IMDb Announces the Most Anticipated Movies and Series of 2025

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 2, 2025--

IMDb ( www.imdb.com ), the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities, today unveiled the most anticipated movies and series of 2025. Rather than base its annual rankings on small statistical samplings, IMDb determines its list of the most anticipated movies by the actual page views of the more than 250 million monthly visitors to IMDb. This exclusive and definitive data is derived from the IMDbPro MOVIEmeter rankings, which are updated weekly throughout the year.

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IMDb Most Anticipated Movies of 2025

Among the movies with planned releases in 2025, these 10 were consistently the most popular with IMDb users in 2024. This exclusive data is derived from the IMDbPro MOVIEmeter rankings, which are based on the actual page views of the more than 250 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide and updated weekly throughout the year. IMDb users can add these and other titles to theirIMDb Watchlist, and get alerts when they become available.

IMDb Most Anticipated New Series of 2025

The 10 new series that will premiere in 2025 and consistently ranked highest on the IMDbPro proprietary weekly TV rankings throughout 2024. IMDbPro rankings are based on the actual page views of the more than 250 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide. IMDb users can add these and other titles to theirIMDb Watchlist, and get alerts when they become available.

IMDb Most Anticipated Returning Series of 2025

The 10 series that will return with a new season in 2025 and consistently ranked highest on the IMDbPro proprietary weekly TV rankings throughout 2024. IMDbPro rankings are based on the actual page views of the more than 250 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide. IMDb users can add these and other titles to theirIMDb Watchlist, and get alerts when they become available.

Available today, IMDb also presents its first-ever roundtable interview “Stars to Watch Spotlight.” Moderated by IMDb producer Tre Wesley, the 30-minute video features actors Rhenzy Feliz ( The Penguin, Encanto ), Isabela Merced ( Alien: Romulus, Madame Webb ), and Sophie Thatcher ( Yellowjackets, Heretic ) discussing their breakout performances, their first IMDb credit, industry leaders they’d love to work with, and more. Audiences can see Isabela Merced in two of 2025’s most anticipated titles: Superman and season 2 of The Last of Us. Watch the full interview here.

Additional insight into trending movies, series, and celebrities, with rankings updated weekly, is available to IMDbPro members. IMDbPro, the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals, empowers members with information and features designed to help them achieve success throughout all stages of their career. IMDbPro Premium membership includes detailed contact and representation information and tools for members to manage and showcase their IMDb profile, including selecting their primary images and the credits they are best “known for.” Industry professionals can join today at imdbpro.com.

About IMDb

IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities. Hundreds of millions of customers all over the world rely on IMDb to discover and decide what to watch, advance their professional entertainment careers through IMDbPro, and grow their businesses using IMDb data and trending insights. Products and services to help fans discover and decide what to watch and where to watch it include: the IMDb website for desktop and mobile devices; apps for iOS and Android; and, X-Ray on Prime Video. For entertainment industry professionals, IMDb provides IMDbPro and Box Office Mojo. IMDb licenses information from its vast and authoritative database to third-party businesses worldwide; learn more at developer.imdb.com. IMDb is an Amazon company. For more information, visit https://www.imdb.com/press and follow @IMDb.

IMDb Announces the Most Anticipated Returning TV Series of 2025 (Photo credit: IMDb)

IMDb Announces the Most Anticipated New TV Series of 2025 (Photo credit: IMDb)

IMDb Announces the Most Anticipated Movies of 2025 (Photo credit: IMDb)

New films by Polish filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski, Japanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Spain’s Pedro Almodovar will premiere at the 79th Cannes Film Festival next month.

Organizers for the South of France festival, which runs May 12-23, laid out a lineup heavy on big-name international auteurs at a news conference Thursday in Paris.

Cannes’ most sought-after slots are in its competition lineup. This year, 21 films will vie for the Palme d’Or. That includes “Fatherland,” a Cold War drama starring Sandra Hüller by Pawlikowski (“Ida,” “Cold War” ); “Sudden,” the French language debut for Hamaguchi ( “Drive My Car” ); and Almodovar’s “Bitter Christmas.”

