The start of a new year will bring new movies to movie theaters around the world and could provide new revenue opportunities for media companies with Walt Disney Co DIS among the companies hoping for continued success from 2024.
Most Anticipated Films: Movie theater executives like AMC Entertainment Holdings AMC CEO Adam Aron have expressed optimism at the film lineup for 2025 as being particularly stronger than in past years.
The year will see superhero movies, family films, live-action adaptations and the return of several of the highest-grossing franchises of all time.
Here's a look at Variety's list of the most anticipated films for 2025 and the stocks associated with the films, listed in chronological order.
- Jan. 17, "Wolf Man": Comcast Corporation CMCSA
- Feb. 14, "Captain America: Brave New World": Disney
- Feb. 14, "Paddington in Peru": Sony Group SONY
- March 17, "Mickey 17": Warner Bros. Discovery WBD
- March 21, "Snow White": Disney
- April 4, "Minecraft Movie": Warner Bros.
- April 18, "Sinners": Warner Bros.
- May 2, "Thunderbolts": Disney
- May 23, "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning": Paramount Global PARAPARAA
- May 23, "Lilo & Stitch": Disney
- May 30, "Karate Kid: Legends": Sony
- June 6, "Ballerina": Lions Gate Entertainment LGFLGF
- June 13, "Elio": Disney
- June 13, "How to Train Your Dragon": Comcast
- June 20, "28 Years Later": Sony
- June 27, "F1": Apple Inc AAPL
- June 27, "M3GAN 2.0": Comcast
- July 2, "Jurassic World Rebirth": Comcast
- July 11, "Superman": Warner Bros.
- July 18, "The Smurfs Movie": Paramount
- July 25, "The Fantastic Four: First Steps": Disney
- Aug. 8, "Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Film": Warner Bros.
- Aug. 8, "Freakier Friday": Disney
- Sept. 26, "The Bride": Warner Bros.
- Oct. 3, "Michael": Lions Gate
- Oct. 10, "Tron: Ares": Disney
- Oct. 17, "The Black Phone 2": Comcast
- Nov. 7, "Predator: Badlands": Disney
- Nov. 7, "Bugonia": Comcast
- Nov. 7, "The Running Man": Paramount
- Nov. 21, "Wicked: For Good": Comcast
- Nov. 26, "Zootopia 2": Disney
- Dec. 5, "Five Nights at Freddy's 2": Comcast
- Dec. 19, "Avatar: Fire and Ash": Disney
- Dec. 19, "The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants": Paramount
While this is just a small list of the films set for theaters in 2025, these are among the most anticipated ones based on Variety's reporting.
The Stock Winners: For those keeping score at home, here are the number of films on the list for each public company mentioned above:
- Disney: 10
- Comcast: 7
- Warner Bros.: 6
- Paramount: 4
- Sony: 3
- Lions Gate: 2
- Apple: 1
Disney leads the way with 10 films on the list for 2025, including several superhero movies under the Marvel brand, animated films and the return of the Avatar franchise. The media giant could continue its streak as the highest-grossing film studio with a strong lineup of films.
Ranking second on the list is Comcast, which has several potential blockbusters including the return of the Jurassic World franchise and the sequel to "Wicked." Comcast had several of the highest-grossing films in 2024, including "Wicked," which ranked third domestically.
Warner Bros. and Paramount rank next on the list, but the titles might not be as recognizable to everyone and could signal that 2025 is a year for Disney and Comcast to distance themselves from the field. "Superman" will be a major test for Warner Bros. in the rebirth of the plans for the DC Comics film franchise.
Outside of the media companies, movie theater stocks such as AMC and Cinemark Holdings CNK might be best positioned to benefit from the overall movie slate and projections for the box office revenue to rise in 2025.
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