2025 Box Office: Scott Mendelson Obnoxiously Picks the Most Important Movie For Each Major Studio

Can a Pixar original still succeed? And why Lionsgate and Warner Bros.' most important releases this year might not be 'Michael' and 'Superman'

Last week, I did that thing I do every year where I fearlessly courageously predicted which film would be the top new release for each of the next twelve months. This week, I will arrogantly declare which wide-release theatrical flick from each studio is their most important amid their 2025 slate. Lord only knows what madness I will attempt next week?! That doesn’t mean that each studio’s “key” theatrical offering will be the top-grossing, the most likely to bomb or any such hyperbole. It means its success or failure will make a larger, more long-term impact on the distributor than its other films.

I tried to be comprehensive regarding which studios to include, with all due respect to Briarcliff or Vertical. To be fair, the Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman-starring My Dead Friend Zoe (February 28) looks solid. I’m always game for another Paul W.S. Anderson-helmed, Milla Jovovich-starring sci-fi schlockfest like In the Lost Lands (March 7). For obvious reasons, I counted 20th Century Studios *and* Disney. As always, this is not your list. If all of our lists were the same, then this wouldn’t be much fun. And now, without further ado and in somewhat random order, here we go…