London, UK (27 December 2025): Global media and entertainment firm Alpha1Media on December 27 launched its annual list of the top 10 best films from around the world which global cinema audiences enjoyed in 2025, spearheaded by some of Hollywood’s top auteurs but despite increasingly challenges and competition to not only global cinema but global film-making which the public is increasingly becoming aware of.
The A1Film Top 10 Movies of 2025 surveys and highlights films from Hollywood, Bollywood, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Far East, which are reflective of the best of global popular cinema in 2025,Alpha1Media said.
“At the start of the year, I had stated that 2025 ‘must be a year of ‘Cinema: Survive, then Thrive & Globalise’, where there is a need for a greater globalisation, co-operation and collaboration across the global film industry to make original, global story-telling a reality as the global cinema release unfolds,’” said Talal Malik, Founding CEO and Writer-Producer of Alpha1Media. “The truth is that it was just probably more akin to ‘Cinema: Survive and Envisage Potential’, as though the likes of Hollywood’s top auteurs such as James Cameron, Joseph Kosinski, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler and Christopher McQuarrie spearheaded a charge for a return to form at the global box office, the global cinema and movie-going public is increasingly becoming aware of a greater absence of regular major theatrical releases, unnecessary or poor-quality legacy sequels from Hollywood, a rise in valuable films by auteurs missing global audiences through streaming-only releases, amid a backdrop of Skydance merging with Paramount and Warner Bros being part of a bidding war between Netflix and Paramount-Skydance.”
“Despite major auteur-successes like ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ and ‘F1: The Movie’, audiences also saw that the superhero genre ultimately failed to deliver on the highs of yesteryear, despite reboot of ‘Superman’, a new ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ and a Marvel reboot for ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’; there were unnecessary legacy remakes such as ‘Predator: Badlands’ (despite 7.5 on IMDB) and ‘The Running Man’; Oscar-winning directors like Guillermo del Toro and Kathryn Bigelow made ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘House of Dynamite’ for Netflix, with global cinema audiences missing out, contrasted with the misfortune of other Oscar-winning film-makers like like Francis Ford Coppola who chose to self-fund films with limited theatrical distribution; Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson with legendary ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Casino’ writer Nicholas Pillegi made ‘The Alto Knights’ with the iconic Robert De Niro in a double role, with a limited global release; a lack of crossover movies from India and China in the global cinema, with only two of the top 10 highest grossing Indian films of 2025 featuring Hindi actors from Bollywood; survive was key as less cinematic movies are being made, and even less were being shown in the cinema, but that the like of ‘Envisage Potential’ was still there with the release of James Cameron’s ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’.”
Global box offices revenues as projected by cinema analytical firm Gower Street Analytics are estimated to be at USD $33.5 billion in 2024, up from 2024 at USD $30 billion from but down from 2023 at USD $33.9 billion, and still far are from pre-pandemic revenues in 2019 at USD $42.3 billion, with 2026 expected to be at USD $35 billion.
Alpha1Media Founding CEO and Writer-Producer Talal Malik in February represented Alpha1Media at Berlinale – The 75h Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany; attended US President Donald J. Trump’s first in-person address to an international audience on global governance & public policy on February 19, 2025 in Miami, USA as part of the the Public Investment Fund’s FII Priority Summit, also meeting with Tony Vinciquerra, non-executive Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and former Chairman and CEO from 2017-2025, discussing Sony’s Spider-Man rights as well as Alpha1Media’s global film slate; in April, conducted his first skydive in Melbourne, Australia, as featured in the short film, ‘Man of Tomorrow’, the latter of which was announced as the title of the new Superman film on September 3; in May, attended the 78th edition of the Festival de Cannes in Cannes, France, where Alpha1Media launched their Sovereign IP slate for global cinema, including meeting with Hollywood bible, Variety; in June, was one of the rare attendees at both the comedy GOAT David Chapelle’s new original set show in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and then in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in October, which mad global headlines before Chappelle’s end of year blockbuster comedy special on Netflix, ‘David Chappelle: The Unstoppable’; in September, attended the Cultural Investment Conference, and met with Lord Ed Vaizey, former UK Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, responsible for helping bring major Hollywood productions like ‘Marvel’ and ‘Star Wars’ to the UK; in October, attended the prestigious Joy Forum, meeting with ‘John Wick’ creator, Derek Kolstad, and attending the first dialogue session in a decade of Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan; in October, attended the Saudi Film Confex, featuring iconic Hollywood actor Johnny Depp and attended the Public Investment Fund’s 9th Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and in December, the 5th Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, including the VIP Closing Ceremony with guests such as Sir Anthony Hopkins, Salman Khan, Idris Elba and Riz Ahmed.
