Get your popcorn ready: 2025 looks promising

Lately, I have been feeling the discontent of reading or listening in some places that "cinemas as we know it has died" and, at that moment, apart from bowing my head with disappointment—at the people, not myself or cinema—I usually ask myself two questions.

The first one relates to my immeasurable affection for the sole idea of what it means to MAKE a movie: Do people actually realize the hard process it entails to imagine, write, shoot and edit one? The second question I ask myself is: Do people only watch mainstream movies or do they actually not take the necessary time to explore outside popular works?

The most realistic and simple answer is an absolute NO. They don't even take the time to observe what may exist around mainstream nor possess a hint of knowledge about how a movie is made, which is fine, but this is no reason to go out and simply kill this art and industry. Thanks to this generalized complaint and taking advantage of the fact that 2025 is just around the corner, I decided to make a list of 16 movies I expect the most for the following year. Why that number? Because, in my opinion, the rest I looked into aren't that interesting and because that day is coincidentally my dad's and sister's birthdays. So here they are:

1. Guillermo Del Toro's FRANKENSTEIN

How many times have we heard this amazing story about human obsession since that first 1931 James Whale's adaptation? We have witnessed this painful and powerful story countless times, but the fact that it is now in the hands of the magnificent director Guillermo del Toro is pure gold in times of certain audiovisual mediocrity and, overall, taking into account that Netflix will distribute the production.

Guillermo not only fulfills the dream of the devoted fans of fantasy cinema—and of its impeccable career—but also achieves one of his own dreams since Mary Shelley's book is one of the stories he holds dearest to his heart since he was a young dreamer. The young star Jacob Elordi will be the "monster" while Victor Frankenstein will be played by Oscar Isaac. The movie will also have stars like Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz and Ralph Ineson as part of the cast.

This movie doesn't have an exact defined date for its premiere.

2. Bong Joon-Ho's MICKEY 17

After winning four Academy Awards with Parasite, Bong Joon-Ho can do as he pleases. Actually, he has done so since the beginnings of his career thanks to the huge success and repercussions of his masterful and calculated police thriller Memories of Murder, which premiered 20 years ago. But let's just say that, by now, creative freedom is almost absolute.

In his third science fiction movie, he goes to space with Robert Pattinson with a double or maybe even triple role. I would rather not reveal so much about the plot, but it seems humor will be mixed with some existentialism in a crazy space adventure. The rest of the cast is composed of names like Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo and Steven Yeun. What I'm sure of is that Joon-Ho never disappoints and this will not be the exception.

The premiere date is set for April 18th.

3. Ari Aster's EDDINGTON

Written and directed by one of the most beautifully twisted minds of all times, this comedy with western hints was actually Ari's first option to make his debut as a director before the premiere of Hereditary. Time and the whole cult built around it knew how to give the director the necessary strength to immerse in a story set during the COVID-19 pandemic in which Lindsay and Marc—a woman and her partner who is a sheriff with great ambitions—drive from New Mexico to Los Angeles during this time. After running out of gas on the outskirts of a small mining town called Eddington, they decide to approach the place to look for help. At the beginning, they receive a warm welcome, but when night falls, the colorful environment soon turns into a nightmare.

Ari Aster will collaborate once again with Joaquin Phoenix, who was involved in the script and the locations process. The rest of the cast is composed by Austin Butler, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone, among others. In my opinion, the truth is that, whichever the result is, everything Ari touches turns into gold.

This movie doesn't have an exact defined date for its premiere.

4. Osgood Perkins' THE MONKEY

Based on a short story of the most adapted writer of all time, this film focuses on two twin brothers who decide to distance themselves after witnessing a series of awful deaths that seem to be caused by the appearance of his father's old monkey toy. Perkins+King's formula will for sure be delirious.

In a genre many people claim as clumsy and not quite innovative, I hope this mixture of horror and comedy Perkins—who knows both genres as a director and actor—proposes can be inspiring for the audience and those aspiring to submerge in the directing world. And if the movie had something missing, it's R-rated, thank you.

The premiere date is set for February 21st.

5. Gareth Edwards' JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH

I can't lie to myself: every movie that contains the word "Jurassic" in its title excites me. We can later debate about disillusion, disappointment or surprise, but my inner child always urged me to turn in a beacon of hope with these movies. The last trilogy wasn't as enjoyable—maybe I support Fallen Kingdom a little bit because of my affection for Bayona—but in this case, both masterminds behind this project invite me to, at least, get excited… once again.

