The Electric State starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt – Picture: Netflix
2025 is here, and alongside our 10 new series to look forward to in 2025, it’s time to shift gears and examine what new Netflix Original movies we hope will be slam dunks throughout the year. We’ll go through the list of currently announced movies expected or confirmed to land this year, but remember, unlike series (at least traditionally), Netflix often adds to its movie library with acquisitions from Cannes, Sundance, and other distributors throughout the year.
Here comes the disclaimer! Everything on this list is subject to change and may be pushed into 2026. We’re only going to pick through English-language movies—there are plenty of international ones worth watching, too! You can find our full preview of everything confirmed for release in 2025 here.
The Ballad of a Small Player
Picture: Netflix
The Ballad of a Small Player ranks high on our most anticipated list, thanks to the combined strengths of its elements. Edward Berger returns to Netflix after his Oscar-winning WWI epic All Quiet on the Western Front, one of Netflix’s finest films, and the acclaimed Conclave, which is already making waves on the awards circuit. Then, you mix in a fabulous source novel, an excellent screenwriter, an excellent filming location, and the acting talents of Colin Farrell, Tilda Swinton, Fala Chen, and Jason Tobin, and you’re really cooking with gas.
This mystery thriller will tell the story of a high-stakes gambler who is in hiding in Macau along with his debts, but that won’t remain the case for very long.
Jay Kelly
Picture by: SplashNews.com
A couple of movies on this list have an air of mystery, including Jay Kelly, which Netflix continues to refer to simply as the Untitled Noah Baumbach Movie. Baumbach returns to Netflix for his fourth major movie for the streamer after The Meyerowitz Stories, Marriage Story, and most recently, White Noise.
Filming on the movie took place throughout much of the first half of 2024, with the production going from places like London and New York to a couple of different locations in Italy, but despite the fact we know what the movie is about, we have no idea as its plot remains under wraps. What we do know is that the film has an absolutely blockbuster cast led by Adam Sandler and George Clooney.
Havoc
Picture: Netflix
There are a couple of movies that spring to mind that we’ve been waiting absolutely ages for (shoutout to The Old Guard 2!), and Havoc is definitely the one we’re most excited for, given that we got a first look at the new movie just before the holidays and it looks absolutely superb. Shooting a couple of years ago, we would’ve expected to see the film a lot sooner, but there were needs for multiple reshoots and an extended post-production period. Thankfully, Netflix chose to stick with it.
Hardy plays a Bruised detective in this new series, fighting his way through a deadly criminal underworld while on the hunt for a politician’s son. Gareth Evans is both writing and directing with this being his second major Netflix film after Apostle. The master of the action flick is also known for his work on The Raid, Killers, and Gangs of London.
Untitled Kathryn Bigelow thriller
Filming from July through October is the brand new film from the critically acclaimed director Kathryn Bigelow, known for films like Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker. Bigelow actually was working on another Netflix movie called Aurora before that got shelved, and she moved her attention to this new movie, which doesn’t yet have a title but often gets referred to as “Untitled White House thriller” or “Untitled National Crisis Project.”
The cast is absolutely killer, with The Night Agent’s Gabriel Basso set to star alongside Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, and Jared Harris, to name but a few, with the plot still mostly locked down. What we do know is that it’s about a group of White House officials scrambling to deal with an incoming missile attack on the U.S.
Frankenstein
Picture: Netflix from the first look Vanity Fair article
One movie that should be on the top of everyone’s most anticipated list for 2025 is Guillermo del Toro’s ambitious new live-action project for Netflix following Cabinet of Curiosities and Pinocchio, a new take on Mary Shelley’s beloved novel based on the well-known story of Frankenstein and his monster.
