2025 New Movies and the Viewing Homework to Prepare for Them
50 new movies, and 60+ older releases to discover and revisit.
Welcome to an accidental preview of a large % of the new movies being released in 2025. Skip to the end for anniversaries and for a Letterbox’d list that will give you all of the homework you should be watching this year.
“Survive ‘til ‘25” was THE motto in Hollywood last year. Well folks: we made it. Problems persist for most every part of our lives, but Hollywood, at least, is looking to fill our schedules with actual quality entertainment, which I will be glad to have available to me.
My interest in Hollywood, in film, in history, in artists, means I am always looking for ways to build bridges: between filmmakers, between films, between cultural eras, or between one artist’s output. In other words, I’m always doing homework. Every movie is better when you do some research before and/or afterward. Want to throw something on to take the edge off a hard day? Great! Pop into the wikipedia page for a couple seconds, too, and see what else that director has made, or what the stars have been in, or what the writer has worked on, or what source material it’s based on. It pays dividends.
Below is a collection of homework projects that I find exciting for myself. You might not agree with that assessment, but not all homework is sexy and innately interesting; sometimes you’ve gotta put your head down and read a book you find boring. Only in this case, it’s just watching a movie. I find that, if I place everything in a shallow context, and if I give every movie a chance to be the best version of itself, that no movies are completely lacking value.
This is not a comprehensive list of 2025 releases. Nor is it a list in which every title will be released this year. Shit happens. CEO’s make bad choices. I also will surely not be doing all of these homework projects, and will surely not see every new release, either. This is just a syllabus for a class I am choosing to take. I will try to update this when I learn more information, or when I develop a new piece of homework.
Included at the bottom are some big anniversaries that I am looking forward to celebrating.
Takeaways I had from making this list:
Paul Rudd renaissance?
Pop stars are interesting, and apparently are A-list actors
Josh O’Connor is so fucking here
Robert Pattinson has fucking been here
Willem Dafoe is never fucking leaving
2025 is certainly going to be a year. I hope you enjoy some of it at the movies.
New Releases
February
Sly Lives!, Questlove (on Hulu, February 13th)
Elevator Pitch: Another music documentary from Questlove.
Homework: Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2022) was an astounding first watch. I can’t wait to watch it again, although doing so in the winter, before Sly Lives! comes out, might not be as fun.
March
Mickey 17, Bong Joon-Ho (in theaters, March 7th)
Elevator Pitch: Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite, Snowpiercer) directs Robert Pattinson (Twilight, Tenet, The Batman) in a story about a man who wants to leave Earth, so he signs up to be a disposable employee that will get regenerated if and when he dies. Also starring: Steven Yeun (Burning, Minari), Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine, Hereditary)
Here’s a trailer, if you’d like it.
Homework: Let’s watch Okja (available for rent, and on Netflix), Bong’s 2017 original film about “a young girl who raised a genetically modified "super pig" (the titular Okja), and, after she is taken to the United States, goes on a mission to rescue her from mistreatment at the hands of the meat industry”. I have not seen this film, and it also prepares us for another A24 movie on February 28th: The Legend of Ochi. Here’s a trailer for that one.
Jay Kelly, Noah Baumbach (in theaters, March 10, 2025)
Elevator Pitch: It’s a Noah Baumbach movie with an incredible cast. It’s going to be sweet, it’s going to be sad, and it’s going to have something to try and say. What more could you want?
Homework: Let’s watch Kicking and Screaming, his first movie about college grads unsure what to do with themselves. It’s celebrating its 30th anniversary, and covers a stage of life that is universal yet also pin-point specific to each micro-generation.
Black Bag, Steven Soderbergh (in theaters, March 14th)
Elevator Pitch: Steven Soderbergh makes movies exclusively to entertain us. He is one of our greatest gifts. This is a spy movie where a husband and wife are opposing (?) spies, and one is asked to do a hit on the other. It’s Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett. Let’s fucking go.
Here’s a trailer.
Homework: we’re going to watch Mr. and Mrs. Smith, because it's obviously similar, and because Brand and Angelina’s divorce just became finalized after many years. God bless.
Alto Knights, Barry Levinson (in theaters, March 21st)
Elevator Pitch: a gangster movie where Robert DeNiro plays two opposing mob bosses. Typically an actor playing two different parts, or playing twins, irks me (unless it is a movie coming up next), but it’s DeNiro, it’s gangsters, maybe it’ll work. It nothing else, it gives us a chance for…
Homework: Goodfellas. Never a bad time to watch one of the best ever. 35th anniversary this year.