Gareth Edwards and David Koepp are the director and scriptwriter respectively, being two huge science fiction experts, but the most interesting fact is that Koepp will return to the saga after being involved as a writer in the first two movies directed by the stainless Steven Spielberg. The story occurs five years after the events of Dominion and follows a scientific expedition looking to get the DNA of three dinosaurs to achieve a revolutionary medical breakthrough. Who is part of the cast? Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali are the three most renowned visible faces of this really promising restart.

The premiere date is set for July 2nd.

6. Yorgos Lanthimos' BUGONIA

Who would have thought that Lanthimos, one of the most original directors of our time, would dare to think about bringing to life a remake of a 2003 Korean movie? His next project, the third one in three consecutive years after Poor Creatures and Kinds of Kindness, seems like an excuse to watch Emma Stone doing weird things on screen. The potential and weirdness proper of the "Yorgos" label seems to be present with the official synopsis:

A young man kidnaps and interrogates a businessman because he's convinced the latter is an alien. The kidnapper, his girlfriend, the businessman and a private detective engage in a tense psychological battle.

Jesse Plemons and Alicia Silverstone will share the screen with the Academy Award winner. Another beautiful bizarre film is on its way.

The premiere date is set for November 7th.

7. Antoine Fuqua's MICHAEL

This is my most anticipated biopic, which I can say I have been expecting practically all my life. The project not only has the most influential musician of all time, but also gives Jaafar Jackson, Michael's nephew, the huge—and beautiful—responsibility to bring his uncle to life. In addition, this is his first role in cinema.

The approximately two-and-a-half-hour movie will include recreations of almost 30 songs of the King of Pop and it is expected for it to cover everything from his beginnings to his unfortunate death. There are those who believe that Michael is still among us, hidden somewhere, and that his physical absence is a total conspiracy, but I would rather carry him inside me, as it should be, accompanied by his best legacy: his eternal music.

The premiere date is set for October 3rd.

8. Paul Thomas Anderson's THE BATTLE OF BAKTAN CROSS

In 1996, a young Paul Thomas Anderson offered an also young Leonardo DiCaprio the role that could have changed his whole acting career: Boogie Night's Dirk Diggler. Coincidentally a year after, when that great sexual drama premiered, Leo was making history with James Cameron and Titanic, but the twists and turns of life gathered them for the first time in the production of this peculiar movie with a weird title. The plot is not yet confirmed, but some sources assure there will be certain sci-fi elements that, with an approximate budget of between 125 and 175 million dollars, will constitute PTA's most mainstream movie. In addition, it's said this could be a free adaptation of the 1990 novel Vineland written by the famous author Thomas Pynchon, which would mark the second adaptation of one of his books in charge of Anderson after 2014's Inherent Vice. I hopped on this train long ago.

The premiere date is set for August 8th.

9. Lynne Ramsay's DIE, MY LOVE

How is it possible that Lynne Ramsay's name isn't more renowned by now? Sure, maybe the Scottish director's lack of regularity—she has only made four movies in her 24-year career—is the reason not a lot of people know her name, but this isn't enough to underestimate her as most people do. More than ten years ago, her unique vision of human nature made me feel hypnotized by her and, now, every project she embarks on equals happiness for me.

The story will focus on an isolated woman living in a remote country community (played by Jennifer Lawrence) who is experiencing the worst moment of her life fighting against her own demons. Robert Pattinson, Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek and Lakeith Stanfield are also part of the cast. I can't wait for the premiere of this movie.

This movie doesn't have an exact defined date for its premiere.

10. Joseph Kosinski's F1

The only reason F1 is among the top ten of this personal list is because I deeply love Top Gun: Maverick, that's it. And because I love Brad Pitt. And also, Bardem. I don't clearly know how deep Sonny Hayes' story, played by Pitt, can be, but I hope the experience can be as immersive as the late sequel we had two years ago.

Apple+'s new proposal, which at first was going to be a Days of Thunder's sequel, was planned to be jointly starred by Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Due to scheduling matters, the project was left on stand-by, but now it will be distributed around the world by Warner Bros. The movie will follow the classic known tutor/apprentice formula, with Hayes returning to racing after his retirement to team up with a young pilot.

The premiere date is set for June 25th.

