2025 Box Office: Scott Mendelson Again Foolishly Predicts the Top Movie For Each of the Next 12 Months

Will grown-ups show up to 'Mickey 17'? Can the MCU make a commercial comeback? How big will 'Michael' be? And why 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' will probably outgross 'Superman' worldwide.

As has been tradition for almost a decade, I am starting the new year by predicting the year’s biggest box office earners. As is also tradition, this will be itemized into the likely biggest earners for each month. No, this doesn’t account for release date changes (glancing at my 2020 list is like visiting Tomorrowland) or surprise titles, and it only includes Hollywood flicks. So, apologies to War 2 or The Prosecutor.

Will I go 12/12? I never have, and honestly, I wouldn’t want to. Surprises, especially happy ones (like It Ends With Us earning $350 million worldwide in early August) where films perform better than hoped, are part of the fun. Less fun is the notion that even five years into the new decade, some months only offer two or three legitimate contenders in the first place.

Once again, August could really use a surprise Lady Gaga or Sabrina Carpenter concert flick. It’s not that there aren’t a fair number of wide theatrical releases; there are just fewer tentpoles outside of a few key months. And that would be fine if we knew that audiences would show up in halfway decent numbers for “just a movie” offerings, but hope springs eternal. And without further ado...