2025 in film is an overview of events, including award ceremonies, festivals, a list of country- and genre-specific lists of films released, and notable deaths. Shochiku and Gaumont celebrated their 130th anniversaries; 20th Century Studios and Republic Pictures celebrated their 90th anniversaries; Studio Ghibli celebrated its 40th anniversary and Laika celebrated its 20th anniversary. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's first musical film The Broadway Melody (1929), known for being the first sound film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, entered the public domain this year. For the second time in film history, 2025 was the year in which a non-English-language film became the highest-grossing film of the year worldwide, as the Chinese animated sequel Ne Zha 2 earned approximately $2.2 billion globally.
Highest-grossing films
+ Highest-grossing films of 2025 Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross1 Ne Zha 2Beijing Enlight$2 Zootopia 2Disney$1,870,309,2913 Avatar: Fire and Ash 20th Century$1,490,386,7124 Lilo & Stitch Disney$1,038,027,5265Warner Bros.$961,287,780 6Jurassic World RebirthUniversal$872,428,2207 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle Aniplex / Toho / Crunchyroll$820,400,0008 How to Train Your DragonUniversal$639,866,4519 F1 Warner Bros. / Apple$634,142,436 10 Superman Warner Bros.$618,723,803
Box office records Ne Zha 2 surpassed The Battle at Lake Changjin to become the highest-grossing non-English language film. It became the 57th film overall, and 14th animated film to pass $1billion and the seventh film to pass $2billion. It became the highest-grossing animated film of all time as well as the 5th highest-grossing film overall. It became the second ever non-Hollywood film production to become the highest-grossing film of the year, following Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It surpassed Inside Out 2 (2024) as the highest-grossing animated film, breaking Disney's 14-year streak with the title after regaining it with Toy Story 3 (2010). Doing so, Enlight Pictures became the first non-Hollywood studio to hold this distinction. It became the first non-English language film to gross $1billion and $2billion worldwide. It surpassed Star Wars: The Force Awakens to become the highest-grossing film ever in a single market. It also became the first film to earn $1billion and $2billion in a single market. On March 2, thirty-three days after release, Ne Zha 2 surpassed $2billion, the first animated film in history to do so. It is the seventh film overall to achieve this milestone. It set the records of highest-grossing worldwide opening for an animated film and highest-grossing worldwide opening of the year, up until these records were surpassed by Zootopia 2 later the same year. Zootopia 2 became the 59th film overall, the 15th animated film, and the second-fastest animated film (at 17 days, behind Ne Zha 2’s 12 days) to gross $1 billion worldwide. It claimed the fourth highest-grossing worldwide opening of all time ($560.3million), placing behind Avengers: Endgame ($1.2billion), Avengers: Infinity War ($641million), and Spider-Man: No Way Home ($601million). It set the records of highest-grossing worldwide opening for an animated film, and highest-grossing worldwide opening of the year, surpassing Ne Zha 2 in both instances. It is also the highest-grossing worldwide opening of any animated film in Disney history, surpassing Moana 2. On 12 December, seventeen days after release, Zootopia 2 became the fastest MPA animated film, and PG-rated film, to reach $1billion, surpassing Inside Out 2’s 19 days in both instances. On 31 December, thirty-six days after release, Zootopia 2 surpassed Frozen 2 to become Walt Disney Animation Studios' highest-grossing film. On 18 January, fifty-four days after release, Zootopia 2 surpassed Inside Out 2 to become Disney's highest-grossing animated film of all time, the highest-grossing MPA animated film of all time, and the highest-grossing PG-rated film of all time. The Zootopia film franchise surpassed $2.8billion with the release of Zootopia 2. Avatar: Fire and Ash became the 60th film overall to gross $1billion worldwide. The Avatar film series surpassed $6billion with the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash. It became the first film in the franchise to not reach $2 billion at the box office. Lilo & Stitch became the 58th film overall, and the first MPA film of 2025 to gross $1billion worldwide. It became the second best first-day ticket pre-seller for a Disney live-action remake, behind the 2019 photorealistic animated The Lion King. It also set the record for the biggest opening weekend for a live-action animated film, surpassing Detective Pikachu. It became the highest-grossing live-action animated film, surpassing The Smurfs (2011), as well as the first live-action animated film to globally gross at least $1billion. The Lilo & Stitch film series has grossed more than $1.3billion with the release of the live-action remake, with the latter contributing roughly 79% of that figure. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle grossed about $820.4million worldwide to become the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time, surpassing its predecessor Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train. Worldwide, it became the highest-grossing Japanese film and the highest-grossing anime film of all time. It is also the first Japanese film to cross $800million worldwide. In Japan, it had the biggest opening weekend of all time with ¥5.52billion in three days. It passed ¥10billion in eight days, becoming the fastest‑grossing film ever in Japan. In the US, its $70million opening weekend was the biggest opening for an international film, R‑rated animated film, and September animated release. It went on to set US records for the highest-grossing anime film (surpassing Pokémon: The First Movie), highest-grossing Japanese film, first anime film to cross $100million, and highest-grossing international film (surpassing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). In other international markets, the film had the biggest opening weekend for an animated film in the Philippines, South Korea, and India. It became the all-time highest-grossing anime film in Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Spain, and Thailand. The Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba franchise became the first R-rated animated film series to surpass $1billion with the release of Infinity Castle. It became the highest-grossing hand drawn animated film in its initial release, surpassing the initial gross of The Lion King (1994), which grossed $763million in its initial release and held the record for 31 years. The How to Train Your Dragon franchise surpassed $2billion with the release of the live-action remake of the same name. It became the highest grossing film in the franchise, surpassing How to Train Your Dragon 2. F1 achieved Apple Studios's highest-grossing opening weekend at $144million worldwide, and passed Napoleon to become the producer's highest-grossing film worldwide. The Superman film series surpassed $3billion with the release of Superman. The Marvel Cinematic Universe became the first film franchise to gross $32billion with the releases of Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Events Award ceremonies Date Event Host Location(s) January 5 82nd Golden Globe Awards Golden Globes, LLC Beverly Hills, U.S. January 18 17th Gaudí Awards Catalan Film Academy Barcelona, Spain January 20 30th Lumière Awards Académie des Lumières Paris, France January 25 12th Feroz Awards Asociación de Informadores Cinematográficos de España Pontevedra, Spain February 1 4th Carmen Awards Academia del Cine de Andalucía Córdoba, Spain February 2 52nd Saturn Awards Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Universal City, U.S.February 7 14th AACTA AwardsAustralian Academy of Cinema and Television ArtsGold Coast, Australia 14th AACTA International Awards 30th Critics' Choice Awards Critics Choice Association Santa Monica, U.S. 2025 Movieguide Awards Movieguide Los Angeles, U.S. February 8 36th Producers Guild of America Awards Producers Guild of America Los Angeles, U.S. 39th Goya Awards Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain Granada, Spain 52nd Annie Awards ASIFA-Hollywood Los Angeles, U.S. 77th Directors Guild of America Awards Directors Guild of America Beverly Hills, U.S. February 15 77th Writers Guild of America Awards Writers Guild of America, EastWriters Guild of America West New York City, U.S.Los Angeles, U.S. February 16 78th British Academy Film Awards British Academy of Film and Television Arts London, UKFebruary 22 14th Magritte Awards Académie André Delvaux Ixelles, Belgium 40th Independent Spirit Awards Independent Spirit Awards Santa Monica, U.S. February 23 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles, U.S.February 28 50th César Awards Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma Paris, France 45th Golden Raspberry Awards Golden Raspberry Awards Foundation Los Angeles, U.S. March 2 97th Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Los Angeles, U.S. March 8 – 9 25th International Indian Film Academy Awards International Indian Film Academy Jaipur, India March 10 33rd Actors and Actresses Union Awards Actors and Actresses Union Madrid, Spain April 27 12th Platino Awards EGEDA, FIPCA Madrid, Spain May 7 70th David di Donatello Accademia del Cinema Italiano Rome, Italy May 25 9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards Crunchyroll Tokyo, Japan May 30-June 1 13th Canadian Screen Awards Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television Toronto, CanadaConnie Thiessen, "‘This Hour Has 22 Minutes’ among Canadian Academy ‘Special Award’ recipients". Broadcast Dialogue, March 5, 2025. June 21 38th Kids' Choice Awards Barker Hangar Santa Monica, California July 23 19th Sur Awards Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences Córdoba, Argentina September 20 67th Ariel Awards Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas Puerto Vallarta, Mexico October 11 70th Filmfare Awards The Times Group Ahmedabad, India November 27 18th Asia Pacific Screen Awards UNESCO, FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) and the Brisbane City Council, in partnership with APSA and Jewel Private Residences Gold Coast, Australia December 13 31st Forqué Awards EGEDA Madrid, Spain
Film festivals