11. Leigh Whannell's WOLF MAN

Praise Leigh Whannell and his vision of horror in these times. From his genius 2018 Upgrade, the director, renowned for being one of the two men trapped in Jigsaw's mortal game in the first movie of the Saw saga, has innovated in the genre and completely immersed in Universal's monster universe unaware of the fact that it had died with The Mummy's premiere.

But what does it matter? I'm not interested in seeing a crossover of The Invisible Man and Wolf Man, I'm happy with just a good story. I'm a simple guy who enjoys being transformed in a theater and, in just a few weeks, we will know if Whannell is everything he showed in the last few years or not. I want to believe he is, since from Wolf Man's first images, the movie looks extremely good. The director apparently won't tell a typical story, but will rather present an interesting question: What would happen if someone you love turns into something else?

The premiere date is set for January 16th.

12. Danny Boyle's 28 YEARS LATER

The first trailer of this late sequel of the most brutal zombie saga of all turned into the most-watched one in the history of horror. I'm not one of those people who gets carried away by numbers, but what does this mean for a journey that started 22 years ago under Boyle's direction and that seems to have been forgotten 17 years ago? Set 28 years after the story starring Cillian Murphy, according to the first images, Danny Boyle's comeback will apparently expand the lore, be much more brutal than the two prior ones and be the starting point of a trilogy that will start next 2025.

Murphy's already confirmed return will be accompanied by Ralph Fiennes, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer in a story that, for now, doesn’t have an official synopsis. But one of the most interesting details is that the film was completely shot with iPhones 15 Pro Max. Is this the definite evolution of shooting? We will find out in six months.

The premiere date is set for June 20th.

13. David Lowery's MOTHER MARY

My case with this peculiar director's career is quite weird. Two of his movies are the most surreal and beautiful experiences I had the pleasure to enjoy in a theater—A Ghost Story and The Green Knight—but he also has some pretty mediocre titles that feel—and in fact I believe are—Disney assignments. According to his own words, Mother Mary is “the hardest thing he has ever done.”

A simple story based on the relationship between a fictional pop star and her fashion designer but, as he polished it, Lowery found out details that made it gradually bigger. The cast of this next weird A24 proposal includes Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel and Hunter Schaffer as the big protagonists.

This movie doesn't have an exact defined date for its premiere.

14. James Gunn's SUPERMAN

What else can we say about the mastermind behind the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad? In this precise moment, the admiration and passion Gunn has for DC can be confirmed with the weekly release of HBO's animated series Creature Commandos on Max, and this is enough to believe that his version of Superman may be the most magnificent of all the ones we had.

It's interesting since Zack Snyder's Man of Steel was the movie that initially made me feel affection for superhero films, but time couldn't deny that such adaptation and starting point attempt of a shared universe wasn't the best one. It was too dark, but had some heart in it. What Zack made is something of the past and now is time to look forward, or upwards, rather. After the first trailer, what do you think about Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent?

The premiere date is set for July 11th.

15. Edgar Wright's THE RUNNING MAN

In a little less than a year from now, Edgar Wright, one of the most creative and chameleonic filmmakers of all, will return. The underrated Last Night in Soho, his last title, premiered four years ago, but the audience didn't love it and it even had a worst box office performance, raising half of what it was spent. But this doesn't matter, it seems streaming solves everything and film directors know how to save a lot of money. That's why Wright will treat himself, since he's a director who can do it all. This new adaptation of Stephen King's novel will be much more faithful than the movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, since King's story is actually set in a dystopian 2025 United States. In this story, there's a game show in which people are chased by killer hunters to win money. Glen Powell will be the absolute protagonist together with Josh Brolin, Lee Pace, William H. Macy and Michael Cera, among others.

The premiere date is set for November 7th.

16. Benny Safdie's THE SMASHING MACHINE

I never thought I would see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in an A24 production, but here we are, in weird times. The younger one of the famous Safdie brothers will spread his wings—like the Coen brothers did around four years ago—from whom he had directed everything jointly to bring to life a remake of the homonymous 2002 documentary film.

The Smashing Machine narrates the real story of Mark Kerr, a former MMA/UFC champion, with his rise to stardom and his professional downfall due to the serious opioid addiction he suffered. Emily Blunt and a cast of former and current professionals of the wrestling industry will join The Rock. I found this combination really interesting.

This movie doesn't have an exact defined date for its premiere.

Posted on JANUARY 6, 2024, 13:57 PM | UTC-GMT -3

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