2025 has already been afantastic year for movies, from aFantastic Fourmovie finally landing to Ryan Coogler’s innovative ode to blues music. But it’s only August, which means there are lots of other films on their way to make us laugh, cry, and sing along to.
With so many films coming out every week on streaming and in theaters, we know how overwhelming it can be to know what is worth your time and money. Although this list could be 30 or 40, we have narrowed it down to 10 films we can't wait to come out in the second half of 2025.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
Kogonadafollows up 2021’sAfter Yangwith is “an imaginative tale of two strangers.” This romance-fantasy stars Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie play the two strangers who undertake a magic tale with each other. Jodie Turner-Smith, Lily Rabe, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Hamish Linklater have supporting roles.
Farrell toldColliderthat the film is“kind of a love story, but it’s not a very typical one. It’s definitely magical realism. It’s grounded in a world that we recognize, but it also is removed enough into the world of fantastical that it goes into these kinds of whimsical places.”
Director Kogonada, who also directedColumbusand Apple TV+'s adaptation ofPachinkotoldVanity Fairthat his upcoming film was about “recking with your past” in order to find love. “And I think as you get older, you realise your past has everything to do with how you understand love in the present.”
A Big Beautiful Journeyis expected to be released in the US September 19, 2025.
One Battle After Another
Leonardo DiCaprio teams up with director Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Licorice Pizza) for a movie that is part action blockbuster and part dark political comedy. Inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novelVineland, which focused on a “zone of blessed anarchy in Northern California that is the last refuge of hippiedom.”
Although the plot details of the film are scarce, the novel is a trippy story about the rocky transition from 1960s America to the eery 1980s. Theofficial plotdescribesOneBattle After Anotheras“When their evil enemy resurfaces after 16 years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunites to rescue one of their own’s daughter.”
In an exciting and perhaps unusual role for DiCaprio, he is set to play a civil rights activist who joins an anti-government group to battle an alt-right white supremacist organization. Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall, and Alana Haim play fellow activist with Benicio Del Toro co-starring alongside Sean Penn as a white nationalist leader.
One Battle After Anotherwill hit theaters on Sept. 26, 2025.
The Smashing Machine
Could Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson land an Academy Award nomination? Looking at the trailer to upcomingA24sportsbiopicThe Smashing Machine, he might. Directed by Benny Safdie (one half of the directing brothers who madeUncut Gems),The Smashing Machinefollows the real-life story of UFC heavyweight champ Mark Kerr.
Emily Blunt co-stars as Kerr’s wife Dawn Staples, reuniting her with herJungle Cruiseco-star. Kerr was a mixed martial artist who fought from 1997 to 2009, winning four ADCC World Championships. He was subject of an HBO documentary which centered on his abuse issues and his relationship with those around him. The film will explore similar themes.
Blunt recentlypraisedJohnson’s “unrecognizable” performance where he disappears into the character.“It was, again, an incredibly immersive, very intense, very emotional experience to do it, and he is extraordinary in it.”
The Smashing Machineis scheduled for release in theatres on Oct. 3, 2025
Tron Ares
DespiteTron: Legacy'sless-than-stellar box office performance more than a decade ago (given its $170 million budget), Disney is once again turning on the Grid. The thirdTronfilm in the franchise has been in the works for years, with many casts and scripts attached to the project.
According to the official synopsis the sequel will follow “a highly sophisticated program” called Ares (played by Jared Leto) who“is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind's first encounter with A.I. beings."
Jeff Bridges is set to return as Kevin Flynn, who appeared in the 1982 original as a computer programmer and developer who found himself inside the software of a computer system. Whether it’s a key role or a nostalgic cameo is not yet clear. Greta Lee will also appear as head of Flynn’s tech company.
Tron: Areswill land in theaters on Oct. 10, 2025.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
The third in theKnives Out Mysteryinstalment,Wake Up Dead Mansees Daniel Craig return as detective Benoit Blanc. The plot for the film has been mostly kept under wraps, with the synopsis simply reading “Benoit Blanc returns in his most dangerous case yet.”
Written and directed by creator Rian Johnson, there is another all-star cast of victims and murderers to meet. Expect twists, turns, red herrings and a whole new cast of interesting characters for Benoit to investigate.
On-set photos have showed Josh Brolin and Josh O’Connor as priests and Mila Kunis as a police chief. Rounding out the cast is Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Glenn Close, Jeremy Renner, Thomas Haden Church and Daryl McCormack.
The threequel will premiere on Dec. 12, 2025 on Netflix.
