As has been the case for the past few years, it’s been a slow start to the year at the movies. The biggest box office hit so far is Captain America: Brave New World, and that just feels by default. But still, big things are on the horizon for movies.
My most anticipated movie of 2025 is The Life of Chuck, a Stephen King adaptation from master director Mike Flanagan. Based on one of my favorite King novella’s, The Life of Chuck is an existential drama more in the vein of The Shawshank Redemption or Stand By Me than horror classics like IT or Carrie. It’s definitely a “the less you know, the better’ type of movie, but early signs for the film are strong as it won the People’s Choice Award at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
This year will also see the release of Hamnet, the latest from Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao, based on Maggie O’Farrell’s fictional account of the death of William Shakespeare’s 11 year-old son. The Safdie Brothers, known for co-directing movies like Uncut Gems in the past, are each releasing their own films in 2025. Benny Safdie’s film The Smashing Machine stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as MMA fighter Mark Kerr, while Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme is a ping pong drama starring Timothee Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow. Celine Song will follow-up her romantic drama Past Lives with The Materialists, another romance starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal.
Of course, there will also be blockbusters in 2025. James Cameron is set to release the third Avatar film, “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” which is reportedly clocking in at 192 minutes long. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are back together for “Sinners,” a period piece horror film set in the 1930s South. Danny Boyle directed 28 Years Later, the third film in the 28 Days Later zombie series. And Brad Pitt stars in F1, the latest from Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski, while Tom Cruise will return to the big screen in Christopher McQuarrie’s “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning.”
Like I said, 2025 is definitely off to a slow start. But with all those titles and more on the horizon, there’s still plenty of reasons to think our LetterBoxd accounts will all be getting workouts very, very soon.
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