The first half of 2025 has seen plenty of brilliant movies released in theaters, from critically acclaimed indie films to commercially successful blockbusters. Projects like A Minecraft Movie and Lilo & Sтιтch have dominated the box office rankings, pulling in $955 million and $1.03 billion, respectively. Movies like F1 have also been major box office surprises, with the Brad Pitt project managing $590 million.
However, the real winner of 2025’s ticket sales so far has been Ne Zha 2, which collected a staggering $2.2 billion at the worldwide box office. This is going to be a very difficult film to beat for the rest of the movies coming in 2025, but there are certain candidates that definitely stand a chance.
Tron: Ares
Tron: Ares is the third movie in this long-running sci-fi franchise, picking up several years after the events of 2010’s Tron: Legacy. The film sees Jeff Bridges return as series protagonist Kevin Flynn, with newcomers Evan Peters and Jared Leto rounding out the cast. Despite a quiet marketing campaign so far, this blockbuster could be a major hit in 2025’s back half.
Legacy made $400 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of $170 million (via Box Office Mojo), proving that there’s clearly an audience for these movies as long as the studio can keep making them. Although it’s admittedly been fifteen years since the last installment, there’s nothing to suggest a new Tron movie can’t be a box office hit again.
The Running Man
Edgar Wright has somewhat of a mixed track record at the box office, but The Running Man seems like his most audience-friendly project in a long time. Based on the Stephen King book of the same name, the film centers around a falsely convicted man who, to earn his freedom, must take part in a twisted reality compeтιтion where he’s hunted down by trained killers.
Although Last Night In Soho only made $22 million at the box office, much of this commercial failure can be put down to the fact that it was released at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wright’s more accessible and well-timed projects have fared better, like Baby Driver, which managed $226 million worldwide. The Running Man also has the added benefit of Glen Powell in the lead role.
Five Nights At Freddy’s 2
It’s no secret that video game adaptations can be somewhat hit-or-miss, but Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 feels like one of the more reliable sequels. Not only did the original movie pull in $291 million upon its release in 2023, but the upcoming sequel is bringing even more recognizable faces into the story through McKenna Grace and Skeet Ulrich.
The Five Nights At Freddy’s franchise is one of the most successful and popular video game properties ever made, and those who grew up with the game are now the perfect age to flock to theaters for a new adaptation. The movie will bring several of Five Nights At Freddy’s scariest characters to life, hopefully expanding this series into something that can sustain itself for many more sequels.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t
It’s been nine years since Now You See Me 2 was released in theaters, and that’s given fans plenty of time to get excited about the aptly-тιтled third entry in this popular series. The movies center around a group of magicians known as the Horsemen, who use their illusory talents to pull off heists against the world’s richest corporations.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t will see the return of franchise regulars Morgan Freeman, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, and Jesse Eisenberg, alongside a handful of new faces like Rosamund Pike, Ariana Greenblatt, and Dominic Sessa. The name recognition of this franchise alone is enough to make it a strong contender at the box office.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
It’s too early to predict the 2026 Oscars contenders, but Scott Cooper’s musical biopic seems like the perfect candidate to shine in the upcoming awards season. If that’s the case, Deliver Me From Nowhere could end up being a huge box office sensation in the same vein as last year’s A Complete Unknown, or Bohemian Rhapsody before that.
Jeremy Allen White is more popular than ever following the ongoing critical acclaim of The Bear, and musical biopics are arguably the most reliable genre in the industry when it comes to awards discussions. Springsteen is one of the most beloved artists of his generation, so Deliver Me From Nowhere really feels like it has all the ingredients to succeed.
Predator: Badlands
It’s hard to gauge exactly how Predator: Badlands will perform at the box office, because while both of Dan Trachtenberg’s recent Predator movies have been well-received, they were both sent directly to streaming and barely made any money in theaters. Badlands is the first Predator movie in a long time to be released exclusively in cinemas, so it will be an interesting experiment to watch out for.
That being said, Badlands could end up being a real hit for the franchise. Both Prey and Killer of Killers received brilliant reviews, with their current Rotten Tomatoes scores sitting at 94% and 95% respectively. There are even rumors that Badlands could secretly be an Alien vs Predator reboot, which would carry the film to mᴀssive commercial success on word-of-mouth alone.
The Conjuring: Last Rites
The Conjuring movies have always performed strongly at the box office, and since Last Rites is said to be the final installment in the main series, audiences should expect a strong turnout when it releases in September. The first two entries both grossed around $320 million, and franchise spin-offs like The Nun have even seen that threshold climb to $366 million.
While The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It had a comparatively low turnout at just $206 million, this can once again be put down to its awkward release window amid the pandemic in 2021. Last Rites will be Wilson and Farmiga’s final outing as Ed and Lorraine Warren, so it could end up being a major box office event.
Wicked: For Good
Jon M. Chu’s Wicked was a cinematic sensation last year, and there’s every possibility that its upcoming sequel will recreate that success. Not only did the film gross $756 worldwide, but it also ended up getting nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and pushing lead actors Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande to nominations in their respective categories.
If Wicked: For Good manages to stick the landing, the sequel could be even bigger than the first movie. Many fans are expecting Erivo and Grande to find themselves at the Oscars once more, and the film’s strong marketing should be able to easily replicate the $700 million turnout that the original movie saw.
Zootopia 2
It’s rarely a good decision to bet against Disney at the box office. The studio has a record-breaking performance when it comes to getting their projects on the list of all-time highest-grossing movies, with films such as Inside Out 2, The Lion King, and Frozen 2 all sitting in the Top 15. And that’s just the studio’s animated/CGI features.
The original Zootopia made $1.025 billion at the box office in 2016, and there have been calls for a sequel ever since. While it would be a tall ask for Zootopia 2 to replicate the original movie’s success, it’s not unprecedented. Disney sequels often tend to overtake their predecessors — look at Frozen 2 and Inside Out 2 — because of the love that already exists for these characters.
Avatar: Fire And Ash
When it comes to box office success, nobody is more reliable than James Cameron. Not only does he currently hold three of the top four spots in the highest-grossing chart, but two of those movies are from the Avatar franchise. The most recent sequel, The Way of Water, grossed $2.3 billion, while the original movie pulled in $2.9 billion, making it the highest-grossing movie ever made.
Understandably, this places some very high expectations on Fire and Ash to live up to the commercial success of its predecessors. While it’s unlikely that Cameron will break yet another record and propel his third Avatar movie over the $2 billion mark, it seems like a shoo-in for at least $1 billion, which would place it within the top three earners of the year.
