Category: Entertainment

The year is winding down, and with every new year comes a whole new slate of movies to get excited about.

Fandango asked over 9,000 movie ticket buyers which movies they’re most looking forward to seeing in 2025, and the results found that people are excited for the latest chapters in beloved film franchises.

The most anticipated movie of 2025 according to Fandango’s survey is Captain America: Brave New World. That is followed by Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, Jurassic Word Rebirth, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Sixth place belongs to Avatar: Fire and Ash, while the rest of the top 10 is rounded out by Wicked Part Two, The Accountant 2, Superman and 28 Years Later.

As far as performances go, ticket buyers are most excited to see Scarlett Johansson in Jurassic World Rebirth. They’re also looking forward to watching Pedro Pascal in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Ana De Armas in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, Brad Pitt in F1 and Nicholas Hoult in Superman.

Overall, it seems moviegoers are hungry for more. According to the survey, 89% of ticket buyers are hoping to see more movies in 2025 than they did in 2024, with 53% planning to see more than six movies in the theater next year.

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A reboot of the classic film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is in the works.

Amazon MGM Studios is in development with Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson‘s Eon Productions to reimagine the movie into a brand-new adaptation, Deadline reports.

No potential writers or directors have been selected, though meetings with prospects are in the works. Developers are eyeing a theatrical release for the film.

The original 1968 film starred Dick Van Dyke with a screenplay by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes. Hughes directed the film, which was based on the beloved children’s story Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car, written by James Bond author Ian Fleming.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang received an Oscar nomination for its title track, which was written by Robert and Richard Sherman.

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Snoop Dogg has secured yet another gig. Variety reports he’s the star and co-producer of The Last Man, an original sci-fi movie penned by Luc Besson, who wrote The Fifth Element with Bruce Willis, Lucy starring Scarlett Johansson and more.

The plot of the film has not been disclosed, but the movie is post-apocalyptic and possibly inspired by the Planet of the Apes and Snoop’s song “Last Man Standing.” Filming starts in 2025.

“I’ve been a big fan of Snoop Dogg’s music ever since ‘Who Am I,’” Luc said in a statement. “We first met 20 years ago, and we’ve always wanted to work together again. We just needed the right project that would excite us both — and this is it, with Snoop in the lead role. I can’t wait to get started!”

“Ever since I’ve seen The Professional, I’ve always wanted [Luc] to direct a whole movie for me,” Snoop adds in his own statement. “Now we finally get the opportunity for him to write and direct me in a Luc Besson movie.”

The Last Man marks the second collaboration between Snoop and Luc. They worked on Arthur and the Invisibles nearly two decades ago.

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Daisy Ridley is a window cleaner striving to save the day in the trailer for Cleaner.

The new film, which comes to theaters on Feb. 21, finds Ridley playing Joey Locke, a former soldier working as a window cleaner in present-day London. When a group of radical activists take over an energy company’s annual gala, it’s up to Ridley’s Joey to save the day after 300 hostages are seized.

According to the film’s official synopsis, the radical activists’ “just cause is hijacked by an extremist within their ranks, who is ready to murder everyone in the building to send his anarchic message to the world.”

The task falls to Joey, who is suspended 50 stories up on the outside of the building, to save the people trapped inside.

Casino Royale director Martin Campbell helmed the film from a script by Simon Uttley. Taz Skylar and Clive Owen also star in the action thriller.

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While no official casting for Sam Mendes’ movies about The Beatles has been announced, the rumors continue to swirl, and now one of the actors mentioned as a possible candidate to play John Lennon has spoken out on the subject.

On the red carpet for his new movie Babygirl, actor Harris Dickinson neither confirmed nor denied his involvement in the project when asked by Variety.

“It would be amazing to do that,” he said. “I think the idea of Sam teaming up to do something like that would be incredibly exciting. Obviously, John Lennon is a very complex role, a pretty formidable force to try to do. It would be cool.”

When asked outright if he was on board for the films, he simply replied, “We’ll see.”

Mendes’ Beatles project was announced back in February, with the director revealing he planned to make four separate films, one for each member of the group — Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. 

As previously reported, Gladiator director Ridley Scott revealed in a talk with director Christopher Nolan at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles Tuesday that Paul Mescal would be doing one of the films; he’s rumored to be playing McCartney. In addition, Ringo recently let it slip in an Entertainment Tonight interview that Barry Keoghan had been cast to play him.

Sony Pictures is the studio behind the movies, and it marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles have granted a studio the rights to the life stories of the band members and their legendary catalog of music.

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The film nominations for the 2025 Critics Choice Awards are in.

Conclave and Wicked are the top-nominated movies of the year, earning 11 nods each. Following close behind are Dune: Part Two and Emilia Pérez with 10 nods apiece.

Joining the four previously mentioned films in the best picture category this year are A Complete Unknown, Anora, The Brutalist, Nickel Boys, Sing Sing and The Substance.

It was previously announced that Shōgun reigned supreme on the television side with six nominations.

Find out which of your favorite shows, movies and stars will win when comedian Chelsea Handler hosts the 30th annual Critics Choice Awards on Jan. 12.

