10 Hottest Movies of 2025 You Need to Watch

2025 is here, and that means we have a whole new movie slate jam-packed full of exciting releases, with everything from new Marvel entries and heist thrillers to action-capers and horrific frights. We’ve highlighted 10 of the most anticipated movies you need to keep on your radar this year:

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera

Release date: 10 January 2025

One of the more underappreciated outings from Gerard Butler is 2018’s crime-thriller Den of Thieves. The film features a lot of twists and turns, with some tension-packed moments that fans of the genre will appreciate. The sequel picks up after the first film and sees Butler team up with his former nemesis, O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Out of Compton, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) who is embroiled in the treacherous and unpredictable world of diamond thieves, as they plot a massive heist of the world’s largest diamond exchange.

Wolf Man

Release date: 17 January 2025

The Wolf Man IP has been in flux in recent years, with a reboot on the cards for quite some time with Ryan Gosling at one point on board to star, and interestingly, Gosling is now on as an executive producer on this film. Blumhouse’s interesting spin on another classic horror, The Invisible Man, was a great entry into the genre, and the studio seems to be taking a similar approach with Wolf Man, which stars Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, and Sam Jaeger.

Captain America: Brave New World

Release date: 14 February 2025

After what seems like a bit of a dip with recent entries, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is gearing up for some bigger releases in the coming months. Following, the ultra-successful Deadpool and Wolverine that intertwined the Fox universe into the mainline Marvel story, Captain America: Brave New World brings in a whole host of new characters and story arcs. Following on from the Captain America and the Winter Soldier TV show from Marvel (one of the better small-screen releases from the company), the sequel sees Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) continue as the new Captain America as he has to help protect the president of the United States, Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, played by Harrison Ford.

Sinners

Release date: 7 March 2025

Michael B. Jordan plays twin brothers in this mysterious horror-thriller from Ryan Coogler. The film follows twin brothers trying to leave their troubled lives behind, who return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

28 Years Later

Release date: 20 June 2025

The third entry in the zombie survival franchise from Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle and Academy Award-nominated writer Alex Garland is arriving this June. Set almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory (as chronicled in 2002’s 28 Days Later and 2007’s 28 Weeks Later), some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. When one survivor decides to leave his haven island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well. The film stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, ​Jack O’Connell, ​Alfie Williams, ​and Ralph Fiennes.

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning

Release date: 23 May 2025

You’ve got to give it to Tom Cruise – the man just knows how to deliver an edge-of-your-seat action experience, and the veteran actor is suiting up one last time as Ethan Hunt for Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. Created as a part two to 2023’s Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning (an awesome entry in the franchise), the sequel picks up after the events of the aforementioned film where Ethan Hunt and his crew are tracking down a weapon that could change the face of the world. It’s the last confirmed movie in the franchise, so time will tell whether or not it spells the end for the character of Ethan Hunt. Alongside Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Pom Klementieff, and Esai Morales round out the cast.

Jurassic World: Rebirth

Release date: 2 July 2025

After the Chris Pratt-starring trilogy of Jurassic World movies, the franchise is kickstarting its new chapter. Rebirth stars Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, and Rupert Friend. It is set five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion and follows a team that has a top-secret mission to obtain genetic material from the three largest (and most dangerous) dinosaurs in order to create a drug to save humanity.

Superman

Release date: 25 July 2025

Following James Gunn’s takeover of the DC movie studios division in an attempt to steer the ship back to its former glory, the first trailer for the upcoming Superman reboot has now been released. Starring David Corenswet as Clark Kent / Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Superman gives a new look at the iconic superhero and his rise as a hero to Metropolis, despite a lot of scepticism. The film also features a variety of other DC heroes and villains, including Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Metamorpho, along with Lex Luther (played by Nicholas Hoult).

Fantastic Four

Release date: 8 November 2025

We’ve seen a few iterations of the Fantastic Four over the years, and now the full Marvel Studios treatment will be given to the iconic heroes to integrate them into the MCU. Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) face their most daunting challenge yet: defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner).

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Release date: 19 December 2025

The next Avatar film is on the horizon. Shot simultaneously with 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water, Fire and Ash continues the story into new territories of Pandora. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, and Kate Winslet all return for the third instalment.

Which movies are you most looking forward to? Let us know by tweeting @MenStuffZA, posting on our Facebook page, or commenting below.