Alpha1Media launches A1Film Awards for 2025
London, UK (29 December 2025): Global media and entertainment firm Alpha1Media on December 29 launched its A1Film Awards for 2025, its 13th awards, highlighting the achievements of the global cinema industry over the year, termed a year of ‘Cinema: Survive & Envisage Potential’, with Hollywood’s top auteurs leading a charge to help global popular cinema in the face of global audiences seeing that fewer cinematic films are being made, fewer being released in cinemas, and even fewer such as those highlighted in the these awards, shining through.
Now in its 13th year, the A1Film Awards for 2025 highlights films, writers, producers, actors and directors, from Hollywood, Bollywood, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and the Far East which are reflective of the best of global popular cinema in 2025.
“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.
Alpha1Media on December 27, 2025, launched its A1Film Top 10 Films of 2025, celebrating the Top 10 Films of 2025, and from this list, Alpha1Media awards the following colleagues in the global film industry with the A1Film Awards 2025, recognising their achievements across the year.
“Now in its 13th year, the A1Film Awards List continues to be the only list of its kind, focusing on the achievements of our industry colleagues in global popular cinema over 2025,” said Ms. Maria Felce, Alpha1Media’s official spokesperson.
In total, the A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2025 has been awarded to stars of cinema including Julian McMahon, Michael Madsen, Terence Stamp, Hulk Hogan, George Foreman, Rob Reiner, James Foley, David Lynch, Ted Kotcheff, Jeannot Szwarc, Malcolm Jamal-Warner, George Wendt, Denis Arndt, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Tchéky Karyo, Peter Greene, Peter Kwong, Harris Yulin, Bruce Glover, Nicky Katt, Alon Aboutboul, Graham Greene, Rene Kirby, Jean Marsh, Prunella Scales, Patricia Routledge, Michelle Trachtenberg, Joan Plowright, Roberta Flack, Claudia Cardinale, Loni Anderson and Lalo Shifrin, Mike Rinder, Jim Shooter and Drew Struzan and in global cinema to Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Souleymane Cissé, Sayed Sadiq, Asrani, Manoj Kumar, Satish Shah, Yu Menglong, Yu Ming, Nei Suet, Tang Chia and Mohammad Bakri.
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2025 is given to Gene Hackman, the twice-Oscar winning Hollywood Golden Era actor and the first actor to portray the cinematic ‘Superman’ arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor, passed away on February 26, 2025, aged 95. Born in California in 1930, Hackman started his near 50-year acting career in 1956, before getting his first Best Actor Supporting nomination for the classic, ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ (1967), and then his second for ‘I Never Sang for My Father’ (1970). He then portrayed New York City Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in William Friedkin’s action thriller, ‘The French Connection’ (1971), making him a movie star and winning him the Oscar Best Actor. After that, he starred in ten films over the next three years, making him the most prolific actor in Hollywood during that time frame, with leading roles in films such as ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ (1972) and ‘Scarecrow’ (1973) alongside Al Pacino, which was his favourite role of his career and won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Conversation’ (1974), which also won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes. That same year, Hackman appeared in what would become one of his most famous comedic roles, as Harold the Blind Man in Mel Brooks’ ‘Young Frankenstein’. He then reprised his role in the sequel ‘French Connection II’ (1975) and was part of an all-star cast in the war film ‘A Bridge Too Far’ (1977). In a global role, Hackman would then become the first cinematic actor to portray Lex Luthor, the arch-nemesis of Superman, played by Christopher Reeve three times in the iconic ‘Superman: The Movie’ (1978), and then in its sequels in 1980 and 1987. In the 1980s, he starred in ‘Mississippi Burning’ (1988), for which he was nominated for a second-Best Actor Oscar and also in ‘The Package’ (1989). He began the 1990s starring with Anner Archer in ‘Narrow Margin’ (1990) before starring in Clint Eastwood’s Best Picture Oscar winner, ‘Unforgiven’, winning him a second Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. In the 1990s, famous roles included in John Grisham’s ‘The Firm’ (1993) with Tom Cruise, Tony Scott’s ‘Crimson Tide’ (1995) with Denzel Washington, in Clint Eastwood’s ‘Absolute Power’ (1997) and ‘Enemy of the State’ with Will Smith. Hackman received the Cecile B. DeMille Award in 2003 before retiring from acting in 2004 to pursue writing.
