This has been a tumultuous decade for Hollywood. While the rest of the world was still trying to find its footing following the COVID-19 pandemic, the entertainment industry experienced a historic two-guild strike in 2023 that fundamentally changed the business. Now, a year past that settlement, it seems that things may finally be on the upswing. Will the return of a not-so-popular figure in La La Land to the White House throw a curve ball for those expectations? Those are some of the big questions we consider as dawn breaks on 2025.
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Who will be the new CEO of Disney?
The Walt Disney Company had a massive theatrical comeback this year. It earned over $5 billion at the theatrical box office worldwide, with three movies grossing over $1 billion each and with a third potentially joining them. The turnaround coincided with Bob Iger’s return as CEO in November 2022. Iger currently has a contract that ends on December 26, 2026. Despite his success in his second go-around (after his hand-picked successor was let go), Iger will be 74 in February, and stockholders want new blood at the helm. Former Morgan Stanley executive James Gorman was made Chairman of the Board of Directors in October. His job is to lead the search for a new CEO. There are several internal candidates, including Dana Walden, the co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, Alan Bergman, Walden’s co-chair, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro, and head of Parks and Experiences Josh D’Amaro. The board is also looking for outside candidates such as Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson, whose selection would be unheard of in Disney CEO history. And those are just the candidates known publicly. The Board has said an announcement will come in early 2026, which means the next 12 months will be full of rumors and potential departures from candidates who didn’t get the gig. Get ready to read the tea leaves.
Where will Sundance go?
It’s the million-dollar question. When the Sundance Institute announced last Spring that America’s most influential film festival was potentially looking for a new home, many municipalities jumped into the mix for consideration. In a faster-moving process than many would expect (perhaps emphasizing the urgency), the Institute revealed three finalists in September. The host city candidates are down to Boulder, Colorado, a combination of Salt Lake City and the festival’s current home, Park City, Utah, and, in a surprise, Cincinnati, Ohio. The festival has made it clear that a decision will not be made during the upcoming 2025 festival (although it will no doubt be the talk of the town) or immediately after, but many expect the Institute to segue to the Salt Lake City-focused option. That would leave an event or two in Park City for old times’ sake while providing larger venues and, most importantly, more hotel rooms and lodging in the SLC metro area. If the festival does decide to go to Colorado or Ohio in 2027, will Park City really be that welcoming for a last gasp in 2026?
What movie will win the summer?
After a down 2024 (although not as down as feared), theater owners are looking forward to a bounce-back 2025. Summertime is box office time, and it’s seemingly a wide-open race for the biggest movie of the frame. Marvel Studios is kicking off the summer with “Thunderbolts” and has a new vision for “Fantastic Four: First Steps” at the end of July (remember, you need as many weeks as possible with kids out of school to win). Tom Cruise is insisting this is his last “Mission: Impossible” movie, “The Final Reckoning,” it even has “final” in the title. A live-action “Lilo & Stitch” with Lilo looking pretty animated arrives right before Memorial Day, and Universal Pictures has their own live-action adaptation with “How To Train Your Dragon.” Pixar’s space-faring “Elio” arrives on June 13. Dreams come true for Scarlet Johansson as she finally gets to star in “Jurassic World Rebirth” and James Gunn’s “Superman” reboot arrives 10 days later. Potential surprises include Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Untitled Event Film” with Leonardo DiCaprio on August 8 and Paramount’s Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Kendrick Lamar’s musical collaboration dropping July 4. Place your bets.
Will Netflix allow a movie to have a real theatrical release?
For the longest time, the world’s largest streaming service insisted it didn’t need advertising. For the longest time, the world’s largest streaming service insisted it didn’t need live events. Over the past few years, those positions have changed. Now, after a decade of doing token, four-walled releases (meaning the studio buys out the entire theater and no grosses are reported), the service is facing the most pushback in its history from filmmakers wanting genuine theatrical releases. And they may have found a compromise with IMAX. After the billion-dollar success of “Barbie,” Greta Gerwig is supposed to reboot “The Chronicles of Narnia” at the streamer. She wants a theatrical release. Putting the movie in IMAX may fill that need, but how does Netflix convince other filmmakers this decision was a one-time thing? Or on a case-by-case basis? Moreover, in the new Dan Lin era, where budgets are tighter and there is potentially less creative freedom, if Netflix doesn’t come up with a theatrical option, will big-time filmmakers finally start saying “no”?
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Who takes a historically competitive Drama Series Emmy category?
There will be no “Shogun” sweep at the Emmys in 2025. Granted, there is no season two to earn nominations, but as with 2023, the race for the crown looks as though it will be historically competitive. Returning nominees begin with the second season of “The Last of Us,” which will vy against its HBO stablemates “The White Lotus” season three and “Industry” season three. The ever-popular “House of Dragons” will also try to crack the field for a middling second go around. Just in time for another MAGA presidency, “The Handmaid’s Tale” will end with season six this spring. “Andor” will also end with a second frame beginning April 22 (prime Emmy window). Netflix will have “Squid Game” season 2, a break out in “Black Doves,” the critically acclaimed “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” “The Diplomat” season two, and possibly, the final season of “Stranger Things” (although that could drop after the qualifying date). Apple TV finally returns to “Severance,” has the industry-focused “The Studio,” and will try to remind people of “Presumed Innocent.” Prime Video will push “The Boys” season four, and Paramount+ and Showtime could find traction with “The Agency.” Oh, and that doesn’t even take into account the guaranteed surprises still on the way.