April
Sinners, Ryan Coogler (in theaters, April 18th)
Elevator Pitch: Ryan Coogler made a movie. That’s enough. If you want more: Michael B. Jordan stars (duh). He’s playing twins (uh-oh?). It’s a vampire western (holy shit).
Homework: Let’s watch Karthryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, a vampire western that completely rocks. I assume most people haven’t seen this; it’s a ton of fun. 1987, Bill Paxton’s a hick vampire, I’ll see you there.
The Wedding Banquet, Andrew Ahn (in theaters, April 18th)
Elevator Pitch: the director of Fire Island and Driveways is re-teaming with Bowen Yang to remake an early 90’s Ang Lee joint? It’s remade to be two gay couples in Seattle? It co-stars Lily Gladstone and Kelly Marie Tran? Sheesh.
Homework: let’s watch Ang Lee’s original from 1993. It’s a movie about a green card marriage while also acting as a cover for a gay male couple. I don’t know anything about it, which means there’s everything to learn.
May
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Kogonada (in theaters, May 9th)
Elevator Pitch: Kogonada is a crafter of beautiful and touching movies, and this one stars Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge supporting. Has any cast ever been so attractive?
Homework: Let’s watch Kogonada’s first two films, both of which will be second watches for me. Columbus is a beautiful unlikely friendship story, After Yang is a wonderful soft-sci-fi. They are both great. I bet I will like them even more a second time.
Golden, Michel Gondry (in theaters, May 9th)
Elevator Pitch: I’m gonna let Wikipedia cook here: Golden is an upcoming American coming-of-age musical comedy-drama film directed by Michel Gondry and co-produced by Pharrell Williams. It will star Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Quinta Brunson, Janelle Monáe, Jaboukie Young-White, Tim Meadows, Anderson .Paak, Missy Elliott, and Andre 3000. I’ll see you there.
Homework: This is a tough one! Michel Gondry is a director I need to watch more of, so I’m adding Human Nature (his first film) and The Science of Sleep to my list. We can also watch all of his music videos, which are varied and very good.
Golden has been shelved and/or scrapped. Boo!
Hurry Up Tomorrow, Trey Edward Shultz (May 16th)
Elevator Pitch: The Weeknd made an album and a movie to go with it?
Homework: …I don’t fucking know
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, Christopher McQuarrie (May 23rd)
Elevator Pitch: Come on.
Homework: Let’s watch the original, Brian DePalma’s Mission: Impossible. None of the sequels have ever matched the vibes of that first one. Let’s dip our toes back into what it used to be like to be Tom Cruise, Cool Guy.
June
The Phoenician Scheme, Wes Anderson (June 6th)
Elevator Pitch: it’s a Wes Anderson movie, centering a father-daughter relationship.
Homework: Did you watch Wes’ last two movies Asteroid City (2023) and The French Dispatch (2021)? Did you like them? I did, but I think I might really like them, but I’ll have to watch them again to see. Let’s watch them both again.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, Len Wiseman (in theaters, June 6th)
Elevator Pitch: I’m honestly not too terribly psyched about this Ana De Armas John Wick movie. She’s struggled to connect recently, and a spin-off movie is always a gamble.
Homework: I want to watch No Time to Die again, in which Ana De Armas kicks total ass for like 8 minutes. I remember feeling mixed about the final movie of the Daniel Craig Bond era, but a second look is always clarifying.
Materialists, Celine Song (June 13th)
Elevator Pitch: The director of Past Lives is back. I’ll never miss a movie of theirs. It’s a love New York City triangle movie starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal (…holy shit?).
Homework: Past Lives (2023) is stellar. Let’s watch it again.
28 Years Later, Danny Boyle (in theaters, June 20th)
Elevator Pitch: we are so fucking back
Homework: 28 Days Later
F1, Joseph Kosinski (June 27th)
Elevator Pitch: Brad Pitt, F1 cars, director of Top Gun: Maverick. Come on.
Homework: I just watched an incredible featurette about a mostly forgotten Tom Cruise/Joseph Kosinski movie Oblivion (2013). Let’s watch that.
July
Jurassic World: Rebirth, Gareth Edwards (in theaters, July 2nd)
Elevator Pitch: look, it’s another installment in a franchise that hasn’t had much juice recently, but the director Gareth Edwards is a genuine talent when it comes to putting big CGI things on screen.
Homework: 2014’s Godzilla which was technically the start of this new American Godzilla series we are in the middle of. This 2014 movie was dark, and serious, and I remember it looking incredible. Let’s check back in on it after the lizard’s continuing comeback its having.
