Not every movie is meant to play on the biggest screens available, but that’s never stopped Hollywood studios from trying to line up as many IMAX theaters as possible for their top releases. The real test of a great IMAX movie isn’t if it has the theaters; it’s whether the film can fully utilize the greater canvas and become more than just an average-looking flick on a bigger screen.
Looking ahead to the rest of this year, there are seven 2025 movies that we can’t wait to see in IMAX. Three of them are coming out in July since summer tends to have the big blockbusters. But our pick for No. 1 is coming near the end of 2025. When you consider the track record of the film’s director, it’s easy to see why we believe it will be the best IMAX movie of the year.
Almost everyone knew that the Wicked adaptation was going to be big, but who could have predicted that it would nab $717.9 million worldwide and become one of the top box-office hits of the year? This Wizard of Oz Broadway prequel had dazzling visuals that filled up the screen as it told the tale of the future Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), and her unlikely friendship with Glinda Upland (Ariana Grande).
But now that we know what to expect from director Jon M. Chu’s Wicked: For Good, that easily makes it one of the most-anticipated IMAX titles of 2025. If Chu and his collaborators were able to go big in the first film, then they’ll defy gravity yet again for the sequel.
There are three Marvel Studios films coming in 2025, and no offense to Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts, but The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the one that excites us, even though there has yet to be a trailer. Everything we know about this film suggests that it will take place in its own corner of the MCU with a retro-futuristic take on the 1960s and the first real depiction of the Fantastic Four’s planet-eating adversary, Galactus (Ralph Ineson). Casting Julia Garner as a female Silver Surfer has been contentious among some fans, but we’re eager to see how she looks on screen.
The Fantastic Four in the comics are all about sci-fi adventures that go beyond standard superhero fare, and this film also has a great cast, including The Mandalorian‘s Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Mark my words: This will be the Marvel movie to watch in 2025.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is one of the best Star Wars films of Lucasfilm’s Disney era, and the director of that film, Gareth Edwards, is making the leap to another sci-fi franchise with Jurassic World Rebirth. Edwards is bringing in a hell of a cast for this film with Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, and Rupert Friend in the leading roles.
So far, Universal hasn’t shared any extended looks at this film, but few things play better on IMAX screens than CGI dinosaurs attacking humans who were dumb enough to get anywhere near them. Story details for the film are also scarce, but we know it takes place five years after Jurassic World Dominion, and the world’s no longer very welcoming to dinosaurs.
Sinners is the dark horse choice for this list, but Ryan Coogler — the director of Marvel’s Black Panther movies — shot this film with IMAX cameras, so we’re expecting some eye-popping visuals in this period horror film.
Michael B. Jordan is leading the cast in a dual role as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who somehow end up fighting for their lives against vampires, including a bloodsucker named Mary (Hailee Steinfeld). So many modern IMAX films are either sci-fi or superhero-related. It’s refreshing to see a horror film take advantage of the medium.
In James Gunn we trust. Even during Marvel Studios’ troubled period, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — and the two films that came before it — proved that he was a master of marrying spectacle with affecting emotional stories. That’s exactly the approach that Superman needs to take.
This is a completely fresh start for the live-action DC movies, with a new Superman — played by David Corenswet — a new Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), and a world of superheroes from the start. This movie even has the live-action debut of Superman’s super canine, Krypto. Out of all of the superhero films of 2025, this is the one we expect to soar the highest when it reaches IMAX screens.
In case you hadn’t noticed, the combination of writer and director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise has transformed the last three Mission: Impossible films into high-caliber action flicks that are practically events unto themselves. Cruise even insists on filming several of the most dangerous stunts himself, which is one of the reasons these films look so good on the biggest screens.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is supposedly the last time out for Cruise’s Ethan Hunt as he searches for a way to neutralize the A.I. known as the Entity. Count on this to be jaw-dropping in IMAX, because McQuarrie and Cruise have always topped themselves before. And we fully expect that history will repeat itself in 2025.
Surely you didn’t forget about James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third film in his Avatar series. If you have, it’s probably because Avatar: The Way of Water came out just over two years ago, an eternity for a franchise. Not everyone loves the Avatar films’ stories, but few could ever argue against the beautifully rendered visuals Cameron and his special effects artists bring to life on the screen. Their vision of Pandora is a very convincing alien world, and we’d go back to the biggest IMAX screens just to appreciate those details.
Cameron is also one of the few filmmakers who effectively utilizes 3D effects without slipping into gimmicky shots and features. Bet against Cameron at your peril. Between the first two Avatar films and Titanic, Cameron has three of the highest-grossing movies of all time. If Fire and Ash continues the trend of Cameron’s stunning visuals, then we fully expect this movie will be a monster hit as well.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.