At the start of 2025, as part of the A1Film Preview for 2025, Talal Malik had said, “In 2025, with the devastating fires across Los Angeles at the start of the year, amalgamated with various industry disruptions post-COVID, streaming, AI and the industry strikes, are a reminder that 2025 must be a year of ‘Cinema: Survive, then Thrive & Globalise’, where there is a need for a greater globalisation, co-operation and collaboration across the global film industry to make original, global story-telling a reality as the global cinema release unfolds: DC Studios Co-Head (with Peter Safran) James Gunn is the auteur behind the launch of the DCU with its first film with the first comic book superhero, ‘Superman’, starring David Corenswet in the iconic role, with its YouTube trailer becoming the fifth-highest most viewed trailer in history, and follows the end of a decade of the DCEU with Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’ being No. 2 on the A1Film Top 10 Movies 2013, with lead Henry Cavill winning Best Actor at the inaugural A1Film Awards 2013, and appearing in the role five times across the decade; iconic Canadian Oscar-winning auteur James Cameron comes with the third installment of the mega-blockbuster franchise ‘Avatar’ with ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, No. 2 on the A1Film Top Movies 2022; South Korean Oscar-winning auteur Bong Joon-Ho goes to the sci-fi fantasy genre with Robert Pattinson of ‘Tenet’ and ‘The Batman’ in ‘Mickey 17’, after winning Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for ‘Parasite’, No. 4 on the A1Film Top Movies 2019 and Best Foreign Picture on the A1Film Awards 2019; American auteur Ryan Coogler teams up with frequent acting collaborator, Michael B. Jordan, for ‘Sinners’, with their ‘Rocky’ spin-off, ‘Creed’, being No. 1 on the A1Film Top Movies 2015, and both winning five in A1Film Awards 2015 for ‘Creed’ including Best Picture and Best Screenplay, and ‘Black Panther’ No. 4 on the A1Film Top Movies 2019, and ‘Black Panter: Wakanda Forever’, No. 5 on the A1Film Top Movies 2022; there is then a choice between two generations of Italian-American actors with ‘Alto Knights/ Wise Guys’, directed by Oscar-winner Barry Levinson, written by ‘Goodfellas’ writer, Nicholas Pileggi and starring the iconic Robert De Niro, Lifetime Achievement Award Winner in the A1Film Awards 2019 with auteur Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘The Battle of Baktan Cross’, starring the iconic Leonardo DiCaprio with Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro, with both De Niro and DiCaprio last appearing together in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, joint No. 2 on the A1Film Top Movies 2023and twice-award winner at the A1Film Awards 2023; ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ is a major Marvel release with ‘The Falcon’ actor, Anthony Mackie, getting his lead film after taking the shield from former Captain America, Chris Evans, in the iconic ‘Avengers: Endgame’, No. 1 on the A1Film Top Movies 2019 and Best Picture at the A1Film Awards 2019, starring opposite the iconic Harrison Ford, Lifetime Achievement Award Winner in the A1Film Awards 2015; Marvel’s first family gets its second cinematic reboot but first under Marvel, with ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’, starring Pedro Pascal, from ‘Gladiator II’, as ‘Mister Fantastic’, Vanessa Kirby, from “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ and ‘Napoleon’, as ‘Invisible Woman’, Joseph Quinn, from ‘Gladiator II’, as ‘Human Torch’, and newcomer Ebon Moss-Bachrach as ‘The Thing’; iconic Hollywood movie star, Tom Cruise, who starred in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, No. 1 on the A1Film Top Movies 2022, winning Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Producer in the A1Film Awards 2022, stars in the eighth installment of his franchise, ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’, following from ‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One’, joint No. 5 on the A1Film Top Movies 2023; ‘Training Day’ and ‘Bullet Train’ director Antoine Fuqua works with Oscar-winning British producer Graham King for ‘The Departed’ to bring ‘Michael’, the first official biopic of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, starring his nephew, Jaafar Jackson, son of Jermaine Jackson, as the iconic music superstar; and ‘Karate Kid: Legends’ finally combines the original Karate Kid trilogy star of the 1980s, legendary Ralph Macchio, with his current steaming smash global hit, ‘Cobra Kai’, with legendary Hong Kong movie star, Jackie Chan, Lifetime Achievement Winner at the A1Film Awards 2017, and who starred in the reboot, ‘The Karate Kid’ in 2010.”
