2024 was a good year for movies. To be honest with you, I tend to think any year is a good one for movies, if you look hard enough. 2025 is looking bleak in almost every other way, but as far as movies go, we’ve got some cool stuff to look forward to. Here are a few movies I have my hopes up for. Will my hopes be dashed, as they have been in almost every other way? Only time will tell!

Let’s go.

 

28 YEARS LATER

I will see anything Danny Boyle does. Didn’t feel much need to revisit this franchise (guess it’s a franchise now!), which had a great start and a way-better-than-expected sequel, but like zombies reanimating, the franchise lay dormant in my mind, only to reawaken. Hoping to see Naomie Harris again, but not counting on it. Cool enough to see Ralph Fiennes in there. Also: Please refer back to opening sentence.

 

ALTO KNIGHTS

Could be nothing, but Robert De Niro in “shocking dual role” makes it a must-see. Double the De Niro! What could be better? Two Batmans? Two Godzillas? Two Frankensteins? Man… just imagine a calendar year with two Frankensteins…

 

ANACONDA

Ardent fan of the original. Not as enamored of the sequels, but that’s fine. And you might figure I’d be a little tired of Jack Black or Paul Rudd by now, but you’d figure wrong, pal, and here they are together.

 

 

ASH

New movie from Flying Lotus. Music by Flying Lotus. I’m there. And I’m buying the soundtrack album too.

 

THE BATTLE OF BAKTAN CROSS

aka

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

This is Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest. Tremendous cast as usual; I’m most excited to see what PTA might do with Regina Hall, who is a national treasure.

 

BLADES OF THE GUARDIANS 

This is an adaptation of a popular comic in China, which is a little less intriguing to me than the fact that it is an epic starring Jet Li and Wu Jing, directed by the master, Yuen Woo-ping. Unclear when it will be released, however. Maybe 2025… maybe.

 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD

I have very conflicted feelings about this idea of turning Harrison Ford into a Hulk. Feels a little like putting tits on Mount Rushmore.* Does this man not deserve a scrap of dignity in his greying years? Must we really make him stand around on a soundstage growling so we can turn him into a CGI cartoon? For what? So the nerds can have another flavor of Hulk? What’s wrong with green? Sure, I was okay with it when they did it to Eric Bana, Edward Norton, and Mark Ruffalo, but Harrison Ford? That’s a bridge too far. Maybe we were wrong to let the nerds out of the locker. And I am saying this as a nerd! Maybe the nerds have too much power. Anyway, maybe.

On the other hand… Harrison Ford as a Hulk.

Also, from what I can tell, this movie is adding one of my favorite supervillain teams in all of comics, the Serpent Society, into movies. All of them dress like snakes. Preposterous. But they’re so important to me. I mean, how lovely to know that all those people who dress like snakes managed to find each other. Beautiful.

 

CLEANER

Martin Campbell is a real solid action director. Usually his best stuff is done with Bond, for whatever reason, but there are also some other cool ones in his filmography (THE LEGEND OF ZORRO and NO ESCAPE come to mind). Could this be one of the cool ones?

 

DARK MATCH

“A small-time wrestling company accepts a well-paying gig in a backwoods town only to learn that the community is run by a mysterious cult leader with devious plans for their match.” You know, the same old thing we have seen a hundred times… Just kidding! This is a fun idea and absolutely not the same-old, which always gets me excited. You can never really go wrong with pro wrestlers in horror movies. Not sure why it doesn’t happen more often!

 

 

DEATH MARCH

Set during World War II, this movie finds DTV action champ Scott Adkins playing a POW in a Japanese internment camp. Not to be rude, but there’s a really good chance this could be bad. But what if… it isn’t? Risk versus reward, baby.

 

DEATH OF A UNICORN

I love vampires, and I love zombies, and I love werewolves (that one especially), but I also love very much when a monster I haven’t seen before in movies is added to the lexicon. Plus this has Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd. Very, very curious to see it.

 

DIABLO

The best plot summary I found reads like this: “Kris Chaney, a recently released ex-convict embarking on a perilous mission. He kidnaps Elisa, the daughter of a powerful gangster, which puts him in danger. El Corvo, a psychopathic killer seeking revenge against Vincent’s family.” Now, that is technically two sentence fragments bookending a single sentence, but I think it gives us as much as we need. Know that “Kris Chaney” is Scott Adkins and “El Corvo” is Marko Zaror. Those are the only two things you really need to know. Hey look, here’s a picture of Scott Adkins about to kick a guy in the face!