Cannes is so far light on Hollywood releases and American filmmakers. One exception in competition is Ira Sachs' “The Man I Love,” a New York tale starring Rami Malek set during the 1980s AIDS crisis. In the Un Certain Regard sidebar, Jane Schoenbrun will unveil their follow-up to 2014’s “I Saw the TV Glow”: “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” about the making of a slasher movie. It stars Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.

A number of former Palme winners are in the mix. That includes Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu’s Norway-set “Fjord,” starring the recently Oscar-nominated Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan. Mungiu’s “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” won the Palme in 2007.

Also returning is Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose 2018 drama “Shoplifters” won the Palme. He’ll debut the sci-fi “Sheep in the Box,” about a grieving couple in the near future who bring home a humanoid boy as their son.

The specialty distributor Neon has already boarded “Fjord,” “Sheep in the Box” and “Sudden,” giving it a chance to extend its historic record of six Palme winners in a row. Last year, the Neon release “It Was Just an Accident,” by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, won the Palme.

Neon is also behind an out of competition selection in “Her Private Hell” by Nicolas Winding Refn, the “Drive” filmmaker. A thriller starring Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton, it's Refn's first feature film since 2016's “The Neon Demon.”

The Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev is also back in the Cannes competition lineup with “Minotaur.” Zvyagintsev's last two films, “Loveless” and “Leviathan,” both debuted at Cannes and went on to land Oscar nominations.

Other competition entries include films by Asghar Farhadi (“Parallel Stories”), Lukas Dhont (“Coward”) and Lazlo Nemes (“Moulin”).

Thierry Fremaux, Cannes’ artistic director, announced the selections in a news conference alongside festival president Iris Knobloch. Fremaux said that 2,541 feature films were submitted for inclusion.

“In this moment, bringing together films and artists from around the world is not a luxury, it’s a necessity," Knobloch said. "Because when the world darkens, we lose our bearings. Showcasing films from all horizons is not a trivial act. It is defending what is most precious to humanity, its ability to dream and think freely.”

Cannes is coming off a 2025 festival that produced a number of Oscar contenders, including two best-picture nominees in Joachim Tier’s “Sentimental Value” and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent.” This year’s Cannes appears well positioned to continue the festival’s stature as the global launching pad of many of the year’s best international films, some of which are bound to show up at next year’s Oscars.

But Hollywood studios appear to be a no-show. Fremaux has said not to expect red carpet premieres like “Top Gun: Maverick” or “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” — both of which made splashy premieres in recent years. This year, Cannes announced ahead of the Paris news conference that John Travolta's directorial debut “Propeller One-Way Night Coach” will debut in the Cannes Premiere section.

“The United States will be present, but the studios will be a bit less so,” Fremaux said. “It’s important to know that when studios are less present at Cannes, it means they are generally less present with the type of cinema that used to allow them to thrive.”

Two prominent American directors will debut documentaries in special screenings: Steven Soderbergh with “John Lennon: The Last Interview” and Ron Howard with “Avedon,” about the photographer Richard Avedon.

Opening the festival, out of competition, is the 1920s French film “The Electric Kiss.” Cannes requires its opening movie to release the same week in French cinemas. And entry to its prestigious competition lineup requires theatrical distribution, a stipulation that — given France’s laws guarding theatrical windows — has excluded Netflix movies and other streaming titles since 2017.

This year, the Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook will preside over the nine-member jury that will decide the Palme. And a pair of honorary Palmes will be handed out, to Barbra Streisand and to Peter Jackson.

Cannes film festival president Iris Knobloch, right, and Cannes film festival delegate general Thierry Fremaux attend a press conference to announce the International Cannes film festival line up for the upcoming 79th edition, Thursday, April 9, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Cannes film festival president Iris Knobloch, right, and Cannes film festival delegate general Thierry Fremaux attend a press conference to announce the International Cannes film festival line up for the upcoming 79th edition, Thursday, April 9, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Cannes film festival president Iris Knobloch, right, and Cannes film festival delegate general Thierry Fremaux pose after a press conference to announce the International Cannes film festival line up for the upcoming 79th edition, Thursday, April 9, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)