2024 proved to be a whirlwind year for Hollywood and the Film Industry. Sequels and franchise entries dominated at the box office, with Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine making over 1 Billion dollars worldwide. Independent horror films took a big leap forward, with films like Terrifier 3, Longlegs, Late Night with the Devil, and The Substance making waves amongst the general public and horror fans alike.
And of course, there were some truly magnificent films with awards-worthy performances like Mikey Madison’s powerful portrayal of a sex worker in Brooklyn in Anora, Colman Domingo’s incredible portrayal of a wrongfully convicted prisoner helping others rehabilitate through acting in Sing Sing, and Timothee Chalamet’s transformative performance as the enigmatic Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.
But now the page has turned to 2025. As we look ahead to what could be an incredible year in film, we wanted to put together our predictions for what we think will happen in the film industry in 2025.
1. Timothee Chalamet will win his first Oscar
Timothee Chalamet undoubtedly had a fantastic 2024. Dune Part 2 is an incredible film that left moviegoers in awe. I’ve seen it 5 times just since it came out. But it’s Chalamet’s resonant performance as the great Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown that left me speechless. He’s able to transform himself into the legendary singer, leaving little trace of the actor underneath. Add in the fact that he did all of the singing in the film himself live and he’s certainly positioning himself as a front-runner at this year’s Academy Awards. We already know he has awards-level talent (see his nomination for Best Actor in 2018’s Call Me By Your Name). Now we think Chalamet will finally get over the hump and become the youngest-ever Best Actor winner.
2. Josh O’Connor is announced as the next James Bond
In terms of fan casting, James Bond has to be right up there with superheroes in terms of notoriety. 007 has been on hiatus ever since Daniel Craig’s last showing in No Time to Die back in 2021. While many names have been thrown out, one of the current favorites that sticks out to me is La Chimera and Challengers star Josh O’Connor. To me, he has the charisma to lead that franchise, he’s young enough (34) where he can be in the role for many years and for many different projects, and he would bring a different spin to the character than what a lot of people would expect nowadays. Count me in on Josh O’Connor as the next Bond.
3. Chris Evans earns critical acclaim for his performance in Celine Song’s Materialists
Chris Evans’ talent as an actor is undeniable. He came bursting onto the scene in comedies like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Not Another Teen Movie. Portraying Steve Rogers/Captain America in the MCU made him a global superstar. And his immediate follow-up, 2019’s Knives Out showed he had the chops outside of superhero flicks. But since that point, it’s been a long string of disasters for Evans. The Gray Man, Ghosted, Lightyear, Pain Hustlers, and Red One have all flopped and been critically panned. But I think Evans’ talent is still there, and now he is starring in Materialists, Celine Song’s first film since the critically acclaimed Past Lives in 2023. We think Evans is beginning to get his career back on track, showing the world how talented he is once again.
4. Superhero movies once again become massive box office successes
2025 has to be better than 2024 for comic book movies. As good as Deadpool and Wolverine did at the box office, it was weighed down by the slog of Sony bombs dropped. Madame Web, Kraven The Hunter, and, Venom: The Last Dance peaked at 41% on Rotten Tomatoes and combined did not make as much as Deadpool did domestically. This year, the DCU is starting its cinematic run with Superman, and if the teaser trailer views are any indication of hype, people are excited to see this new iteration of Superman. Marvel is bouncing back with the new Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, and, The Fantastic Four: First Steps. While Captain America might not have the best vibes surrounding it, people have seemed to be surprised by the Thunderbolts trailer, and people have been waiting on The Fantastic Four in the MCU for a long time. Comic book movies will be in a better place than last year, thanks to…
5. Fantastic Four beats Superman at the box office, but Superman does better critically
I think the box office numbers between Superman and The Fantastic Four will be very close, but I’m predicting Marvel will edge out DC. This comes down to the track record of Marvel being stronger, as well as the stars will be coming off of their insanely popular television shows before this movie premiers. (Pedro Pascal- The Last of Us Season 2, Joseph Quinn teased he might reappear in Stranger Things Season 5, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach- The Bear Season 4). All that aside though, I think Superman will be received better by critics and fans in large part because of James Gunn’s track record with superheroes, and because of the performances of David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult.
6. Live-action remakes bomb, putting the genre trend’s future in jeopardy.
There are 4 live-action remakes of classic animated films slated to be released in 2025, with Disney releasing new versions of Snow White, Lilo and Stitch, and Moana. Dreamworks is releasing a live-action How To Train Your Dragon. But beyond that, there are only 2 films in Early development from Disney, with more either rumored or “confirmed” but not in production. We’ve seen multiple films released in the past couple of years to varying degrees of success. 2023’s The Little Mermaid wasn’t well-liked by critics but made over $500 million worldwide. Meanwhile, Peter Pan and Wendy from the same year was dropped on Disney+ and was panned by critics and audiences. 2024’s Mufasa: The Lion King is performing decently, but lost the opening weekend battle to Sonic The Hedgehog 3. If the newest live-action remakes in 2025 continue their downward momentum, it could signal the end is near for this new filmmaking trend.