August
The Naked Gun, Akiva Schaffer (in theaters, August 1st)
Elevator Pitch: It’s The Lonely Island guy directing Liam Neeson in a remake of the classic action comedy series. I loved those movies. I’ll be there for this.
Homework: The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), the original, starring an actor I’m sure that Gen Z does not yet have a connection to. If you like Airplane, you should give this a shot.
Weapons, Zach Cregger (in theaters, August 8th)
As of March 20th, this movie was moved into the August 2025 slot from it’s original January 2026 slot. That’s a huge move! Cregger’s breakout movie Barbarian was wonderful, and this, a “multi-story horror epic” starring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, is much anticipated.
Homework: Let’s watch Barbarian again, to confirm it’s greatness, and to see if we can identify any style trademarks for the burgeoning director.
September
One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson (in theaters, September 26th)
Elevator Pitch: we are so fucking back (this might be delayed until 2026, apaprently? If it is, do not call me, I’ll already be heading straight to Warner Bro.’s HQ with a baseball bat)
Homework: Let’s watch, or rewatch, PTA’s Inherent Vice, which is an adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon book. Baktan Cross is rumored to be another Pynchon adaptation, which connects this movie, but also, Vice wasn’t loved upon release, and has enjoyed kinder feelings with time. Let’s see how we feel about it now.
The Bride!, Maggie Gyllenhaal (in theaters, September 26th), and Frankenstein, Guillermo Del Toro (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: Frankenstein is back, and so is the Mrs.
Homework: Let’s watch Bride of Frankenstein (1935)! I’ve never seen it, and it’s a staple of early Hollywood monster filmmaking: Franz Waxman compositions, Jack Pierce makeup, Vera West costumes, James Whale directing.
The Bride! has been postponed until March 6, 2026
October
The Smashing Machine, Benny Safdie (in theaters, October 3rd)
Elevator pitch: a twist on a biopic about MMA fighter Mark Kerr, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Homework: I’ve already got one of Benny’s movies Daddy Longlegs lined-up below for Josh Safdie’s movie, so instead let’s lean into the reports that Smashing Machine is weird and non-traditional by watching Uncut Gems, a masterpiece of specifically weird, energetic film-making.
November
The Running Man, Edgar Wright (in theaters, November 7th)
Elevator Pitch: Edgar Wright remakes an Arnold Schwarzennager movie/ Steven King novel, with Glen Powell starring.
Homework: The Running Man (1987). I’ve never seen it! I’ve heard it’s… not perfect, which is typically a great way to get hyped for someone else to try and do it better.
Now You See Me 3, Ruben Fleischer (in theaters, November 14th)
Elevator Pitch: I don’t know, people do magic?
Homework: This movie series has a way bigger cultural footprint than I thought it would, and it has great actors, and quality directors, and they continue to make them. So I guess we could get on board and watch Now You See Me (2013).
December
Avatar: Fire and Ash, James Cameron (in theaters, December 19th)
Elevator Pitch: Cameron is creating new ways to visualize storytelling. Simply no one is doing it like him, and he’s doing it again.
Homework: James Cameron in a world of fire? Let’s watch True Lies (1994).
Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie (in theaters, December 25th)
Elevator Pitch: Safdie film, Timothee Chalamet, 50s/60s New York, ping pong.
Homework: Let’s watch Daddy Longlegs (2009), an early and important Safdie brothers feature. Let’s also watch Josh’s last release: Adam Sandler’s stand-up special Love You (2024), because who doesn’t love the sand man?
Release Date TBA/TBD
Nouvelle Vogue - Richard Linklater (maybe a Cannes premiere in May)
Elevator Pitch: Richard Linklater (our finest Gen X filmmaker????) making a fictionalized movie about the making of Breathless (1960).
Homework: Jean Luc-Godard’s Breathless, which I have never seen, and is monumental in its influence on the next generation of filmmakers.
I Want Your Sex, Gregg Araki (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza, Saturday Night) plays the sexual muse of an artist — played by Olivia Wilde.
Homework: Let’s watch Licorice Pizza (2021), Cooper Hoffman’s big debut, where he plays another younger guy looking for sex (this also is good crossover homework for Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming movie). Let’s also watch The Doom Generation (1995), which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. I have never seen a Gregg Araki movie, and it’s time to start.
Silent Friend, Ildiko Enyedi (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: It’s a movie starring Léa Seydoux (and Tony Freaking Leung Chiu-Wai!!) with three narratives across a long span of time, featuring different characters played by the same actors.
Homework: Let’s watch a movie with three narratives across a long span of time, featuring different characters played by the same actors, starring Léa Seydoux: The Beast (2024).