 

 

 

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS

I am a Marvel Comics zombie. I am more agnostic on “The MCU,” i.e. the movies, for people who get outside. But on this movie, I’m a single-issue voter: Get Benjamin J. Grimm right. That’s my boy. Well bless ‘em, he looks terrific. Not sold on the voice, but I’ll be giving it a fair chance for sure!

 

FRANKENSTEIN and THE BRIDE!

In one corner, Guillermo Del Toro. In the other, Maggie Gyllenhaal. Doesn’t matter who wins, because we get double the Frankensteins either way! (That Christian Bale Frankenstein looks particularly cool…)

 

 

THE FRIEND

I’ll never say no to Bill Murray and/or Naomi Watts. I liked their last collaboration, ST. VINCENT. Wasn’t exactly expecting them to become the new Method Man-and-Redman, but I’m also cool with it. Also looks from the lower half of the screen that there is a dog in the movie, which interests me, because just like a dog, I tend to stare at screens that have dogs on them.

 

FRIENDSHIP

Paul Rudd tortures Tim Robinson from I Think You Should Leave. Looks like NEIGHBORS (Belushi/Aykroyd) for a new century. Have you seen the trailer?!? I am so excited for this movie.

 

THE FURIOUS

This is an awesome-looking action movie from veteran stuntman Kenji Tanigaki that is impossible to Google. There is no Vin Diesel in this movie! Be forewarned. It does have the incredible Joe Taslim, though, who naturally, was in FAST & FURIOUS 6, although that’s hardly the movie I’d name first when thinking of Joe Taslim.

 

G20

Viola Davis is the President of the United States of America, who must spring into action when terrorists invade the international G20 summit. This movie is a neo-liberal wet dream, but what the hell? I’ll watch it. Lord knows I’ve seen scores of arch-conservative wet-dream action-thrillers in my lifetime.

 

 

GATOR CREEK

This is a killer-alligator when-animals-attack horror movie. One way or another, you already know what you are going to do.

 

GOOD FORTUNE

Keanu Reeves plays an angel getting involved in the lives of Keke Palmer and Seth Rogen, with another angel played by the great Stephen McKinley Henderson. That seems like one to check out, no? The movie was written and directed by Aziz Ansari, who I guess was canceled, although it was one of the more controversial controversies. Look guys, I’m not against a justifiable cancellation, but I think in a few areas, we sort of collectively over-corrected. Maybe saying that will get me canceled. Or maybe I’ve been canceled already and I just don’t know it. Is that why nobody calls anymore?

 

HAVOC

It’s a new Gareth Evans action movie. He made THE RAID and THE RAID II. And this one stars Tom Hardy. If that’s not enough to make you totally jazzed to see this movie… well, that’s fine. We’re just very different people. Maybe it won’t work out between us. It was beautiful while it lasted, but maybe we were just like two sad ships, passing in the night.

UPDATE: Poster and trailer!!!

 

 

HEART EYES

I put this on my list before I saw it. Just saw it. Now I eagerly await YOU seeing it. Go! Gogogogogogogo! Not gonna tell you it’s the horror movie of the year, but it might just be the romantic comedy of the year. Just delightful. I’ve got heart-eyes for HEART EYES. There’s a little old-school Gene Shalit for you.

 

THE ICE TOWER

Lucile Hadžihalilovi? of ÉVOLUTION directs the brilliant Marion Cotillard “as an actress who is shooting a film adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen, in which she plays the title character.” Maybe a little SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK here? Looks intriguing, no matter what.

 

IN THE LOST LANDS

Somewhere along the line, I was absorbed into  that weird strain of cinephiles who eagerly await the new Paul WS Anderson joint as much as the new Paul Thomas Anderson joint. This is starring his regular muse, Milla Jovovich, and this time around they’ve got Dave Bautista along for the ride, which is just insane levels of value-added.

 

IP MAN 5

I cannot confirm if this is officially arriving in 2025. I cannot confirm much of anything about it, except the poster appears to be authentic. Came from Donnie Yen himself, which is as authentic as I need, personally speaking.

 

 

JURASSIC PARK: REBIRTH

I never entirely adore Gareth Edwards’ movies as much as I definitely should, considering how many preoccupations we share, but I am usually happy while watching them. I don’t have too much love for JURASSIC PARK movies, but of course I love dinosaurs. I’m not made of stone. Or suspended in amber. Or whatever metaphor makes this little caption enjoyable.