The A1Film Top 10 Movies of 2025 List in order:
- ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ – IMDB: 7.5 (The Intelligent Blockbuster, Franchise, Sequel)
AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH – Iconic world-class Canadian auteur @JimCameron
accomplishes phenomenal 3rd part in @officialavatar trilogy of archetype indigenous resistance against colonial settlers in 30th year of first draft of new global IP, exploring warranted mature darker themes – well-deserved, well-earned and well, done James Cameron @Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media #A1Film
https://x.com/Alpha1Media/status/2004357123095085559
- ‘F1: The Movie’ – IMDB: 7.7 (The Intelligence Blockbuster, Genre)
@F1Movie – Auteur #JosephKosinski successfully creates a new blockbuster sub-genre of action like ‘Die Hard, with ‘One Last Shot’ ‘Top Gun Maverick with @F1 cars, #BradPitt starring, strong support by #JavierBardem – it’s Top Gear Formulaic F1 @Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media #A1Film
https://x.com/Alpha1Media/status/1940065254643572912
- ‘One Battle After Another’ – IMDB: 8 (The Intelligent Film, Genre, Political Thriller)
@onebattlemovie – Auteur @pta3000joins US dystopian civil war genre + laughs with stellar ensemble of @LeoDiCaprio, #SeanPenn @BenicioDelToro with @chaseinfiniti, iconic phrases include ‘Peter Parker’, ‘Tom Cruise” @Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media #A1Film #onebattleafteranother
https://x.com/Alpha1Media/status/1973115648105484413
- ‘Sinners’ – IMDB: 7.6 (The Intelligent Film, Horror)
SINNERS – Auteur #RyanCoogler with Double #MichaelBJordaneither create an unflinchingly brutal topical allegory about dynamics in America for race, repentance, redemption – or a segregation era vampire flick @Alpha1Media#Alpha1Media #A1Film @SinnersMovie
https://x.com/Alpha1Media/status/1915467752585707821
- ‘Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning’ – IMDB: 7.2 (The Franchise)
@MissionFilm – THE FINAL RECKONING – Befitting tribute to 30 year franchise helmed by superstar @TomCruiseuniquely doing centrepiece stunts on land, ocean and air which have thrilled audiences, and inspired adrenaline bucket lists, worldwide – thank you @alpha1media
https://x.com/Alpha1Media/status/1925580536845607254
- ‘Superman’ – IMDB: 7.1 (The Blockbuster – DC Superheroes, Reboot)
@Superman – Auteur @JamesGunn ups vibrance & brightness of colour palette with topical immigrant #Superman in US amid invasion of Jahranpur / Ukraine & Palestine admirable #DavidCorenswet debut + Krypto, missteps on peripheral character platform vs standalone & parental abandon
https://x.com/Alpha1Media/status/1944082403439653122
- ‘The Alto Knights’– IMDB: 5.9 (The Crime-Thriller)
THE ALTO KNIGHTS – Iconic Robert DeNiro in double-role demonstrating amazing acting shops in crime thriller written by Goodfellas and Casino’s Nicolas Pileggi and directed by Rain Man’s Barry Levinson flies under the global radar due to nonsensical lack of theatrical push
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21815562/
- ‘Mickey 17’ – IMDB: 6.7 (The Original)
MICKEY 17 – What Bong Joon Ho did after the Oscar for Parasite is using Repeat Day SciFi genre with topical political allegory which is similar to what James Cameron did for Avatar – interesting valiant attempt, welcome turns by Pattinson and Ruffalo @Alpha1Media @Mickey17Movie
https://x.com/Alpha1Media/status/1913878884396720247
- ‘Thunderbolts’ – IMDB: 7.1 (The Blockbuster – Marvel Superheroes)