Die, My Love, Lynne Ramsay (unknown, maybe Cannes)
Elevator Pitch: This movie stars Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, LaKeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek, and Nick Nolte. I’ll see you there.
Homework: Ramsay’s last movie, You Were Never Really Here (2017), was good, and I need to see it again. You should, too.
Miroirs No. 3, Christian Petzold (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: Honestly, this is in here because I have never seen a Christian Petzold movie, and it’s time for me to start. They have been putting out well-regarded work at a good pace for two decades. And it means I get to start with something I’ve heard really cool reviews of…
Homework: 2014’s Phoenix, “a gripping noirish study of treachery, identity and survival”. I hear it has an inspired ending.
The Drama, Kristoffer Borgli (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: The director of Dream Scenario is back with a dramedy-romance starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson (…holy shit?).
Homework: I didn’t catch Dream Scenario yet, and their previous movie Sick of Myself (2022) also looks great. Let’s watch both?
The History of Sound, Oliver Hermanus (unknown, maybe Cannes)
Elevator Pitch: Two men (Paul Mescal, Josh O’Connor) set out to record the sound and music of America during WWI. I think the two men are lovers (…holy shit?)?
Homework: Let’s watch Living (2022), one of Hermanus’ previous movies, which I heard was a delight!
The Mastermind, Kelly Reichardt (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: a New York City art heist against the backdrop of the Vietnam war. From Kelly Reichardt!! Starring Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim, John Magaro, Bill Camp, Hope Davis, and Gabby Hoffman! Holy shit!!
Homework: I’m just filling in a Reichardt blind spot for myself, but Night Moves seems like it might have the closest “heist” energy of any of the director’s films so far.
Moonglow, Isabel Sandoval (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: Filipina filmmaker and idie/letterboxd darling Isabel Sandoval is making her second feature, a story of a detective asked to solve the crime that they, themself, committed. Sandoval is the lead, as well.
Homework: In a Lonely Place (1950) is a movie she directly mentions as an influence. I actually just watched this film while working on this homework project, and I had a great time. Highly recommended.
Hamnet, Chloe Zhao (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: Hugely popular novel, a talented filmmaker on the rebound after a failed Marvel experiment, and a great cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Joe Alwyn, Emily Watson
Homework: Let’s watch Zhao’s debut: Songs my Brothers Taught Me (2015), which looks lovely, and sad.
Late Fame, Kent Jones and Samy Burch (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee. Kent Jones (incredible writer, critic, film knower) directs. Samy Burch wrote it (she wrote May December).
Homework: Not sure what homework to do for this one! Dafoe plays an old poet who only gets discovered in old age, so maybe we should watch Dafoe’s portrayal of Vincent van Gogh in At Eternity’s Gate (2017). We can also watch Kent’s first-ever narrative film Diane (2018), which is also about an aging central character.
Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: The director, writers, costume designer, production designer, cinematographer, and star of The Worst Person in the World all reunite. I’m in the bag.
Homework: See The Worst Person in the World (2021) if you haven’t before. Rewatch it if you have.
Ella McCay, James L. Brooks (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: The writer/director of As Good as it Gets, Broadcast News, Terms of Endearment, and co-creator of The Simpsons is back with another movie! It’s about a woman juggling familial issues and a challenging work life!!!
Homework: Broadcast News is a masterpiece. Let’s watch it.
The Wizard of the Kremlin, Olivier Assayas (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, in a movie about a real post-USSR TV spin doctor.
Homework: Irma Vep (1996) is a movie I’ve wanted to watch for a long time. Let’s do it.
Untitled Kathryn Bigelow White House thriller, Kathryn Bigelow (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: a White House thriller starring Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Greta Lee, Jared Harris, Tracey Letts, and more.
Homework: We’ve got Bigelow’s Near Dark in our homework already, so let’s watch a political missile-launching thriller: Fail Safe (1964)
No Other Choice, Park Chan-Wook (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: Director Park is one of the best filmmakers in the world, and we should be stoked every time he has a new movie. This one is an adaptation of a novel where “after being unemployed for several years, a man starts killing-off the competition with an axe”.
Homework: Costa-Gavras also adapted the book, and helped director Park with this version. Let’s watch The Ax (2005).
Play Dirty, Shane Black (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: the director of The Nice Guys () and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang () is making a movie about a thief, Parker, the character of a 28 (!!!) novel series from Donald E. Westlake. I don’t know anything about all that, but I do know that when Black writes and directs movies about two guys doing stuff, they are good. The two guys here: Mark Wahlberg and LaKeith Stanfield.