 

LOVE HURTS

I’m just happy for Ke Huy Quan. I know we don’t know each other, and I’m uncomfortable with what the kids call parasocial relationships and how everyone today, because of social media and complete pop-culture saturation, feels they know people they don’t really know at all. Even still, I’m happy for Ke Huy Quan. Just want good things for him. Is that okay?

 

MARTY SUPREME

This is the new one from Josh Safdie. GOOD TIME and UNCUT GEMS were my favorite movies from whatever years they came out, so I will be seeing this for sure.

 

MICHAEL

Now obviously I don’t have any enthusiasm for what this movie is. But the distant possibility of “Oscar nominee Nia Long” brings me joy. Sometimes it’s that simple.

 

THE MONKEY

I really dug LONGLEGS! I think it’s cool that Oz Perkins has another movie out so quickly. I’m always impressed when any filmmaker can pull that off, let alone one whose work I admire. This looks fun and grisly. I’m ready.

 

MORTAL KOMBAT 2

I liked the first one! Didn’t love, but liked. In this one, Karl Urban joins living legends and returning cast Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, and Hiroyuki Sanada, among others. If you saw Shogun, here’s another place that you can see two of those actors. (You should want to see them in anything they do anyway!)  I don’t know much about the video game, but I do know Tadanobu Asano plays Raiden and Hiroyuki Sanada plays Scorpion, and that’s cooler than liquid nitrogen.

 

NOBODY 2

Arguably my most-awaited of the year. Completely loved the first one, and this (honestly, unexpected) sequel is orchestrated by Timo Tjahjanto, one of my favorite working directors, maybe the finest action director in the world right now. Give it to me! Immediately! Waiting for it is making my guts hurt.

 

 

PREDATOR: BADLANDS

Loved PREY in every way. More please. Yes, thank you.

 

PRESENCE

This is the first horror movie from prolific un-retired genius filmmaker Steven Soderbergh. (Unless CONTAGION counts as a horror movie.) It’s already out in theaters, but I haven’t seen it yet, so here it remains, hopefully very temporarily, on this list.

 

 

THE PROSECUTOR

Donnie Yen plays a cop-turned-prosecuting attorney who takes on a wrongfully-accused client, and takes on scores of criminals in another sense of the phrase “takes on.” This film was already released in Hong Kong in 2024, but with any luck, it’ll come to the States this year.

 

THE RITUAL

Not to be confused with another horror film also named THE RITUAL from 2017, which rocks, this one is starring Al Pacino and Dan Stevens as a pair of priests attending to a possessed woman. I said AL PACINO. That’s AL PACINO in a horror movie. And Dan Stevens can do no wrong, for the record, but the draw here has got to be AL PACINO. On the side of the angels, this time. But maybe he’ll still call God “an absentee landlord.” Good guys can have that opinion too. I mean, look around.

 

 

ROOFMAN

I couldn’t find any decent pictures or posters for this movie, so enjoy what I am using as a place-holder. This is Derek Cianfrance’s latest film. Very talented filmmaker. I especially dug THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES. Cianfrance and Ryan Gosling were set to reteam for WOLF MAN, but I guess this is what he made instead. ROOFMAN is about an Army vet who uses rooftops to rob various McDonald’s franchises. This is a true story. Roofman (not his legal name) hid from police by lurking on the roof of a Toys R’ Us. I can see why Marvel Studios didn’t pick up on this superhero story, but I’d rather see what Derek Cianfrance does with it anyway. Cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, Peter Dinklage, Uzo Aduba, Juno Temple, Emory Cohen, LaKeith Stanfield, and Channing Tatum as Roofman. (Quick question, though: When they need to reach Roofman, where do they put the Roof-signal?)

 

 

THE RULE OF JENNY PEN

Elevator pitch: “A former Judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child’s puppet to abuse the home’s residents with deadly consequences.” Did somebody say “evil puppet?” I’m in. I’m such an easy lay.