THUNDERBOLTS – An unusual yet workable MCU version of Suicide Squad which starts as a primer and as a streamer, moves to cinematic and then becomes psychological study like 2003 Ang Lee Hulk @Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media#A1Film #thunderbolts #newavengers @NewAvengersNews
https://x.com/Alpha1Media/status/1921449235133653075
- ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ – IMDB: 6.9 (The Blockbuster – Marvel Superheroes, Reboot)
THE @FantasticFour: FIRST STEPS – Surprisingly exceeds expectations semi-sequelised MCU reboot which genuinely centres 1960s story and characters around real family, especially nuclear, trumps other franchise eyeroll wordplay on ‘family’, upto a resounding finale, #fantasticfour
https://x.com/Alpha1Media/status/1948448716676825530
“‘‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ tops the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2025 based on its being a spectacular installment in a global world-class new IP created by iconic Canadian auteur James Cameron in 1995 that has topped the global three times in the 21st Century, with Cameron a world-class master storyteller who delivers a phenomenal film which does not disappoint, a filmmaker who has championed the global cinema theatrical experience with 3D, 2D and more, with the vision, the words, the visuals, and characters largely all created by one man, with the topics addressed including legitimate indigenous resistance, colonial settler projects, natural resource exploitation, protection of the environment from systematic degradation, all being highly timely,” said Mr. Talal Malik, CEO of Alpha1Media, about the top movie in the A1Film Top 10 Movies List of 2025, with its predecessor, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ was No. 2 on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2022 and James Cameron winning Best Director for it with the A1Film Awards 2022. “With contributions to global iconic top films such as ‘Point Break’ (executive producer, uncredited writing, 1991) ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’, ‘Titanic’ with his Best Director and Best Picture Oscar, ‘Spider-Man’ (uncredited writing, 2002), and now the trilogy of ‘Avatar’ topping the global box office time and time again, James Cameron is and has been a once in a lifetime cinematic storytelling tour de force, which studios around the world should look to study and develop a new generation of filmmakers from.”
Speaking about the major themes in ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash,’ Cameron in an interview with American journalist Brandon Davis on YouTube on 19 December 2025 stated, “We go down, we go into Tulkun culture and they say, ‘You know, killing only leads to more killing,’ an endless expanding spiral, right? And that’s the world we live in right now, that’s what we have seen. We’ve seen it in Gaza, we’ve seen in in Sudan, we’ve seen it in Ukraine. And you know, you are doing an action movie, people are going to fight, right? But are you fighting for a just cause? Are you fighting for what you believe in? Are you fighting from a place of hatred or revenge? There are some fights that are righteous, and total annihilation is a reason to fight – it’s existential.” In the AMC documentary series in 2018, ‘James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction’, James Cameron in an extended interview with fellow iconic Hollywood auteur George Lucas, who preceded Cameron with the creation of the global IP of ‘Star Wars’, said about his perspective on Lucas’ work that “In Star Wars, the good guys are the rebels: they’re using asymmetric warfare against a highly organised empire. I think we call those guys ‘terrorists’ today: we call them Mujahideen.”