7. The Electric State is the biggest financial bomb of 2025
Speaking of box office bombs, we come to the most expensive film Netflix has ever produced. The Electric State, the newest film from Joe and Anthony Russo, the duo that put together multiple highly successful films in the MCU, has a reported budget of 320 million dollars. The film stars Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt in an alternate 1994 where robots exist and the humans set out to find a young girl’s missing brother. This is a huge swing from Netflix, but one that could prove costly. It’s difficult to ever know the exact numbers a film makes from a direct to streaming release, but by not releasing the film to theaters, it becomes an uphill battle to even make back that production number. Pair that with the fact that the Russo brother’s two efforts post-MCU, 2021’s Cherry and 2022’s The Gray Man are critical and commercial bombs, and the future may not be so bright for The Electric State.
8. Music biopics Michael and Deliver Me From Nowhere combine for $1 Billion at the box office
A year or two ago, it felt like we couldn’t escape corporate biopics. Now it seems like with the critical success of movies like Bohemian Rhapsody, Elvis, and A Complete Unknown, music biopics are back to being the rage. Next year has some notable biopics coming out, but the notable ones are the Michael Jackson Michael, and the Bruce Springsteen Deliver Me From Nowhere. I am predicting that these two movies will combine to make over a billion dollars at the box office this year. The cultural impact of Michael Jackson is far too large and if the movie does him justice, people will come out to see it. Springsteen is still touring in 2025 so his name is still hot as ever, so I truly can see these two movies printing money.
9. Two major streaming services consolidate into one
The writing has been on the wall for streaming services for quite some time. Profitability hasn’t been as good as it once was, and original content investments have continually gotten more expensive. We’ve already seen some mergers occur, namely between MAX and Discovery+ after Warner Brothers and Discovery merger. Just this past year Disney+ and Hulu joined forces on a bundle that gives users access to both platforms as well as ESPN+. And while I don’t think that a huge platform like Netflix will go away any time soon, it wouldn’t surprise me to see a service like Peacock or Paramount+ shut down and have its content absorbed into something like Amazon Prime.
10. Zootopia 2, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and Wicked: For Good each make $1 Billion at the box office
As for printing money, these sequels are for sure going to break a billion dollars at the box office. Zootopia 2, coming nearly a decade after the original broke the billion-dollar threshold, has all the hype in the world, and as a family movie, should be in a prime position for a ton of money. The Avatar franchise has revolutionized cinema ever since 2009. It is the safest bet to make a billion dollars. Wicked For Good being released the year after Wicked gets the benefit of riding the goodwill of not just fans but people who weren’t familiar with the source material and found something they really enjoyed. Add in some potential Oscars wins this year and more people will tune in to see the epic finale of Wicked.
Bold Take: 2025 is a top 10 year all-time at the domestic Box Office
Most of my bold takes have revolved around the box office, and for good reason. To become a top 10 year at the domestic box office, 2025 would have to beat 2014 and $10.368 billion. There are countless mega franchise entries coming out in 2025, such as Jurassic World: Rebirth, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, Zootopia 2, Avatar: Fire and Ash and Wicked: For Good. These and many more have established audiences. Most of those are already billion-dollar franchises, with some coming to an end. Then you add in the super hero movies I’m predicting to bounce back strong, thanks to Superman and The Fantastic Four, which should combine for at least a billion as well. We’re seeing horror movies overperform their expectations at the box office and with the final Conjuring movie and new 28 Years Later coming out, that should continue. While I’ve been vocal about not really caring about box office numbers, it is undeniable that a strong box office is a great sign for the industry, especially when some solo movies like F1 and The Smashing Machine figure to contribute to those numbers.
Bold Take: Physical media sales see an uptick in 2025, finally gaining sales growth year over year
It’s an undeniable fact that physical media sales have been on a downward spiral. According to the Digital Entertainment Group, annual revenue for Blu-Ray and DVDs has fallen consistently and drastically every year since 2007. But there’s room for hope. Streaming services have been consistently and considerably raising their prices seemingly on a semi-annual basis. Profits are down, the economy is poor, and on top of that, people are starting to realize that digital movie purchases are not a permanent purchase. There are also some really great movies that aim to be fixture in family households being released the last few years. And with an increase in popularity in 4k UHD blu-ray purchases, there are a lot of positive factors for the physical media market. It may be bold (hence why it’s here), but I think that these myriad factors could contribute to an uptick in the annual revenue of physical media.
So, there you have it. 10 predictions and 2 bold takes for the film industry in 2025. Now, all we can do is wait and see what Hollywood has in store for us this year. What we can all hope for, above all else, is some really great movies for us to enjoy.
