After a slew of pandemic-releated production delays and several Hollywood strikes, it feels like the movies are oh so back in a big, big way. Here’s our silver screen picks for the year ahead.
Mickey 17
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Release: March 2025
Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up to his Best Picture-winning Parasite is a sci-fi-tinged black comedy starring Robert Pattinson as the titular Mickey. He volunteers as an “expendable”— a disposable crew member on a perilous space mission who can be regenerated with his memories intact after each death. Mickey 17 marks Bong’s return to the realm of speculative sci-fi, reminiscent of his earlier works The Host, Snowpiercer and Okja.
Sinners
Director: Ryan Coogler
Release: April 2025
Ryan Coogler’s first non-Black Panther project since 2018 is a period horror film set in the Jim Crow-era South. It stars Coogler longtime collaborator Michael B. Jordan as identical twins who return to their hometown — only to discover it’s been overrun by vampires. You had me at identical twins, but it’ll be refreshing to see Coogler step outside the MCU sandbox and flex his filmmaking muscles in the Southern Gothic horror genre.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
Director: Kogonada
Release: May 2025
Not much is known about Kogonada’s follow-up to the excellent After Yang, except that it stars Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell as two strangers who meet at a wedding and embark on a journey through time and space — thanks to a magical GPS. If it’s anything like the tender, naturalistic After Yang, we’re in for something truly special.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Release: May 2025
Picking up where 2023’s Dead Reckoning left off, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his globe-trotting team defy the laws of physics while saving the world from rogue AI, The Entity. Let’s be honest: it’s a near miracle that the Patron Saint of Cinema hasn’t perished on the set of earlier Mission: Impossible instalments as the result of insisting on performing his own death-defying/escalating stunts. So naturally I’ll be there opening night to watch what’s being touted as ‘the final mission’ on the biggest screen possible.
One Battle After Another
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Release: August 2025
Not much is known about PTA’s next film, except that it will be his most expensive yet, feature a stacked cast (Leonardo DiCaprio, Alana Haim, Teyana Taylor), and present a modern take on Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 postmodern novel Vineland (an author who Anderson previously adapted for 2014’s Inherent Vice). Once again, Jonny Greenwood will be composing the film’s score.
Marty Supreme
Director: Josh Safdie
Release: December 2025
Timothée Chalamet, of goated Oscar campaign fame, stars in Josh Safdie’s (Good Time, Uncut Gems) upcoming 1950s New York City-set sports drama, loosely inspired by the real-life hijinks of table tennis champion and hustler Marty Reisman. Gwyneth Paltrow and Fran Drescher also star, along with Tyler, The Creator in his film acting debut.
No Other Choice
Director: Park Chan-wook
Release: TBD
Park Chan-wook follows up his immaculate 2022 neo-noir Decision to Leave with an adaptation of Donald Westlake’s novel The Ax. When a man (Squid Game’s Lee Byung-hun) is fired from the job he’s held for 25 years, he devises a ruthless plan to secure a new role — by eliminating the competition.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Release: December 2025
2022’s The Way of Water broke box office records, proving that James Cameron’s sci-fi epic about giant eco-friendly blue aliens and evil industrious humans was more than the Papyrus font-punchline it had been relegated to. After chilling underwater in part two (shout out to Payakan the tulkun), the third instalment promises to expand upon Pandora’s Na’vi lore by introducing audiences to the Ash and Wind clans. LET’S GO. I literally want 100 more Avatar movies.
Friendship
Director: Andrew DeYoung
Release: TBD
Andrew DeYoung’s feature debut is a cringe-inducing bromantic comedy starring Paul Rudd and I Think You Should Leave’s Tim Robinson. Robinson plays a suburban dad obsessively trying to befriend his charming new neighbour (Rudd) — basically, a feature-length I Think You Should Leave sketch.
Eddington
Director: Ari Aster
Release: TBD
Ari Aster (Midsommar) is reteaming with his Beau Is Afraid lead, Joaquin Phoenix, for the contemporary Western Eddington, set in New Mexico. Aster has been working on the film since before his debut with Hereditary, updating the screenplay to take place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film will also star Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler.
