The Most Anticipated Movies Of 2025 From Sequels To Scream Queens
2024 proved a scorching year for cinema with a hell of a lot of female protagonists entering their villain era, movie musicals holding space, and Luca Guadagnino gifting the world Josh O'Connor's glorious thighs on 35mm film.
But can 2025 measure up? It certainly seems to be the year of sequels. There's a considerable amount of big studio releases with a '2' at the end of their title: The Bad Guys 2, Zootopia 2, Nobody 2, Five Nights At Freddy's 2, Den of Thieves 2, The Accountant 2, M3GAN 2.0, even The Passion of the Christ 2. Well no, it's actually billed as The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection, but it is said to be a direct sequel to (controversial) Mel Gibson's (even more controversial) 2004 biblical epic. We can guess where it will pick up from – not that it ranks particularly high on my list of films to watch when there are so many more exquisite options to choose from.
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January 2025 begins with a bloodsucking bang as Robert Eggers' exquisite Nosferatu swoops into cinemas. A stunning black-and-white remake of F. W. Murnau's 1922 German film of the same name, which in turn was an unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula novel, it is a breathtaking exploration of the conflict between social conformity and sexual liberation. Both erotic and grotesque, its ensemble cast, including Lily-Rose Depp, Emma Corrin, and Bill Skarsgard as the eponymous villain, prove formidable under Eggers' dazzling direction.
As a horror girlie, I have my eye on a fair few monstrous movies including Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride! starring Jessie Buckley as the titular Bride of Frankenstein. She will be putting her vocal chops to good use as this is very much billed as a musical inspired both by Mary Shelley's original 1818 novel and James Whale's 1935 film.
There's also Ryan Cooger's Sinners where we get two Michael B. Jordan's for the price of one. Set in 1930s Jim Crow South, Jordan plays twin brothers looking for a fresh start back home only to find a vampiric evil lurking in the dark.
And I cannot wait for Sophie Thatcher to cement her 'Scream Queen' status in Drew Hancok's Companion after her exceptional performance in Heretic and The Boogeyman. Co-starring Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén and Rupert Friend, the psychological thriller sees a chilling chain of events unfold after a billionaire's death at a secluded estate.
Sticking with the psychological theme, Julia Ducournau follows up her 2021 Palme d'Or-winning body horror Titane with Alpha, starring Taher Rahim and Golshifteh Farahani. According to a French report, the film is set in the 1980s and centres on a teenager who is shunned by her classmates when a rumour spreads about her being infected with a new disease. If it's as gnarly as her last film, we should be in for a gruesome ride.
In lighter fare, the Fantastic Four are back! Marvel Studios has rebooted the superhero franchise with Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing) debuting in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. I love that director Matt Shakman is going down the cosmic route of the 1960s comics where the team will be defending a retro-futuristic earth from the world-eating antagonist Galactus (Ralph Ineson). Plus, I'm amped Julia Garner will be carving up the screen as the Silver Surfer.
In the more grounded drama aisle, we have A24's aptly titled, The Drama, starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. With Dream Scenario's Kristoffer Borgli on writer-director duties, this is likely to once again lean into the discomfort of human connection as it follows Zendaya and Pattinson's relationship derailed when they are blindsided by unexpected revelations in the lead-up to their wedding day.
If you want a triple dose of RPatz then there's Lynne Ramsay's portrait of post-partum depression Die, My Love – an adaptation of Ariana Harwicz's 2017 novel led by Jennifer Lawrence and co-starring Lakeith Stanfield – plus the long-awaited Mickey 17.
In Bong-Joon Ho's sci-fi black comedy, he plays a disposable regenerative employee who has to face off against a new iteration of himself while on a human expedition to colonise an ice world. It sounds very much like a Rick & Morty episode – which is no bad thing! – but with the Oscar-winning Korean filmmaker at the helm, it will no doubt be as unique a cinematic experience as each one of his previous offerings.
P.S. I will be seated for Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis' reunion in Freakier Friday.
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