Top books & movies to look for in 2025

BY ASHTYN HANSARD

Digital Media Manager

With the start of a new year, many students are beginning to look forward to new projects arriving in 2025. Here’s a few movies and books coming soon that students should keep an eye out for.

Superman

For all DC and superhero fans, James Gunn, known for directing Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy and the 2002 live-action “Scooby-Doo” adaptation, is bringing his own adaptation of the famous hero to the screen.

 The new adaptation, titled “Superman,” is hitting the big screens on July 11 and will follow Clark Kent as he balances being a superhero and keeping his identity a secret.

Wicked: For Good

For everyone who saw “Wicked: Part 1” and was left sitting on the edge of their seats, the sequel to the Broadway adaptation releases on Nov. 21, exactly a year after the prequel’s release. 

The sequel will follow Elphaba and Glinda on their separate journeys after Elphaba is deemed as a “wicked witch.” We will also discover what Glinda and Elphaba are up to while Dorothy and her gang are following the yellow brick road to Oz.

How to Train Your Dragon

The animation world hasn’t been shy about making live-action adaptations of their previous films in recent years. On June 13, DreamWorks’ “How to Train Your Dragon” live-action film will be released in theaters. 

Mason Thames, most known for his role in “The Black Phone,” will star as Hiccup while Nico Parker, most known for her role in “The Last Of Us” as Sarah, will star as Astrid. It is believed that the movie will closely follow the plot of the first animated movie, but nothing has been confirmed.

Now You See Me 3

The third movie of the “Now You See Me” trilogy will be released on Nov. 14 in theaters. The cast from the first two movies will reprise their original roles, as well as add new cast members such as Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt and Justice Smith. The plot of the movie has not been announced, but I would make a guess to say it’s going to be the trilogy’s biggest movie yet.

28 Years Later

The third movie in the “28 Days Later” trilogy will be released on June 20 in theaters. Many fans, old and new, were captured by the trailer for the new movie. 

In the trailer, the poem “Boots” by Rudyard Kipling is recited in an ominous tone with instrumentals in the background. No words are spoken by any of the characters, truly capturing the eeriness of the series. 

The movie will follow a group of people still trying to survive almost three decades after the original outbreak. Many big movie stars, such as Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes will join the franchise.

While movies can be a major part of everyone’s lives, the new year may inspire some to get back into reading. Several promising books are coming out in 2025, including the ones listed below.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

The fifth addition in the “Hunger Games” series is being released on March 18. This book will follow the second District 12 victor, Haymitch Abernathy, as he gets reaped for the 50th games, also known as the second Quarter Quell.

Haymitch Abernathy is the last District 12 victor to get his story, most likely since it will be the most heartbreaking. Collins paired with “People Magazine” to release an excerpt from the first chapter of the new novel. In this excerpt, readers learn that Haymitch’s birthday occurs on Reaping Day. This is especially heartbreaking due to the fact that no child ever reaped from District 12 won since his victory, with the exception of Katniss and Peeta. 

We also learn about his family. He has a mother, who he calls Ma, a younger brother named Sid and a girlfriend named Lenore Dove. Some fans have begun to speculate if Lenore Dove is a descendant of the Covey, a group of performers we learn about in “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” due to her having two first names.

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

The third book of the “Empyrean” series was released earlier this month on Jan. 21. Fans were able to gather at Barnes and Noble stores near them to celebrate the book's release together and get limited editions of the new novel.

The series itself is described by Yarros as a “nonstop-thrilling adventure fantasy set in the brutal and competitive world of a military college for dragon riders.” 

Onyx Storm follows Violet Sorrengail and Xaden Riorson as they join together to continue their journey.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

 Henry is well-known for her romance books and the story she gives her characters. Some of her most known books are “Beach Read,” “Happy Place” and “People We Meet on Vacation.” So far, all five of her most recent novels have been picked up by different studios and are set to be produced into movies. Her new novel will be released on April 22.

“Great Big Beautiful Life” will follow Alice Scott, a writer waiting for her big break, and Hayden Anderson, a professional writer and Pulitzer-Prize winner, as they both enter a writing competition and compete for the chance to tell a very important story of a Margaret Ives, a daughter of a scandalous family.

Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green

Green is an author you may have heard of through his other books, such as “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Turtles All the Way Down” and “Looking for Alaska.” However, he is also very passionate about tuberculosis and how it can and has affected the world.

In this non-fiction book, set to release on March 18, Green tells the story of Henry, a young man who Green met while traveling with Partners In Health. “Everything Is Tuberculosis” describes Henry’s life with this disease while also writing about how the history of this disease has changed our world.

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes

 Moyes, most known for her “Me Before You” trilogy, will release another novel on Feb. 11. While Moyes has written several romance books, this novel will lean into a different kind of love.

“We All Live Here” will follow Lila Kennedy as she balances being a mother, a messy love life, her elderly stepfather moving in and her estranged biological father showing up at her doorstep. 

Moyes dives into family and how the meaning of family can mean different things to different people.

If you find yourself bored during the school year or just itching to find something new to watch, I recommend checking out these books and movies coming to us soon.