THE RUNNING MAN

It’s sacrilege in some of the circles I run in, but I’m gonna say it anyway: This is the first time I’m legit excited about an Edgar Wright movie. Try not to hate me. I think he’s a terrific director. But I do not think he’s a terrific writer. This, I believe, is his first adaptation of someone else’s material. That someone else is Stephen King. Above is what the paperback of The Running Man that I owned as a kid looked like. (Wish I could find that!) This is one of King’s pulpier stories, and the 1987 Schwarzenegger version is not exactly high art, so I’m not mad about someone else taking a shot at the material, particularly when it’s such a talented pop director. There’s never been an Edgar Wright movie that I could fully love (closest we came to matching was HOT FUZZ), but I have hope that this is the one. Glen Powell, Katy O’Brian, Josh Brolin, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, William H. Macy, David Zayas, and Colman Domingo are just some of the actors who will be running in this adaptation. Extremely promising.

 

 

SINNERS

About seven years ago, this would have been my most anticipated movie of the year. Ryan Coogler, with Michael B. Jordan, made what is easily one of the best Marvel Comics adaptations with 2018’s BLACK PANTHER. Here he’s doing horror, which as far as I can tell from the trailer is about twin brothers (B. Jordan) fighting vampires (?) in the Jim Crow South. Right up my alley, if that’s what it is.

 

 

SKYLINE: WARPATH

Liam O’Donnell has turned the SKYLINE series into grade-A quality B-pictures, in the old-fashioned sense of the term “B,” by which I mean they’re terrific action movies with lower budgets and (arguably) less recognizable stars than the average Hollywood fare. I mean, to folks like you and me, Iko Uwais, Scott Adkins, and Yayan Ruhian are as recognizable as Bradley Cooper and Kate Hudson are to the supermarket crowd, but you know what I mean.

 

THE SMURFS MOVIE

Gonna be real with you: I don’t remember why I originally added this movie to this list. I have to think it has something, even everything, to do with the fact that Rihanna is doing the voice of Smurfette. You might also want to know that John Goodman is doing the voice of Papa Smurf. I definitely wanted to know that.

 

STRIKING RESCUE

“A veteran Muay Thai expert goes on a take-no-prisoners mission of revenge after his wife and daughter are brutally murdered by mysterious forces.” I feel like this could maybe describe plenty of Tony Jaa movies, but when the formula works, you don’t change the formula. You do that, and you end up with a travesty like Vanilla Coke.

 

SUPERMAN

Reportedly, James Gunn is looking to Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman for inspiration, which is a good series to read (or revisit) before the movie, just because it’s excellent. I liked the trailer. I liked Krypto in the trailer! I love the idea of Wendell Pierce as Perry White! I’m not sure how all the other superheroes will be fitting into things, but I’m happy Isabela Merced gets to play a superhero. Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, I like that too. This could be great! Let’s hope.

 

 

THUNDERBOLTS

To be honest, I have to catch up on a few too many Marvel movies to really understand why I should care about any of these characters. I know most of them from the comics, but that’s usually a very different thing. I guess mainly I’m interested in this movie because I really like Florence Pugh, and these Marvel movies are the movies she is mostly starring in at the moment. I’ll be happier when she goes off to make movies with Michael Mann or the Coens, but it is what it is.

 

UNTITLED TREY PARKER FILM

Here’s the high concept: “A young Black man who is interning as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum discovers that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.” Now, this immediately makes me think of that episode of Saved By The Bell when Jessie Spano learned about slavery and started acting overly apologetic to Lisa Turtle. (And if you think that plot is misguided, just avoid refreshing your memory about what Zack Morris got up to in this episode.)

 

 

UNDER NINJA

As keen-eyed readers of Daily Grindhouse may have noticed, I will watch anything with a ninja in it. I will also apparently watch anything with the word “Ninja” in the title. You know what? I’m not even gonna Google a plot for this one. I’m just gonna cross my fingers and wait for a trailer. P.S. Speaking of keen eyes, anyone else notice that the only words in English on this poster, aside from “Under Ninja,” are “Creepy Nuts Dopplelgänger?”

 

THE WOMAN IN THE YARD

Not nearly enough horror movies take that unsteady gamble of setting up scary scenes during the day. Also, look who made it: That’s an A-list B-movie director right there. In fact, all I know about this movie right now is that Jaume Collet-Serra directed it and that it’s a horror movie with at least one scene set during the day. I’m fine going in just like that.

 

A WORKING MAN

Jason Statham hitting lots of people. That counts as work!

 

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So believe it or not, that was fifty movies. I will cap the list there, but here are a few more I was going to mention. You’ll see why.

