongside more personal stories, with horror, animation and comedy sharing the list. The common thread was curiosity about filmmakers, performers and different forms of cinema. A preview cannot tell us how successfully each film eventually fulfilled those hopes.