The Black Phone 2
Director Scott Derrickson’s adaptation of the Joe Hill short story stood alone but Ethan Hawke is back as The Grabber. The 2021 film followed a 13-year-old boy (Mason Thames) who was abducted by the mask-wearing, child-killing The Grabber. When the disconnected phone on the wall starts to ring, the teen discovers who can hear the voice of the killer’s past victims.
It seems like most of the cast of the original horror mystery is returning for the sequel, including Mason Thames and Ethan Hawke. The officialsynopsisforThe Black Phone 2reveals that The Grabber is seeking revenge from beyond the grave and Finn’s younger sister (Madeleine McGraw) is in danger.
"Determined to solve the mystery and end the torment for both her and her brother, Gwen persuades Finn to visit the camp during a winter storm. There, she uncovers a shattering intersection between The Grabber and her own family’s history.”
Director Derrickisnon, who also with Hill on this sequel has described the film as a “a high school coming-of-age film.”
The Black Phone2 hits theatres on Oct. 17, 2025.
Bugonia
Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos(Poor Things, The Favourite)reunite forBugonia.The film sees two conspiracy theory-obsessed young men (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) kidnap the CEO of a major company (Emma Stone) after they become convinced she is an alien here to destroy Earth.
The dark comedy is a remake of the 2003 South Korean sci-fi filmSave the Green Planet!From the trailer,Bugonialooks like a zany ride that comments on classism and economic disparity.Vogue'srecent interview with Emma Stone described the film as"a meaty rumination on modern conspiracy theorizing, medical-industry corruption, and obsessions like extraterrestrials, and again gang, that’s just the half of it."
The film also features supporting performances from Alicia Silverstone (Clueless), Stavros Halkias (Let’s Start a Cult)andis written by Will Tracy (The Menu). While we don’t know if Emma Stone is an alien, we do knowshe shaved her head for the role.
Bugoniawill land in select theaters on October 24, before a wide release on Oct. 31, 2025.
The Running Man
Glen Powell plays an everyman running against the odds in one of the many Stephen King adaptations hitting the big screen this year. Directed by Edgar Wright (Baby Driver), the film follows Ben Richards (Powell), who enters a deadly televised game in a desperate bid to help save his sick daughter. Josh Brolin co-stars as the show’s producer, and Colman Domingo the host of the show.
The Running Manwas previously a 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and sees Richards soon become a gameshow fan favourite. But, his popularity threatens the entire system which forces him to take on even more dangerous tasks.
“I like the ordinary guy against extraordinary odds. The entire world is hunting this man, trying to kill him. Can he survive? Can he save his family? That’s a great, simple story,”Powell toldEmpire.
The Running Manis scheduled for Nov. 7, 2025
Wicked: For Good
Lavish movie musicalWickedwas undoubtedly one of the biggest films of 2025. The long-running musical was split into two parts for its on-screen adaptation and 2025 sees itsconclusion,Wicked: For Good,hit the big screen.
The second instalment ofThe Wizard of Ozprequel will follow the same story as the original Broadway version. Picking where Part One left off, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) have parted ways. Elphaba is hiding after being declared an enemy of Oz while Glinda has become a mouthpiece for the state. Michelle Yeoh returns as Madame Morrible and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero the love interest for both Elphaba and Glinda. Fans of the musical will enjoytwo new songswritten by original composer Stephen Schwartz and performed by Erivo and Grande individually as well as favorites like “No Good Deed”, and “As Long As You’re Mine.”
“What’s nice about movie two is it’s so different from movie one that it doesn’t feel like we’re talking about what you just saw. It’s the new chapter,”director Jon M. Chu toldVanity Fair.“It is also the intersection betweenThe Wonderful Wizard of Ozand the world ofWicked,”he added.
Wicked: For Goodhits cinemas on Nov. 21, 2025.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
We return to Pandora for the third inJames Cameron’sepic fantasy sci-fi series. The second in theAvatarfranchise,The Way of Water,introduced the aquatic Metkayina tribe, andFire and Ashwill introduce audiences to the Ash People. The second and upcoming third films were originally conceived as one film, but Cameron split them into separate movies once writing began.
Cameronpromisedfans at 2024 D23 Expothat they’ll see a lot more Pandora that you never saw before. He also revealed that he hopes the third in the franchise will be a “feast for the eyes,” with high emotional stakes that places his characters in a “challenging territory.”
Along with leads Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña, the returning cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, and Bailey Bass. Oona Chaplin joins the cast as the leader of the Ash People, whileDavid Thewlisand Michelle Yeoh are also new additions to the world.
Avatar: Fire and Ashhas a Dec. 19, 2025 release date.
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