 

Shark Movies, Because I Always Watch Shark Movies:

DEEP WATER

Does this look original? No. It’s literally exactly the plot of CYCLONE (1978). Does that tagline look familiar? Yes. It’s from THE FLY (1986). Does the title of the movie itself look familiar? Yes. You last saw it in 2022, when it starred Ben Affleck and Ana De Armas, but the sea creatures in that case were snails, not sharks. Does this new DEEP WATER have 42 producers, including Gene Simmons of KISS? Yes. Is any of that a good sign? No? So should you care about this movie? Yes. Because it was directed by Renny Harlin, and the last time he made a movie about sharks, it was THE DEEP BLUE SEA.

 

 

INTO THE DEEP

What is it with these movies biting off*** taglines from way more famous movies? ALIEN used it, not only because it’s great but because it’s true: “In space, no one can hear you scream.” But it’s not true that “Under water, no one can hear you scream.” Under water, people not be able to make out whatever words you’re screaming, but they can hear those sad muffled sounds. Under water, people can hear you gurgle! This movie is notable as one of an increasing number of appearances by Richard Dreyfuss to cash in on his history in the genre, which began with PIRANHA 3D and continued with Nickelodeon’s Bubble Guppies. Will this cameo be as good as those? I will let you know soon enough!

 

Movies I Was Looking Forward To That Already Landed With A Weak Fart

 

WOLF MAN

Started this list before WOLF MAN came out. Now I’ve seen it. I respected the attempt, there was something different being tried out here, and you’re free to disagree, but really, it didn’t work. This isn’t even really a werewolf movie. (More like a less horny re-work of THE FLY.) Give WEREWOLVES a look if you haven’t already.

 

Movies I Should Be Looking Forward To, But I’m Not:

 

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH

AVATAR movies are like Wes Anderson movies: I never think I want to see them ahead of time, but then they come out and I see them and I love them and I wonder why I wasn’t more excited ahead of time.

 

BALLERINA

The bloom is a little off the rose, finally, with JOHN WICK movies. Maybe not JOHN WICK movies proper, but the spinoffs. I was looking forward to this one and then I noticed who was directing. Not exactly top-of-the-line in terms of action filmmaking, to be generous.

 

DRACULA: A LOVE TALE

I’m normally all the way down for anything Dracula, but I think I’m done with Luc Besson. NOSFERATU was great, and it just came out last Christmas. Just watch that again and you’re good for 2025.

 

RIFF RAFF

The director of this movie has made movies I’ve appreciated in the past, but after seeing the trailer, for the life of me, I cannot understand how he wrangled a cast that includes Jennifer Coolidge, Gabrielle Union, Pete Davidson, Ed Harris, and Bill Murray. Can you figure it out? Please comment or email dailygrindhouseonline@gmail.com.

 

SCREAM VII

Melissa Barrera innocent. There is no hate in expressing solidarity with Palestine. That is only the human response. There is no lie in calling Netanyahu a war criminal who deserves [an unprintable fate]. That is only truth. Anyway, in light of her bravery, a SCREAM sequel is a pretty fucking easy thing for me to give up on supporting. Do better, everyone.

Peace.

 

 

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In conclusion…

Most Awaited of 2o25: 

HAVOC and NOBODY 2, nose-and-nose, by a mile.

 

Please also remember that all of the above is based on the information readily available to me in the early months of the year. Inevitably, there are movies that most of us haven’t heard a thing about yet that are on the way to knock our socks off. Which is an incredible feat, because most of us are wearing shoes, and imagine how hard it is to knock somebody’s socks off while they have shoes on over their socks. Miraculous! That’s movie magic, my friends.

 

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*To be fair, this renovation could also totally work out.**

 

**If you’re not a fan of scrolling for asterisks, this was a reference to “tits on Mount Rushmore.”

 

***Sorry.

 

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Tags: 2025, Al Pacino, Benjamin J. Grimm, Bob Odenkirk, Colombia, Danny Boyle, Dave Bautista, donnie yen, Dracula, Florence Pugh, GARETH EDWARDS, Gareth Evans, harrison ford, Hiroyuki Sanada, iko uwais, Jack Black, Jason Statham, Jaume Collet-Serra, Jenna Ortega, Joe Taslim, Jon Abrams, karl urban, Ke Huy Quan, Marko Zaror, Naomie Harris, Nia Long, Ninjas, Paul Rudd, Ralph Fiennes, Rihanna, Robert De Niro, scott adkins, Smurfette, Stephen King, Superman, Tadanobu Asano, The USA, Timo Tjahjanto, Tom Hardy, Tony Jaa, Werewolves, Yayan Ruhian, Yuen Woo-ping