My Most-Anticipated R-Rated Movies of 2025
What's coming to theaters this year? Take a look!
I’m not sure which I like more: living in the hype for an upcoming movie or discovering a movie that flew under the radar. Each year, I see movies in both scenarios, and 2025 will likely be the same. I’ve read recent “Coming Soon” articles to get hyped for the movie year ahead. What are you looking forward to this year?
I don’t know if I’ll see all of these, nor if when I see these if will be in the theater, nor if they’ll be great. Likewise, I don’t know for sure if all of these will be rated R, as some are still in “This film is not yet rated” land, so I’m using my best guess. The other thing to consider is release dates change. A lot. The second half of the year has especially sparse information, unless you’re a “tentpole movie" that laid claim to that date a year ago with big intentions to make big bucks and if so, you’re probably not rated R. I’ve been adding to the draft for this post off and on for a few weeks and I can tell you that some movies have shifted release dates several times and I don’t think that will end any time soon.
Some of these truly do look excellent. And, I also admit, a few of these fall into the “Eh, why not?” category, but as an AMC A-List member with an AMC theater less than 10 minutes away from door to door, I have been known to catch a few flicks with the fleeting thought, “Eh, why not? That’s what A-List is for.”
I’ve included teasers and trailers, when available, but if you’re like me, sometimes it’s better to go in cold (last year’s Strange Darling is a perfect example). My hope is that for some of these movies where I’ve seen the trailer lately, I’ll forget what I saw by the time the movie is finally released.
Here’s a list of 25 (and counting?) of my most-anticipated R-Rated Movies of 2025:
January 2025
Presence (January 24)
A tight 90-minute ghost-centric horror movie written by David Koepp (Stir of Echoes, Panic Room) and directed by Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, Traffic)? Yes, please!
Companion (January 31)
More horror? Why not? This one looks more like a science fiction thriller, but creepy, nonetheless. It has Jack Quaid (Hughie from The Boys) in it and it’s by Drew, who was a writer for the wonderful and sadly short-lived and wonderful, satirical sitcom, Suburgatory.
February 2025
Bring Them Down (February 7)
I can already tell this is going to be one of those tense-as-all-get-out, brutally-violent revenge dramas that will be tough to watch at several points. Most movies starring Barry Keoghan (Saltburn, The Green Knight) are like that, come to think of it.
Love Hurts (February 7)
First of all: Ke Huy Quan. Second of all: Marshawn Lynch. Third of all: Milwaukee.
That should do it, for all of us.
You, Me & Her (February 14)
I’ll be curious if this gives Captain America: Brave New World a run for its money on Valentine’s Day weekend as the "official date movie” for young people. This was the darling of the festival circuit last year and will get its wide release this year.
The Monkey (February 21)
I missed Osgood Perkins’s Longlegs but a creepy toy monkey movie with Stephen King’s name on it (yes, it’s the story from Skeleton Crew) just seems like 90 minutes worth spending at least once.
Cleaner (February 21)
I haven’t seen enough Daisy Ridley movies. I keep meaning to, and I can do better than that. This time around, I’ll try to show a little love at the box office. I could see this being one of those Jason Statham Has a New Job and Kills People kind of movies, but they went a different way. Clive Owen looks particularly scene-chewingly evil in this, too.
Gazer (February 21)
Looks creepy and old school. A science fiction twist on a desperate loser tale, perhaps? If you’re like me, this is the “plot focuses on cassette tapes” independent movie you’ve been waiting for. If this wasn’t shot on film, they found a way to filter it with a phenomenal grain in this trailer.
Cold Wallet (February 28)
I don’t use reddit and I don’t do crypto, but I will watch a movie about reddit crypto bros trying to get revenge on the reddit crypto bros who ripped them off. It’s amateur hour for these Panic Room home invader wannabes in what looks intriguing enough to me.
March 2025
Mickey 17 (March 7)
No, this isn’t one of those trashy horror flicks based on Steamboat Willie now that that version of Mickey Mouse is in the public domain (that would be Screamboat and no thanks). The trailer below plays up laughs, but this is by Bong Joon Ho, the man behind Parasite and Snowpiercer, so who knows that’s going to happen!
Opus (March 14)
Ayo Edebiri brings powerful realism to The Bear and this looks the same here. But if you were concerned this would be too straightforward, don’t worry: John Malkovich is VERY, VERY WEIRD in this.
Black Bag (March 14)
An international political thriller movie written by David Koepp (Stir of Echoes, Panic Room) and directed by Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, Traffic)? Yes, please! And yes, we get two movies presented by this dynamic duo in one year, wow!