The movie had an extensive filming period, and based on the first look at the new gothic horror movie set in the 19th Century, we couldn’t be more excited. That’s not even mentioning the stellar cast headlined by Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, and Christoph Waltz.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Picture: BackGrid
Sadly, much of the discourse surrounding Knives Out is still about theatrical and whether the movies should be on Netflix at all. That discourse comes from both those connected, which makes matters worse, and the entire thing is so tiresome, given that the focus should be on the movie itself. Sorry, rant over.
Daniel Craig is back as Benoit Blanc alongside an all-star cast of names including Josh O’Connor, Cailee Spaeny, Andrew Scott, Kerry Washington, Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, and Jeremy Renner for the third installment of the murder mystery detective movie franchise. Beyond its title and a few pictures, the plot is mostly under wraps, but from what we’ve seen and heard so far, it’ll be much more grounded, like the first movie, as opposed to the second, which went a bit OTT for my liking.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
Picture: Netflix
After years of speculation and rumor, Netflix wasted no time in getting the new Peaky Blinders movie, dubbed The Immortal Man, into production in the latter half of 2024 with it expected to release on Netflix globally sometime in 2025. Most of the gang from the six seasons of the BBC and Netflix series are returning for this movie sequel (which the writer has teased will not be the last for the franchise), alongside some new faces like Barry Keoghan, Tim Roth, and Rebecca Ferguson.
The Electric State
The Electric State. Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) with Cosmo (voiced by Alan Tudyk) in The Electric State. ™/© 2024 Netflix. Used with permission
We’ve included this in our most anticipated list for a few years now, and despite the internet clearly having one view on the costly new film, I remain optimistic that, given its release slot (previously occupied by Damsel and The Adam Project), it’ll be able to deliver exactly what Netflix wants from it: big viewership. Will it get there? All the cards are stacked in its favor so far, to my reckoning. It has an interesting premise, funky visuals, and, most importantly of all, Millie Bobby Brown.
Releasing on Netflix on March 14th, the film brings to life the vision of Simon Stålenhag from his genuinely unique novel of the same name with the Russo Brothers directing. It’ll follow orphaned teenager Michelle when she traverses a ravaged American West with a small robot hoping to find her lost brother.
Nonnas
Photo Credit: Reena Rose Sibayan at The Jersey Journal
This list lacks some comedy, so we’re happy to bring a bit of brightness to the list with a new Vince Vaughn comedy that Netflix acquired after it wrapped filming to little buzz in late 2024. With Fifth Season producing, Vaughn will be starring alongside Linda Cardellini, Susan Sarandon, Joe Manganiello, and Lorraine Bracco.
Vaughn plays Joe Scaravella, a simple man who decides to take his mother’s substantial inheritance and build a restaurant that exclusively serves his Italian mother’s recipes. The restaurant also has another quirk: only Italian grandmothers will be hired to cook.
RIP
Dsanchez/CPR / BACKGRID
Whenever Ben Affleck and Matt Damon collaborate, you know you’re in for a treat, so we’re thankful not to have one but two upcoming projects at the streamer. The one that is now deep into post-production is RIP, a police crime thriller written and directed by Joe Carnahan, best known for his work on The Grey and The A-Team.
The logline reads: “A group of Miami cops discover millions in cash in a derelict stash house, trust among the group begins to fray. As outside forces learn about the size of the seizure, everything is called into question — including who they can rely on.”
K-Pop: Demon Hunters
Cr: Netflix© 2024
Netflix’s animation slate for 2025 looks quite robust, with a slew of titles that should serve many different audiences. Whether the current roster contains any mega-hits is unclear, but K-Pop: Demon Hunters is the highest on my radar purely because of the caliber of the talent behind it. In the works for several years now, by directing duo Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the plot revolves around a world-renowned K-pop group living double lives and famous popstars and demon hunters. Most importantly, perhaps, is the fact that Sony Pictures Animation is behind the animation, having produced incredible hits in recent years like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse, Vivo, Wish Dragon, and The Mitchells vs. The Machines. Absolutely pumped to see the outcome.
What’s the movie you’re most excited for from Netflix in 2025? Let us know in the comments down below.