Homework: Let’s watch John Boorman’s Point Blank (1967), which is also based on the character from the novels.
Wake Up Dead Man, Rian Johnson (unknown, Netflix)
Elevator Pitch: It’s the next Knives Out movie.
Homework: Usually Rian targets a couple specific whodunnits as his inspiration for each film, but I’m not sure what those are for this one. How about Robert Altman’s Gosford Park (2001), which I’ve never seen? Let’s do it.
Ann Lee, Mona Fastvold (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: A fable about the founder of the Shakers, played by Amanda Seyfried.
Homework: Let’s watch Mona Fastvold’s previous movie The World to Come (2020): “In 1856, two women forge a close connection despite their isolation on the American frontier.”
Power Ballad, John Carney (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: “Follows a wedding singer and a flagging pop star who come together to write a song to comedic consequences.” It stars Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas. This guy made Sing Street, so a musical comedy from him means excitement from us.
Homework: Watch Sing Street (2016). It is a delight. “A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.”
Faces of Death, Daniel Goldhaber (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: The director of How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022) is back with another pressing and presciently designed movie.
Homework: I never caught How to Blow Up a Pipeline, and the reviews have been consistently astounding. We gotta catch that one, y’all.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Mary Bronstein (unknown) (Sundance)
Elevator Pitch: I just heard about this one, and about Bronstein. “With her life crashing down around her, Linda attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist.” It’s edited by Ari Aster’s editor Lucian Johnston, and Josh Safdie and his company produced it.
Homework: Yeast is a 2008 cult fave from Bronstein, her only other movie. Let’s catch up on that.
Peter Hujar’s Day, Ira Sachs (unknown) (Sundance)
Elevator Pitch: a movie about real New York City artists in the 1970’s, and about “the personal struggles and epiphanies that define an artist’s life”, starring Ben Wishaw and Rebecca Hall (literally my dream combination).
Homework: Let’s watch Ira’s last film Passages (2023), which tons of people loved, and is something I should see before I pass on.
Splitsville, Michael Angelo Covino (unknown)
Elevator Pitch: I just learned about Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin, who made 2019’s The Climb, which will be our homework. This is their second feature, starring Dakota Johnson, the two of them, as well as Adria Arjona and Nicholas Braun. “Ashley asks for a divorce, watching as the good-natured Carey runs to his friends, Julie and Paul, for support. He’s shocked to discover that the secret to their happiness is an open marriage; that is, until Carey crosses the line and throws all of their relationships into chaos.”
Homework: The Climb
Happy Gilmore 2, Kyle Newacheck (unknown, on Netflix)
Elevator Pitch: Yeah, this is a weird time to do this, and it’s weird to do it at all, but Sandler, I think, is earnest in his revival’s of his man-child movies. Hubie Halloween (2020) was very sweet!
Homework: The original from 1996, which you can watch in front of/with all of your friends, and you will have a good reason that won’t make you feel like a man-baby for watching it for the 274th time.
Special Anniversaries
100th
Battleship Potemkin
Seven Chances
75th
Sunset Boulevard
The Furies
In a Lonely Place
50th
Jaws
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Barry Lyndon
Picnic at Hanging Rock
25th
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
This is great, because it is the finest adaptation of The Odyssey that has ever been made, and Christopher Nolan is going to try and top it with his next movie in 2026. Good luck, buddy.
Wow, that’s a lot of movies. Thanks for sticking with me (or for skipping to the end). Below is a link to a Letterbox’d list that has every homework movie attached. Please use it to help track what to watch, what you’ve watched, and where to find the movies online. If you ever need something to watch this year, I recommend pulling up that bad boy.
I will update this list with more new releases, more homework, and date updates whenever I can, so please feel free to come back anytime this year.
Ok, enough words.
TTFN,
Bobby
Second Letterbox’d List of ‘Exciting 2025 Releases’. There’s 88 movies in here (and counting)!
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Something New (This Week) vol 27 (featuring Elia Kazan, Dashiell Hammett, David Lynch)
Something Old
Sources for new releases:
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a63408581/best-movies-2025/
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/g63410403/best-movies-2025/
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/the-most-anticipated-movies-of-2025/
You got some heaters in the homework. Irma Vep, get around to that one. I've been meaning to watch the Irma Vep show from a few years ago also by Assayas.
Great post, I’m super excited about the PTA film, I hope it comes out this year. The 2 films I’m eagerly anticipating that didn’t make your list are the new Spike Lee Kurosawa remake starring Denzel, and Abel Ferrara’s return to the gangster genre, “American Nails”, starring Willem Dafoe.