Predicting the Biggest Movies at the Box Office in 2025

With 2024 winding down, the year’s big box office winners are clear. Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Wicked, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and It Ends With Us were just a few of the many movies that flourished over these 12 months of cinema history. Even with a pair of labor strikes from 2023 and other external factors inhibiting the amount of movies that hit theaters in 2024, the annual domestic box office is headed for a solid end-of-year total. Even better, 2025 is poised to be (knock on wood) the first post-March 2020 year at the domestic box office that resembles something like a pre-2020 “normal.”

With studios cramming the calendar with new titles and multiple fresh releases opening over the same weekend, 2025 is shaping up to be a mighty year at the box office. But what titles might make the most money? That’s what we’re gathered here today to explore. 2025 could be a year for the history books if things go right, and these projected biggest movies of 2025 will play a critical role in this year living up to expectations.

Avatar: Fire and Ash

In 2022, Avatar: The Way of Water returned audiences to Pandora after 13 years of the franchise being M.I.A. from theaters. Despite years of jokes about the original Avatar leaving “no pop culture impact,” The Way of Water grossed over $2 billion worldwide to become one of the biggest movies ever globally. It’s a foregone conclusion Avatar: Fire and Ash will be one of 2025’s most lucrative titles, especially since key foreign territories have more readily returned to moviegoing since December 2022. In other words, the box office run of Fire and Ash will have all the might of an Ikran, Eywa, and Payakan combined.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Ironically, the 2025 Marvel Studios property with the most box office potential is the one starring characters that have technically never appeared in this saga (at least this universe’s forms). The Fantastic Four: First Steps has several advantages at its back, including a late July release date that will allow it to run throughout August with minimal competition. That approach certainly worked for Deadpool & Wolverine and early August juggernaut Guardians of the Galaxy. Plus, if First Steps gets positive buzz, it could skyrocket at the box office, like the first solo Venom and Deadpool movies, over excitement surrounding seeing comic book characters finally “done right” on the big screen. Keep an eye on The Fantastic Four: First Steps to finally give Marvel’s First Family a box office sensation.

[RELATED: Is 2024 the Worst Year for Superhero Movies?]

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Sure, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning failed to hit lofty box office expectations. However, its domestic haul was still only 20% below its predecessor. With a more competition-free Memorial Day weekend (not to mention exclusive control over IMAX screens for three weeks), Mission: Impossible -The Final Reckoning has a good shot at restoring the saga’s box office prowess. If Reckoning comes anywhere close to being as big as the franchise’s most successful installments, then Ethan Hunt is going out in style.

Michael

If Elvis could reach $150+ million domestically, the mind staggers to think what a movie about Michael Jackson like Michael will do in October 2025. The King of Pop is coming to the big screen in what’s allegedly a flashy, crowd-pleasing fashion that’ll give audiences plenty of razzle-dazzle and reprises of their favorite songs. Jackson’s appeal as a musician was global. Michael is bound to similarly resonate globally, producing one of the year’s biggest hits in the process.

Zootopia 2

Moana 2 has officially brought Walt Disney Animation Studios back to the level of box office powerhouse. Next Thanksgiving, the label will try to keep the momentum going with another sequel, Zootopia 2. Though not as heavily streamed over the last eight years as Moana, Zootopia actually made more money than that musical back in 2016 with over $1 billion worldwide. This box office sensation returning with a new adventure is bound to excite audiences. Plus, since, unlike Moana 2, Zootopia 2 was always made with the big screen in mind, its long-term word-of-mouth could be exceedingly better than 2024’s big Disney Animation smash.

Wicked: Part 2

This one’s a no-brainer for being a 2025 box office smash. With Wicked on track to become only the second live-action musical in history to exceed $400 million domestically, audiences are clearly stoked to spend more time with Elphaba and Glinda. Wicked: Part 2 won’t have as many feel-good bubbly songs as “Dancing Through Life” and “Popular,” so it likely won’t inspire as many rewatches as its predecessors. However, it’s still guaranteed to be one of 2025’s largest hits, especially given the euphoric word-of-mouth greeting the first Wicked. Here is the rare “part one” movie that leaves audiences excited for a follow-up rather than feeling frustrated over getting only half a film.