Next year’s film slate promises to be one of the most diverse and high-profile in recent memory. With Cannes Film Festival 2025 serving as the global launchpad for many of the industry’s boldest projects, theatrical seasons across the world are already shaping up around what premieres on the French Riviera in May. From genre-defying auteurs to blockbuster franchises pushing final chapters, 2025 is set to deliver movies that matter — whether you're hunting for Oscars or just a good time at the theater.
Cannes 2025 line-up fuels next year’s awards and buzz
This year’s Cannes lineup reads like a greatest hits of next year’s awards season. The festival may not officially kick off until May 13, but the buzz is already unstoppable. The official selection now includes 22 films in competition, with late additions like Chinese director Bi Gan’s Resurrection turning heads. The sci-fi epic about a woman in a post-apocalyptic future who connects with an android through brain surgery is being praised as a genre breakthrough — and a sure festival crowd-pleaser.
Bi Gan’s inclusion in the main competition cements Cannes’ commitment to international cinema that pushes boundaries. Alongside Resurrection, the competition features heavy hitters like Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love, Ari Aster’s Eddington, and Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme. These aren’t just auteur playgrounds — they’re films that will shape the conversation through awards season and beyond.
Tom Cruise returns with a mission of emotional stakes
Three years after Top Gun: Maverick soared past box office expectations, Tom Cruise is back at Cannes with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. The practically indefatigable star returns to the Croisette not with an honorary Palme d’Or, but with a sequel that hopes to replicate — if not exceed — the commercial and cultural impact of Maverick.
Cruise’s latest Mission: Impossible isn’t just about stunts and spectacle. Industry insiders suggest it may lean more into character closure for Ethan Hunt. Whether that's enough to earn it a legacy status remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Cruise is still counting on Cannes to amplify his theatrical gambits.
Director debuts and genre twists steal the spotlight
2025 may be the year we remember for actor-to-director transitions shining bright. Scarlett Johansson premieres her feature directorial debut Eleanor The Great in the Un Certain Regard section. The dramedy about an elderly woman starting over in New York after the loss of her best friend is already snagging distribution from Sony Pictures Classics. Cannes love for Johansson could mirror the embrace they’ve given to Kristen Stewart, whose debut The Chronology of Water is making waves in the same section.
Stewart’s film, based on a memoir and starring Imogen Poots, dives into drug use and BDSM with a poetic lens. It’s the kind of edgy emotionality that Cannes craves — and that may give Johansson and Stewart a new kind of auteur credibility.
Festival wildcards promise controversy and conversation
Julian Assange documentary The Six Billion Dollar Man by Eugene Jarecki was a last-minute addition to the Special Screening lineup. Pulled from Sundance due to “unexpected developments,” the film’s new material about Assange’s legal battles and eventual freedom from UK prison adds a real-time urgency to its narrative. Cannes screenings like this one often double as platforms for political storytelling — and Jarecki’s film may become one of the most talked-about documentaries of the year.
Then there’s Julia Ducournau, whose Titane-winning reputation assures her Alpha will be a highlight. Though details are scarce, the body horror about a 13-year-old girl is already being hyped as another fearless move from one of cinema’s most daring directors.
Commercial giants and indie darlings collide in 2025
Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme might have the flashiest cast of the year — Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Cera — but Anderson’s signature stylization ensures this won’t be a traditional star vehicle. The film’s plot about a businessman with enemies trying to secure his family’s future sounds Andersonian in the best way possible.
Meanwhile, Kelly Reichardt is returning with The Mastermind, a crime heist film with Josh O’Connor and Alana Haim. After being largely overlooked for Showing Up, Reichardt’s quiet, precise storytelling may find more traction next year — especially if The Mastermind lives up to its genre potential.
What 2025 means for movie fans and the industry
Next year isn’t just about the films themselves — it’s about what they represent. Cannes 2025 shows a film world that’s no longer split between streaming and theaters, but one that’s united by quality and impact. Whether it’s a studio giant like Sony backing Johansson, or a festival champion like NEON distributing Trier and Reichardt, the players are aligning around real cinema.
For fans, 2025 offers a rare combination: blockbuster excitement, auteur ambition, and festival risk all in one calendar. It's the kind of year that reminds us why movies matter — not just as entertainment, but as expression, exploration, and sometimes, explosion.