CinemaCon 2025: Best Movies to See in Theaters This Year

Wes Anderson’s latest release looks to be another ambitious tale filled with outlandish performances by acting greats and meticulous production design, costuming, and music.

In “The Phoenician Scheme,” Benicio del Toro plays the lead, Zsa-zsa Korda, the richest man in Europe. After surviving his sixth plane crash, Korda begins to take steps to hand over his estate to his daughter, played by Mia Threapleton.

Michael Cera, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, and Benedict Cumberbatch also star.

CinemaCon attendees screened the first ten minutes of what’s sure to be one of Sony’s biggest hits of the year.

The movie opens showcasing Sonny Hayes’ (Brad Pitt) skills behind the wheel at the 24 Hours at Daytona. After speeding until dawn to secure the win as the anchor of his racing team, Hayes is propositioned by an old racing friend (Javier Bardem) to join his team and mentor his No. 2 driver.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Joseph Kosinski (the duo behind “Top Gun: Maverick”), this has all the makings of a big summer box-office hit.

After wowing audiences with her killing prowess (and her dance moves), M3GAN is back. Now in AI form following the events of the first movie, she’s the one thing that can stop a new military robot named Amelia that is causing havoc. It all leads to M3GAN getting a complete physical makeover to save the day.

If you miss a good raunchy comedy, this one’s for you.

After Leslie Nielsen’s slapstick antics made detective Frank Drebin a comedy icon thanks to the “Police Squad!” and “Naked Gun” franchises, Liam Neeson has taken the reins to bring Drebin’s silly antics to a new generation.

The movie’s first trailer shows Neeson doing everything from playing a schoolgirl to doing some unusual things to show his love for his dog. Paramount could have a sleeper hit on its hands.

Following the success of “Barbarian,” director Zach Cregger delivers what looks to be another horrifying tale you can’t look away from.

In “Weapons,” a group of children go missing in the middle of the night, leading to a lot of frustration, finger-pointing, and some really, really terrifying events as a close-knit community in Florida spirals into madness.

Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, and Benedict Wong star.

This year marked the first time Darren Aronofsky graced the CinemaCon stage, and he said the occasion was because it was finally time for him to do something “fun.”

For the guy known for making dark movies like “Requiem for a Dream,” “Black Swan,” and “The Whale,” his latest seems to be a major pivot.

Based on the Charlie Huston book of the same name, “Caught Stealing” stars Austin Butler as Hank, a former baseball player who is inexplicably chased around 1990s New York City by gangsters. It certainly looks like Aronofsky’s most slick and mainstream work to date.

Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Bad Bunny also star.

Based on Stephen King’s novel and directed by Francis Lawrence (“The Hunger Games”), this thriller set in a dystopian future showcases a group of young people who take part in a walking contest. If you ever stop, you are killed on the spot. The contest goes on until there’s only one person left walking.

The movie stars David Jonsson (“Alien: Romulus”), Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”), and Mark Hamill as the villainous major who oversees the contest.

Nine years after Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde made “Zootopia” a box office sensation, the pair of detectives are in a relationship slump and are going to partner therapy. Hilarity ensues as they try to work out their problems.

Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman return to voice the lead characters. New characters include Quinta Brunson as their therapist and Ke Huy Quan as a mysterious snake.

In the trailer teasing the film’s thrilling conclusion, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now an enemy of the state, strengthens her powers by studying the Grimmerie, while Glinda (Ariana Grande) is taken under the wing of the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh).

Before footage was shown onstage, director Jon M. Chu teased that “For Good” will “take us past” when Dorothy Gale shows up on the yellow brick road.

Just weeks after wrapping production on “The Running Man,” director Edgar Wright and stars Glen Powell, Colman Domingo, and Josh Brolin presented footage from the movie to the CinemaCon crowd.

Another work based on a Stephen King novel, many know the title from the beloved 1987 release starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Expect a very different adaptation this time around.

Showcasing more gore, comedy, and inventive camera work from Wright, this telling of the story — in which Powell stars as Ben Richards, who is racing to save his life by surviving “The Running Man” game show — feels very different from the one Arnold was in.

James Cameron takes us from water to fire. Where the previous release in the acclaimed “Avatar” franchise, “The Way of Water,” showed how Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family made friends with the ocean-friendly Metkayina clan, it looks like in “Fire and Ash” they will not get the same reception.

In the footage shown, the Ash tribe are menacing warriors who shoot arrows with fire. Nothing seems peaceful in this chapter of the franchise, and the terrain is rocky and full of volcanoes. And then there’s Quaritch (Stephen Lang) still hot on Jake’s tail.

Released on the same day as the new “Avatar” is something for the kids.

SpongeBob returns to the big screen, and he’s a big boy now. Well, a little taller. And being “bigger” makes SpongeBob want to set out on a voyage at sea. The trouble is, he crosses paths with the most evil pirate to sail the seas, the Flying Dutchman (voiced by Mark Hamill). Expect lots of laughs.

Directed by Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids,” “A Simple Favor”) and based on Freida McFadden’s best-selling novel, “The Housemaid” has assembled an impressive cast to bring this popular psychological thriller about a housemaid who lives with a wealthy family to the big screen.

Sydney Sweeney plays the housemaid Millie, Amanda Seyfried stars as Nina, and Brandon Sklenar plays Andrew. Now let the games begin.

Amazon MGM Studios proved audiences will have more to look forward to than James Bond in the coming years by wowing CinemaCon with footage from this sci-fi movie.

Based on the novel by Andy Weir (“The Martian”), Ryan Gosling plays a teacher who finds himself recruited to go into space and save the world. Along the way he finds an alien to help him out.

Marking the first directing effort by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller since 2014’s “22 Jump Street,” the trailer got one of the loudest reactions at this year’s CinemaCon thanks to its clever premise and Gosling’s light-hearted touch as a regular guy doing extraordinary things.