David’s Most Anticipated Movies of 2025

With Season 2 of The Drive Home underway, there are dozens of movies to review and sassy banter to be had among our crew, as 2025 has a jam-packed slate of releases. This year, some of my favorite filmmakers and actors have new movies on the calendar, and a couple of my all-time favorite franchises return to the big screen. You can bet that I will be dragging The Drive Home team to all the films below… sorry for the multiple horror selections, Matt/Tacco and Jose. (Also trying to manifest some invites to advance screenings with this list!)

Final Destination: Bloodlines (May 16)

After Final Destination 5 wrapped up the franchise with a bang and forever deterred me from LASIK eye surgery and acupuncture, the bar is set high for this new installment. If the trailer is any indication, Bloodlines seems to be returning the series to its roots, with a fresh generational twist to spice up the shenanigans. Plus, the Final Destination team has had 14 years to concoct some new death traps (and visual effects technology continues to improve), so I’m confident that Bloodlines is going to deliver the goods!

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (May 23)

I hope Tom Cruise keeps making Mission: Impossible movies until he is 100 years old. Like the Final Destination series, Mission: Impossible isn’t necessarily my cup of tea because of the storylines - it’s the incredible stunts and set pieces that make it a cut above other action franchises. You can expect The Drive Home crew to see this one in 4DX because there is no better way to experience a Mission: Impossible movie than a complete assault on the senses.

M3GAN 2.0 (June 27)

Blumhouse Pictures seems to be embracing M3GAN’s campiness on a whole new level in the trailer for this she-quel. This time around, M3GAN is taller, sassier, and she can fly! Also, she’s become the protagonist, hunting down another whore-bot named Amelia. If the first movie’s meme-ability and box office success wasn’t indication enough, M3GAN will most certainly reach queer icon status with 2.0. “Hold on to your vaginas!”

I Know What You Did Last Summer (July 18)

I promise I have more than just sequels and reboots on this list, but summer is always the most popular corridor for Hollywood to bet on IP. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddy Prinze Jr. are back in this re-quel of the 1997 slasher. From the trailer, it appears that the murderous fisherman is armed with even more fishing gear, and there is a whole new cast of teens ready to be “hooked.” We can only hope that Hewitt’s Julie James gets another chance to holler, “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, HUH?”

Weapons (August 8)

The creator of Barbarian (a favorite of The Drive Home) is back with another original horror movie. The initial teasers have been extremely unsettling, with hordes of children disappearing from their homes in the middle of the night. We don’t know much else about this August release at this time, but if it follows in the footsteps of Barbarian, moviegoers are in for a wild ride full of twists, turns, and hopefully some gory thrills.

Freakier Friday (August 8)

Naturally, Hollywood has packed the release schedule in time for my birthday (August 14) as the sequel to Disney’s Freaky Friday also arrives on August 8. It’s a delight to see Lindsay Lohan back on the big screen alongside co-star (and now Academy Award winner!) Jamie Lee Curtis. In Freakier Friday, there will be a four-way body swap between Lohan, Curtis and Lohan’s two daughters! Let’s hope Disney can recapture the magic of the 2003 original, as it’s been awhile since the studio released a big-budget, live-action family comedy.

The Conjuring: Last Rites (September 5)

Last Rites is being billed as the final entry in the beloved Conjuring franchise. The previous installment, The Devil Made Me Do It, was a slight step down from the first two movies, but I have faith that James Wan and team can find their footing again with Ed and Lorraine Warren’s last big screen adventure. Details about the plot are sparse at this point, but I’m sure there will be plenty of ghostly chills and thrills to go around and haunt viewers’ nightmares for years to come. (I still can’t look at a wardrobe without thinking about Bathsheba to this day.)

Michael (October 3)

Michael Jackson is finally getting the biopic treatment. Regardless of what you think of the world-renowned pop star, his music is some of the greatest of all time, and it’s going to sound incredible in a premium movie theater. Hopefully the filmmakers don’t play it safe and shy away from covering the more controversial aspects of MJ’s life. It would be refreshing to see a biopic that is honest about and critical of its subject, while still celebrating his contributions to the music industry.

Kiss of the Spider Woman (October 10)

Anyone who watches The Drive Home had to expect that I would put a Jennifer Lopez movie on this list! Kiss of the Spider Woman will mark J.Lo’s first proper Hollywood musical. (Sorry, El Cantante and Marry Me don’t count.) This movie is an adaptation of the Broadway musical, which is adapted from the 1985 movie starring William Hurt. The buzz for Spider Woman coming out of Sundance Film Festival was positive, so I am crossing my fingers for a J.Lo Oscars campaign. (Justice for Hustlers!)

Wicked: For Good (November 21)

Wicked was one of The Drive Home’s favorite films of 2024, so hopes are high for Part 2. For Good will encompass Act 2 of the Broadway show, and it’s been announced that one or two new songs have been added beyond the original Broadway numbers. Anyone who hasn’t read the book or seen the stage version of the musical is in for a real treat with the reveals coming in this sequel. And maybe the Academy Awards will finally pay Wicked its dues with this grand finale! Ariana Grande is the only Best Supporting Actress winner I would accept over J.Lo.

The Housemaid (December 25)

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney star in this adaptation of the book by Freida McFadden, which I read last year. Overall, The Housemaid was a decent thriller with a noteworthy twist. While it wasn’t my favorite of its genre, what piques my interest in the movie adaptation is director Paul Feig, who took a similar novel, A Simple Favor, and turned it into a deliciously campy and thrilling masterpiece. Plus, I’ll never miss the film adaptation of a trashy beach read.

Other must-see releases in 2025:

28 Years Later (June 20)

Jurassic World: Rebirth (July 2)

Superman (July 11)

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25)

The Naked Gun (August 1)

Him (September 19)

Black Phone 2 (October 17)

Mortal Kombat II (October 24)

The Running Man (November 7)

Zootopia 2 (November 26)

Avatar: Fire and Ash (December 19)

Marty Supreme (December 25)