The Coolest Entertainment Trends of 2025

2025 is shaping up to be an oddball year for entertainment. With the industry still recovering from the lengthy 2023 strikes, and Los Angeles reeling after horrific January fires, studios are gonna be doubling down on sure things this year. That means plenty of sequels, reboots, remakes, adaptations, spinoffs, and revivals. Studios are also going to be banking on cheap thrills, so expect to see a whole lot of reality programming, game shows, and quick-turnaround documentaries. 

The thing about odd circumstances is that they tend to produce greatness from completely unexpected places. (Remember the summer of Tiger King?) Reality TV mash-up shows like The Traitors and Deal or No Deal Island have revitalized fandoms—and even encouraged them to cross-pollinate in previously unthinkable ways. Marvel is back on the theatrical calendar in a major way, asking you to forgive their wayward multiverse sins of the last several years. And Liam Neeson is stepping into the shoes of … Leslie Nielsen?

It’s the year of peak nostalgia and wild swings at the box office, an underappreciated streaming service finally getting its due, and a reality TV renaissance. Here are our favorite entertainment trends of 2025.

See our full 2025 trends forecast here.

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Reboots, remakes, sequels, and adaptations are taking over the big screen in 2025. Disney’s giving the live-action treatment to more of its animated classics, both old (Snow White) and new (Lilo and Stich). Tom Cruise is back for the two-part swan song of the Mission: Impossible series. Paddington Bear, the GOAT of Rotten Tomatoes, returns to defend his title in a threequel set in his homeland of Peru. Jurassic Park is back for a seventh (!!!) romp with the raptors, swapping out Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard for Idris Elba and Scarlett Johansson.

While there’s plenty of old-fashioned popcorn blockbusters on the calendar, we’re more intrigued by some of the absolutely wild swings that managed to sneak through: the strange revivals no one asked for, and the wild casting gambits we truly need to see to believe. 

Here are three upcoming movies that exemplify this trend in 2025.

—Jen Glennon

In the pantheon of ’80s Schwarzenegger action flicks, The Running Man, a 1987 adaptation of a Steven King short story, falls far short of the likes of Terminator, Predator, and Commando. But it also felt years ahead of its time. That’s why we’re so intrigued by director Edgar Wright’s adaptation of this tale centering on a dystopian TV show where prisoners fight to escape a brutal death. The director of Sean of the Dead, Baby Driver, and Last Night in Soho will likely bring a wry, comedic spin to this high-concept premise. Twisters breakout Glen Powell will headline, but we’re most excited to see Love Lies Bleeding badass Katy O’Brien serve up some Arnie-flavored beatdowns. The Running Man hits theaters November 7.

Watch the original on Paramount +

Continuing the theme of “a reboot so crazy, it just might work,” brooding action hero Liam Neeson steps into the loafers of Los Angeles detective Frank Drebin Jr, the son of the character played in a trio of (mostly) beloved ’90s comedies by Leslie Nielsen. If you’ve been aching to see Qui-Gon Jinn molest a European monarch at a dinner party, sing the national anthem poorly, or extravagantly fart while wearing a hot mic, 2025 just might be your year. Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer will direct and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane will produce this slapstick revival due out August 1.

Watch the original on Paramount +

While Robert DeNiro playing a gangster technically isn’t a “franchise,” it sure as hell should be. Mr. Tribeca steps into a dual role in this historical drama, playing both rival ’50s mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. The trailer is bursting with period vibes and tough-guy philosophizing. Written by Goodfellas scribe Nicholas Pileggi and directed by Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Bugsy), this ambitious and indulgent crime drama will either be this year’s The Irishman or this year’s Megalopolis.

How’s this for a cold take? There are too many streaming services. But while Netflix keeps hiking fees every quarter and cancelling your new obsessions after two seasons, Apple TV+ has been quietly building up a substantial library of top-tier shows. The sophomore season of Severance, the psychological dramedy about a biotech firm whose employees physically split their work lives from their personal ones, is already the year’s buzziest series. And you’ve no doubt already heard of the likes of Ted Lasso and The Morning Show. 

But there’s more to this prestige streamer than just its back catalog. Apple’s got an impressive slate in store for 2025, including two intriguing debuts and a new season of one of the most underrated sci-fi shows of all time. Here are a handful of the most promising TV shows the Cupertino tech titan’s got cooking in 2025.

—Jen Glennon

Even among Apple’s stable of starry productions, The Studio stands out for its stacked cast, including Seth Rogen, Catherine O’Hara, Bryan Cranston, Kathryn Hahn, and an eye-popping smorgasbord of A-lister cameos. Rogen plays the new head of Continental Studios, who’s desperate for approval from the celebs in his midst while struggling to keep movies alive and relevant. You’ll come for the biting industry satire, but stay for the sumptuous cinematography of Los Angeles with all its sorbet skies and glitzy schmoozing. This 10-episode, half-hour comedy makes its debut on March 26.

Even if you’ve never read William Gibson’s dystopian sci-fi novel, you’re already familiar with it. Neuromancer is widely credited as one of the foundational texts of the cyberpunk subgenre, a dystopian rebuttal of the sunny futures predicted by Star Trek and its ilk that influenced everything from Blade Runner to Brazil and The Matrix. The series will follow a super-hacker named Case and his assassin partner Molly as they attempt to pull a heist on a corporate dynasty with untold secrets. Despite its outside influence on pop culture, the novel has never successfully been adapted for film or television, so it could be this year’s Dune moment.   