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2025 is given to Val Kilmer, the Hollywood iconic actor known for his roles as Iceman in ‘Top Gun’, as Batman in ‘Batman Forever’, Madmartigan in ‘Willow’, in Michael Mann’s ‘Heat’, as ‘The Saint’ and as ‘The Prince of Egypt’, passed away on April 1, 2025, aged 65. Born in California in 1959 of partial-Cherokee roots, Kilmer’s parents divorced in 1968 when he was 8 and his younger brother, Wesley, died in 1977 in a drowning accident at the age of 15. Kilmer became the youngest person to be accepted into the Juilliard School’s Drama Division at the age of 16. Declining a role in ‘The Outsiders’ (1983) due to theatre commitments, Kilmer’s big break in the movie came as the lead in ‘Top Secret!’ (1984) before being cast as Iceman, the rival to Tom Cruise’s Maverick in the iconic film, ‘Top Gun’ (1985), making him a major global movie star. His next major role was as Madmartigan in Ron Howard’s ‘Willow’ (1988) with Warwick Davis and Joanne Whalley, who he later married. In the 1990s, he starred to acclaim as singer Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s ‘The Doors’ (1991), cameoed as Elvis Presley in ‘True Romance’(1993), with a starring role with acclaim as Doc Holliday in ‘Tombstone’ (1993) with Kurt Russell. 1995 became a major year for Kilmer, cast as the iconic Batman in ‘Batman Forever’ (1995), succeeding Michael Keaton and then starring with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in Michael Mann’s iconic ‘Heat’, even being the only actor featured on the poster with the two leads. In 1996, he starred with Marlon Brando in ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’ and with Michael Douglas in ‘The Ghost and the Darkness’. Kilmer in 1997 then starred as Simon Templar in ‘The Saint’ with Elisabeth Shue, directed by Philip Noyce. In 1998, he voiced Moses in the animated ‘The Prince of Egypt’ under DreamWorks and then in 1999, starred opposite Mira Sorvino in ‘At First Sight’. The 2000s started with Kilmer as the lead in ‘Red Planet’(2000) and then as Philip of Macedonia in Oliver Stone’s ‘Alexander’ (2004). Kilmer also had a key supporting role opposite Denzel Washington in Tony Scott’s ‘Deja Vu’ (2006). With health problems from 2015, Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer, losing much of his voice. In 2021, Val Kilmer released the documentary, ‘Val’, about his life and career much to acclaim, and based on footage Kilmer himself too. In 2022, in his last major film role, Kilmer reprised his role as Iceman opposite Tom Cruise’s Maverick in the mega-blockbuster, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’. Alpha1Media CEO Talal Malik as a guest attended the European Premiere of ‘The Saint’ in Leicester Square, London on April 14, 1997, attended by Val Kilmer, and also where Talal Malik met supermodel Yasmin Le Bon. “It was a pleasure to attend Val Kilmer’s Premiere of ‘The Saint’ in 1997 in celebration of him and his iconic career, which it is befitting to have bookended by ‘Top Gun’ and its sequel,” said Talal Malik. “Our condolences to his family, friends and fans.”
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2025 is given to Robert Redford Robert Redford, the iconic American Hollywood golden actor, director and founder of the Sundance Film Festival, passed away on September 16, 2025, aged 89. Born in Santa Monica, California, Redford started in television before finding leading man status in 1967 with ‘Barefoot in the Park’ with Jane Fonda. Then, opposite great friend and icon actor, Paul Newman, Redford found iconic global superstardom in 1969 with ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’, playing the latter which would give its name to the Sundance Film Festival and Institute, the world’s leading film festival for independent film which he co-founded in 1981. In 1972, he was in ‘The Candidate’, before teaming up again with Newman in 1973 for ‘The Sting’, which got him a Best Actor nomination. Redford’s stardom continued with roles in films such as ‘The Way We Were’ (1973) with Barbra Streisand, as ‘The Great Gatsby’ (1974) with Mia Farrow, and the Watergate thriller, ‘All the President’s Men’with Dustin Hoffman. In 1980, Redford made his directorial film debut with the family drama, ‘Ordinary People’, which won four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. In 1984, he starred in the baseball drama, ‘The Natural’, and in 1985, in ‘Out of Africa’, opposite Meryl Streep which was a box office hit which won the Best Picture Oscar. In 1986, he starred in ‘Legal Eagles’, with Debra Winger and Daryll Hannah. In 1992, he starred in cyber-thriller, ‘Sneakers’, with Sidney Poitier and River Phoenix and also directed ‘A River Runs Through It’, with a young Brad Pitt, seen as then then potential next generation golden blonde-hair star. In 1993, he starred in ‘Indecent Proposal’, with Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson. In 1994, he directed ‘Quiz Show’ with Ralph Fiennes, followed by starring roles opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in ‘Up Close & Personal’ (1996), with a title song by Celine Dion, and then in ‘The Horse Whisperer’ (1998) with Kristin Scott Thomas. In the 2000s, he directed Matt Damon and Will Smith in ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’(2000) and then starred in ‘The Last Castle’ (2001) opposite James Gandolfini, before re-teaming with Pitt, this time as an actor, in ‘Spy Game’. In 2007, following the Iraq War, he directed and starred in ‘Lions for Lambs’, with Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise with the film debut of Andrew Garfield. In 2013, Redford starred in ‘All is Lost’, directed by J.C. Chandor, about a man lost at sea. Global audiences last saw Redford in 2014 as Alexander Pierce, the main antagonist of ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, before he reprised the role in global smash hit, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2018), his final on-screen appearance.
