The bean counters might say otherwise, but 2025 was a good year for movies.

Filmmakers working in and out of the studio system managed to make bold, personal, wildly imaginative and singular works. Some of them even broke through to the mainstream — how extraordinary that “Sinners” is among the highest earning of the year in North America, alongside all those “safe” sequels, reboots and known brands? Most, however, are more likely destined for cult classic status.

Hollywood as we know it is undergoing seismic changes, with yet another studio, Warner Bros., staring down a possible merger. This an industry that's always under threat, though, and always seems to figure something out. If anything, 2025 was also a year in which audiences showed that they still crave the theatrical experience,

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