Apple hasn’t yet confirmed a release date for Neuromancer.

Set in an alternate history in which the Soviet Union landed on the moon before the United States, For All Mankind incorporates real-world historical figures like the Apollo 11 crew, Ronald Reagan, and Sally Ride. It’s a sci-fi meets Mad Men concept that shouldn’t work, but somehow does. Apple recently renewed the show for a fifth—and potentially final—season, and also announced an upcoming spinoff, Star City. With 40 episodes in the can, now’s the time to start watching so you’re all caught up before the new ones drop.

Watch on Apple TV+

A decade ago, it was a little embarrassing to say you were still watching Survivor. It was like admitting you were rocking briefs when your friends had moved on to boxers. But a few seismic shifts handed the now 25-year-old social-strategy game—now in its 48th season—an Immunity Idol. And suddenly, virtually everyone we know is watching a reality competition, debating game strategy at the watercooler like it’s 2001 again.

What happened?

1) In late 2020, Netflix added two of the show’s best seasons, Cagayan and Heroes vs. Villains, to its lineup of pandemic-ready binges. The world discovered weeks upon weeks of adventure-fueled comfort viewing, ideal for those long months we were stuck inside.

2) In 2023, The Traitors, a campy game of Mafia set in an opulent Scottish castle, cast Survivor legends alongside other reality titans, resulting in an irresistible mess of gamers, Housewives, and professionally hot people—and then an Emmy win.

3) A slew of other competitions (Big Brother, Snake in the Grass, The Anonymous, Deal or No Deal Island) did the same, scrambling to recruit Jeff Probst’s favorite players.

Today, Survivor remains a ratings hit, and—no offense to Traitors host Alan Cumming—there’s still no game with as compelling a combination of game strategy, ritual murder, endurance challenges, and Applebee’s. We fans are truly blessed in 2025, because the biggest year in reality history is just getting started …

—Cooper Fleishman

Call it the “Boston Rob” Mariano effect. As a Traitor, Survivor’s only five-time contestant was the most dominant player in the castle, aggressively chopping down anyone who threatened him—friend and foe alike—before finally being ousted in episode seven … by Vanderpump Rules’ Tom Sandoval. The reality power player—whose résumé includes one Survivor win, one second-place finish (losing to his future wife, Amber Mariano!), and stints on The Amazing Race and Deal or No Deal Island—then shook up the Traitors chatter on X and Bluesky even more as new fans discovered he was pretty hot in the early aughts. Thanks to a few viral clips, Traitors die-hards dipped their toes into classic Survivor to witness Mariano, a former construction foreman, learn to burn allies and strong-arm his way to the top. You can practically see CBS tipping their Red Sox caps to Peacock for the cross-promotion. (By the way, Rob might have been the biggest casting catch this season, but fellow Survivor Carolyn Wiger gave us the best performance as a Traitor.)

Stream on Peacock

The Aussie version of Survivor, hosted by actor Jonathan LaPaglia, has developed a cult following since its 2016 reboot. Some might argue that it’s [whispers] better than the original. Its producers have painstakingly recreated the U.S. edition’s golden age: longer seasons (47 days vs. our current 26), innovative challenges, newbie recruits, and deeply satisfying personal narratives. The last two contests, Heroes v. Villains (2023) and Titans v. Rebels (2024) were instant AU Mount Rushmore entries.

This year, the show’s 10th, is a major event. We’re getting two seasons instead of one: Brains v. Brawn II, which premiered mid-February, and the upcoming Australia v. the World, which pits AU’s own icons (David Genat, Shonee Bowtell, “King George” Mladenov) against U.S. legends (Parvati Shallow, Cirie Fields, Tony Vlachos—coincidentally, all Traitors alums) and a few other worldwide power players. It’s global Survivor’s Olympics, NBA Finals, and Super Bowl rolled into one game, and the cast is stacked even deeper than 2020’s epic Winners at War. Our prediction? This will make Survivor 50 look like a rock-paper-scissors match.

The premise is rather ridiculous—Joe Manganiello hosts strategy games on an island, which all result in someone playing (you guessed it) Deal or No Deal—but it’s a must-watch thanks to a Traitors-inspired reality clash. Four-time Survivor alum Parvati Shallow, a former winner and runner-up best known for an all-female alliance that destroyed every man in its path, has teamed up with the “Golden God” David Genat (pictured above), an Aussie model who happens to be an elite Australian Survivor winner. The fun part is that only Parvati knows his true CV. The pairing is fun on its own, but superfans know this is all juicy backstory for Australia vs. the World, which is said to reunite Shallow and Genat for an overseas showdown. Will they love each other? Want each other gone? DONDI might just be an extended prologue for the main event.

Stream on Peacock

As icons like Shallow, Vlachos, and Mariano venture away from CBS, Jeff and Co. are currently casting new fan favorites for Survivor’s 50th season, filming later this year. Survivor 50 is said to feature the series’ first all-star cast in six years. Its theme, “In the Hands of the Fans,” asks viewers to vote on key elements of the season. There’s an audible buzz around which players are getting “the call” and which early-era legends might actually make it through casting. Of course, two seasons will air beforehand: Survivor 48, which premiered February 26, and Survivor 49, likely in September. 

Stream on Paramount+