“The A1Film Top 10 Movies List for 2025 also commends Brad Pitt and Joseph Kosinski for ‘F1: The Movie’ which grossed USD $631.4 million as not only the highest-grossing auto-racing film, but also the highest-grossing film by Apple Studio, and also the highest-grossing film of Brad Pitt’s career: it was not being included in A1Film Preview 2025Quintessential List, but in hindsight being 20/20 should have, considering ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ was No. 1 on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2022, won the A1Film Awards 2022 for Best Picture, Best Screenplay for co-writing credit for Ehren Kruger, Best Producer for Jerry Bruckheimer and Best Picture, and the reason why it won No. 2 here is because it was original, human and globally-inspiring,” said Maria Felce, Head of Talent and Media at Alpha1Media. “At No. 3 there isLeonardo Di Caprio choosing to team up with Paul Thomas Anderson to do a very real, human and topical story in ‘One Battle After Another’ which is the highest-ranked on IMDB from the list at 8/10, and has grossed $202 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of auteur Paul Thomas Anderson’s career; and highlights ‘Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning’ at No. 5 for being the final installment of Hollywood iconic superstar Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible’ series after 30 years of inspiring global audiences, with Tom Cruise winning Best Actor at the A1Film Awards 2022 for ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ with ‘Mission Impossible: Fallout’ featured at No. 7 in the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2018.”
“I would personally like to congratulate Tom Cruise on the completion of his ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise after thirty years as well as his Honorary Oscar given on November 16, 2025,” said Talal Malik, CEO of Alpha1Media. “From personally being a guest at the European World Premiere of ‘Mission: Impossible’ in London in 1996, to the World Premiere of ‘Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol’ in Dubai in 2011, to being at this year’s Festival de Cannes after the Gala Premiere of ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’, these movies have covered my own timeline in the film industry, with ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ directly inspiring the revivification of Alpha1Media and its various initiatives – thank you, Tom Cruise, and many congratulations once again.”
Seven of the Top 10 films selected by Alpha1Media at the start of 2025 have been recognised in the Quintessential section of the official A1Film Preview List of 2025, namely, ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, ‘One Battle After Another’, ‘Sinners’, ‘Superman’, ‘Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning’, ‘The Alto Knights’, ‘Mickey 17’, and ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’.
There have been many films in 2025 which are outside of the scope of the A1Film Top 10 + List, either due to limited theatrical releases globally, not representative of global popular cinema, delayed international release, specifically largely for one demographic, being primarily released on streaming platforms, for under-performance or deserve notable or honourable mentions such as international features such as ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’, ‘Palestine 36’, ‘All That’s Left of You’, ‘Sirat’, ‘Belen’, ‘It Was Just an Accident’, ‘Sound of Falling’, ‘Homebound’, ‘The President’s Cake’, ‘Kokuho’, ‘No Other Choice’, ‘Late Shift’, ‘Left-Handed Girl’, box office hits such as ‘Nhe Zha 2’, ‘Zootopia 2’, ‘Lilo & Stitch’, ‘Elio’, ‘KPop Demon Hunters’, ‘A Minecraft Movie’, ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’, ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle’, ‘How to Train Your Dragon’, ‘Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1’, ‘War 2’, and ‘Detective Chinatown 1900’ and Oscar contenders or honourable mention such as ‘Hamnet’, ‘Sentimental Value’, ‘Wicked for Good’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Marty Supreme’, ‘Train Dreams’, ‘Bugonia’, ‘Blue Moon’, ‘Couture’, ‘Nouvelle Vague’, ‘Black Bag’, ‘A House of Dynamite’, ‘Warfare’, ‘Weapons’, ‘Eddington’, ‘Eternity’, ‘Relay’, and ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’.
Alpha1Media will release the A1Film Awards 2025, celebrating the achievements of global popular cinema in 2025, the A1Film Preview for 2026 and the A1Film Calendar 2026.
Alpha1Media (Media. ENHANCED) is a global media and entertainment firm. In the film sector, Alpha1Media focuseson film development, production, financing and cultural advisory services.