Here’s a list of the film nominations in the major categories for the 2025 Critics Choice Awards:

Best picture
A Complete Unknown
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
The Substance
Wicked

Best actor
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Daniel Craig, Queer
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Hugh Grant, Heretic

Best actress
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths
Angelina Jolie, Maria
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance

Best supporting actor
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Denzel Washington, Gladiator II

Best supporting actress
Danielle Deadwyler, The Piano Lesson
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Nickel Boys
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Margaret Qualley, The Substance
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

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Edward Norton and Monica Barbaro are sharing how they got into character to play music icons Pete Seeger and Joan Baez in the new film A Complete Unknown.

Though it’s a biopic centering on Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) in the early ’60s, Norton told Good Morning America the film is “a very intensive look at that window [of time] and the collisions between [Dylan] and Pete Seeger and Joan Baez and a number of others who were at the heart of that folk music scene” in New York City.

Luckily, the two were able to speak to 83-year-old Baez herself to glean more about who their characters were back in the day, as Seeger died in 2014 at the age of 94.

“I had met her through musician friends, and so I felt comfortable enough to call her,” Norton said of Baez. “It’s funny, there are people who were around at that time who maybe are a little tired of talking about Dylan, but nobody’s tired of talking about Pete Seeger. They really revered and loved Pete, and Joan gave me some wonderful insights into him.”

Barbaro said she spoke to Baez as well, saying she was “lucky that she was willing to give me some of her time.”

“When I got on the phone with her, she said she was saying to a friend she was hoping I would reach out, so I felt very validated in my decision, because you never know,” Barbaro said. “It can be a really daunting task to take on a role like this when you admire someone so much.”

“She’s still on a pedestal for me,” she continued, “I felt so lucky that she was willing to speak to me.”

Aside from his and Barbaro’s roles, Norton praised Chalamet for being in an “amazingly consumed and profoundly committed state” during his performance, adding that he was “existing within the skin of the character.”

“The whole company, I think, benefited from the bubble of concentration that he created,” Norton said. “Timothée’s transformation in it is really a monumental performance. It’s just truly a phenomenal performance.”

A Complete Unknown hits theaters Dec. 25.

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The upcoming Friday Night Lights reboot has landed at Peacock. Netflix lost out to the NBCU streamer for the new adaptation of the high school football-centric drama series in a battle that played out over the last several days. Jason Katims, the original series’ showrunner, will helm for Universal Television, while original director Peter Berg and producer Brian Grazer are also set to return …

Hold on to your horses: there’s more Yellowstone on the way. The universe is expanding, as Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser are set to star in a brand-new spin-off series as their characters, Beth and Rip, Variety reports. The news comes just days before the season 5 finale of Yellowstone airs …

Eddie Redmayne will join Julia Roberts in the new thriller Panic Room. Deadline reports that Elizabeth Olsen is also attached to the Warner Bros. film, which will be directed by Sam Esmail. While the plot is being kept under wraps, it has been described as a paranoid thriller similar to Esmail’s previous Emmy-winning show, Mr. Robot …
 

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Tangled is getting the live-action treatment.

Disney is working on an adaptation of the 2010 animated film centered on Rapunzel, Good Morning America has confirmed.

This time around, The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey is directing with a script from Thor: Love and Thunder screenwriter Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.

Casting for the film has yet to be announced.

Tangled was directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard with a screenplay by Dan Fogelman. It starred Mandy Moore as Rapunzel, Zachary Levi as Flynn Rider (aka Eugene Fitzherbert) and Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel.

The film, which earned more than $582 million at the worldwide box office, according to The Numbers, won a Grammy for the song “I See the Light,” which also earned a best original song nomination at the Academy Awards.

Other songs featured in the film included “When Will My Life Begin?”, “Mother Knows Best” and “I’ve Got a Dream.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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The Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner is opening up about being diagnosed with a blood cancer earlier this year.

Turner, 72, revealed in an exclusive interview with People published on Wednesday that he was diagnosed with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia.

Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia is a rare blood cancer that results in an excess of abnormal white blood cells in the bone marrow, according to the National Institute of Health.

The NIH estimates that the disease affects three in 1 million people per year in the United States, and the condition occurs twice as often in men than women.

Turner told the outlet that there being no cure for Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia “weighs heavily in every decision I make” and that the diagnosis “was like 10 tons of concrete were just dropped on me.”

“And I was a bit in denial for a while, I didn’t want to admit it,” he said.

All of this occurred while he was still married to Theresa Nist, whom he proposed to on The Golden Bachelor, which aired its finale in November 2023, and whom he married in a televised wedding on ABC in January.

The couple revealed to GMA in April they were divorcing.

Turner said that after his diagnosis, “the importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority” compared to spending time with his family.

“When you are hit with that kind of news and the shock wears off after a few days or a few weeks and you regroup and you realize what’s important to you, that’s where you start to move forward,” he told the outlet. “And I hope that people understand in retrospect now that that had a huge bearing on my decisions and I think probably Theresa’s as well.”

Turner said he’s embracing the fun of life and not living with regrets these days and wishes Nist “all of the good luck in the world, that she finds everything she wants to.” He said he holds their brief relationship as “a cherished memory.”

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