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2025 is given to Diane Keaton, the legendary Hollywood actress of ‘The Godfather’ trilogy and Oscar-winning ‘Annie Hall’, passed away on October 11, 2025, aged 79. Born in Los Angeles, Keaton came to global prominence in her first major film role as Kay Adams-Corleone, the wife then former wife of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone, auteur Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic trilogy, ‘The Godfather’ (1972), a role she reprised in its sequels ‘The Godfather Part II’ (1974) and ‘The Godfather Part III’ (1990). Of Pacino, Keaton famously said, “Al’s face is like whoa. Killer, killer face.” She also frequently collaborated with auteur Woody Allen, including their fourth collaboration, as the titular ‘Annie Hall’ (1977), winning her the Best Actress Oscar and a TIME Cover. She was also Oscar-nominated for ‘Reds’ with Warren Beatty (1981), ‘Marvin’s Room’ (1996) and ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ (2003), four nominations over four decades. In 1987, she starred in ‘Baby Boom’ and directed Belinda Carlisle’s video for the chart-topping hit ‘Heaven Is a Place on Earth’. In 1991, she starred opposite Steve Martin in ‘Father of the Bride’ and its 1995 sequel. In 1993, she starred in ‘Manhattan Murder Mystery’ by Allen and in 1996, ‘The First Wives Club’ with Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler. In 2010, Keaton with Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams in ‘Morning Glory’ and in 2016, voiced amnesiac fish Dory’s mother in ‘Finding Dory’.
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2025 is given to Dharmendra, the iconic Bollywood leading man of films like uber-blockbuster ‘Sholay’, passed away on November 24, 2025, aged 89. Born Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol in Bombay, British India, Dharmendra became monomously known by his first name after winning Filmfare magazine’s nationally organised new talent award in the last 1950s. In the 1960s, Dharmendra made his film debut in 1961, before gaining prominence in 1964 with ‘Ayee Milan Ki Bela’ before becoming a star in 1966 with ‘Phool aur Patthar’. In the 1970s, he started the decade with superhit four films with his soon to be second polygamous wife, actress Hema Malini. In 1971, he became known as Bollywood’s He-Man after starring in hit action film, ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’. with consecutive superhits in the next few years. In 1975, he starred ‘Chupke Chupke’ with then-upcoming actor Amitabh Bachchan. Later in 1975, Dharmendra then starred as the main lead in Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Sholay’, which became the most iconic film in Indian cinema history, with one of the longest theatrical run, and also was the breakout stardom role for Amitabh Bachchan, who would go on to become a Bollywood one-man industry, with their famous duo song, ‘Yeh Dosti’. Dharmendra starred with Indian star Jeetendra in ‘Dharam Veer’ which was also a huge hit, and once again teamed up with Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Ram Balram’ in 1981. Dharmendra was also the lead supercameo as himself in the major Indian masala blockbuster film, ‘Naseeb’, during the song, ‘ John Jani Janardan’ sung by Mohammed Rafi and portrayed by the ascendant Amitabh Bachchan. In 1983, Dharmendra starred opposite his wife Hema Malini in the epic, and at the time most expensive movie in India, ‘Razia Sultan’. In 1987, Dharmendra has 8 successful films such as ‘Hukumat’. In 1997, he received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, four decades after his winner as the new talent.