Novocaine (March 14)
We also get two movies starring Jack Quaid this year, and why not? He is awesome at playing a regular guy within irregular circumstances. What lengths will a guy who can’t feel pain go to in order to rescue someone? Let’s find out.
The Alto Knights (March 21)
Robert De Niro (Heat).
Barry Levinson (Wag the Dog).
Nicholas Pileggi (writer, Goodfellas).
‘Nuff said.
Ash (March 21)
Stylized, otherworldly, science fiction horror directed by a DJ named Flying Lotus? Eh, I’ll go with it.
April 2025
Sinners (April 18)
My R-rated movie list is looking more and more supernatural as I write it. As far as I can tell, this bizarre and intense thriller reunion of Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan looks to solidly join that supernatural superlist. Early buzz is good on this one.
May 2025
The Life of Chuck (May 30)
No trailers, no real details, and no clue if this will be PG-13 or R, but I really enjoyed the 2020 novella by Stephen King in If It Bleeds. It was one of my earliest pandemic reads and I had a lot of fun reorganizing the pantry while listening to it (household update: the pantry has been reorganized several times since).
June 2025
28 Years Later (June 20)
Hopefully, 28 Days Later gets on streaming and/or a re-release on disc because it’s nowhere to be found and long out of print (lucky ducky, I have a DVD copy!), because returning to this world is going to be amazing. Right away, you can tell that this zombie movie is not going to pull its punches, just like the two that came before it.
And my oh my, the trailer’s 1915 recitation by Taylor Holms of the 1903 poem “Boots” by Rudyard Kipling will haunt my nightmares.
M3GAN 2.0 (June 27)
Will M3gan 2.0 be rated R? I know the first M3gan was in theaters as a PG-13 movie and streaming as R, so we’ll see where they go with the sequel. My kids liked it, and the oldest is old enough that I’ll take her to this in the theater. No trailer available at this time (don’t fall for that AI fanfic nonsense out there).
July 2025
Untitled Trey Parker film (July 4)
This is all I know, and that’s enough to get me to the theater.
August 2025
Nobody 2 (August 15)
The excellent Nobody was a casualty of Covid when it came out in 2021. We loved it and we’re up for more! No trailer yet, but here’s one from the original film:
September
The Conjuring: Last Rites (September 5)
Would you believe that I’ve never seen a Conjuring movie? I wrote about that way, way back in a poll here. This is allegedly the finale to the “Conjurverse.” Maybe I can start here! Hey, the first John Wick movie I saw was John Wick 4, so why not?!
The Bride! (September 26)
This one barely appears to be on the release calendar, but it’s a take on the bride of Frankenstein’s monster that’s written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring all of her best friends: Jake Gyllenhaal, Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley, Peter Sarsgaard, and so on. Don’t know if it’s rated R or when it will come out, but so far, I’m liking the set up here.
October 2025
Despite a strong showing of anticipated horror movies to start the year, nothing I’m seeing on the R-rated October calendar is really grabbing me, right now. Hey, the year is still young.
November 2025
Predator: Badlands (November 7)
This is hopefully coming to theaters. It had better! Director Dan Trachtenberg did phenomenal work with Prey back in 2022 that went straight to Hulu. Huge mistake, because that could’ve been a money maker at the box office. It was probably the best Predator movie so far, even giving the original a run for its money. Speaking of Arnold movies and running…
The Running Man (November 7)
Yes, we are in remake town. Allegedly, this will stick closer to the Stephen King novella this time around (yes, this will make Stephen King movie #3 on my list for the year), but the original is a charming classic in its own right. We really enjoy The Running Man, both the novella and the original movie, so I sense a date night on the horizon.
December 2025
Anaconda (December 25)
The original was mid-90s deliciousness when I was in high school, and of course it was very PG-13. Can we hope that we’ll get a truly gruesome R-rated Anaconda movie this time around? I’d say yes, but this new version stars Steve Zahn, Paul Rudd, and Jack Black. There is zero chance the snake eats any of these lovable scamps, so my hunch is we may be in store for the first-ever PG-rated Anaconda movie!
Your turn!
What are you looking forward to this year? Anything on this list? Something else? As I say, release dates come and go, and I’m sure I’ve missed a few hidden gems that I didn’t give enough attention to in the “upcoming releases” articles I read or the trailers I watched. I’ll keep you updated on what I see and I’d love to hear what you want to see, too. What about you?
Thanks for reading, sharing, and subscribing. God’s peace and good movies to you!