The A1Film Best Screenplay Award 2025 is awarded to excellent American auteur, Paul Thomas Anderson, for ‘One Battle After Another’, starring an ensemble of Hollywood iconic actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro. Alpha1Media described ‘One Battle After Another’ as ‘Auteur Paul Thomas Anderson joins US dystopian civil war genre and laughs with stellar ensemble of Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro with Chase Infiniti, iconic phrases include ‘Peter Parker’, ‘Tom Cruise.” Thomas Anderson has been Oscar-nominated five times for his film screenplays which he has directed as an auteur, including ‘Boogie Nights’, ‘Magnolia’, ‘There Will Be Blood’, ‘Inherent Vice’ and ‘Licorice Pizza’. Thomas Adnerson also co-produced the movie, which marks his first film with DiCaprio after they were not able to work in ‘Boogie Nights’ in 1997, and also namechecked Tom Cruise who starred in his film ‘Magnolia’ in 1999, (both Oscar-nominated screenplays) with his film, ‘There Will Be Blood’ starring three-time Oscar winning iconic actor Daniel Day-Lewis with acclaimed actor Paul Dano regarded as one of the best films of the 21st Century. ‘Battle After Another’ is not only critically acclaimed, but his highest-grossing film making over USD $200 million at the global box office.
The A1Film Best Actor Award 2025 is awarded to Hollywood iconic actor Brad Pitt for ‘F1: The Movie’, No. 1 on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2025. Brad Pitt has only ever been featured once before on the A1Film Top 10 Films or the A1Film Awards, which was for ‘Bullet Train’, No. 8 on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2022. As a movie star actor, Brad Pitt’s films have grossed over USD $7.5 billion at the global box office, and he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ (2019). He has also received a Best Picture Oscar as a Producer (as well as appearing in the film as a supporting actor) for ‘12 Years A Slave’ (2013). Brad Pitt, along with Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Pheonix and Oscar-winning auteur Alfonso Cuaron are executive producers on the Gaza-set 2025 real-life film, ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’, written and directed by acclaimed Tunisian auteur, Kaouther Ben Hania. “There are few global movie star actors who could have the iconic ‘Cometh the Man’ solo walk-on as done for ‘F1: The Movie’, bear the main performance for the movie, and be that humanely inspirational as Brad Pitt did,” said Talal Malik. “Well-deserved and well-earned.”
The A1Film Best Actress Award 2025 is awarded to Zoe Saldaña for ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, No. 2 on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2025. Saldaña’s work on the A1Film Top 10 Films and A1Film Awards began more than a decade ago when she was part of an ensemble that helped Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ become No. 9 on the A1Film Top Films of 2014; in 2018, Saldaña was also part of the ensemble that helped Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ become No. 1 on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2018 and the Best Picture on the A1Film Awards 2018; reprising her role again for ‘Avengers: Endgame’ become No. 1 on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2019 and the Best Picture on the A1Film Awards 2019; and then also reprised her role from James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster movie, ‘Avatar’, for its sequel, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, which became No. 2 for the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2022 and won James Cameron Best Director for the A1Film Awards 2022. Saldaña has starred in four of the seven highest-grossing films of all time, including the top three: ‘Avatar’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’. Saldaña has appeared in have grossed more than $15 billion worldwide, making her the highest-grossing actress ever. In 2024, Saldaña starred in the French musical crime film, ‘Emilia Pérez’, for which she won the Best Picture Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
The A1Film Best Director Award 2025 is awarded to Canadian Hollywood blockbuster icon auteur James Cameron for ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, No. 2 on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2025. James Cameron in 2009 wrote and directed the sci-fi blockbuster epic, ‘Avatar’, and then its sequel, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, which became No. 2 for the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2022 and won him Best Director for the A1Film Awards 2022.
The A1Film Best Picture Award 2025 is awarded to Canadian Hollywood blockbuster icon auteur and producer James Cameron and fellow producer, the late Jon Landau, for ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, No. 1 on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2025. Alpha1Media described ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ as “Iconic world-class Canadian auteur James Cameron accomplishes phenomenal 3rd part in Avatar 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.” Cameron, on the basis of Top 5 ever, is the world’s highest milestone-grossing auteur ever, highest milestone-grossing writer, the highest-milestone grossing producer and one of the highest milestone-grossing directors ever, with ‘Avatar’ in 2009 the highest-grossing film ever at USD $2.93 billion, the third-highest at ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ in 2022 at USD $2.34 billion, and the fourth-highest at ‘Titanic’ in 1997 at USD $2.257 billion, with all three nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, with Cameron winning Best Director and Best Picture Oscars in 1998 for ‘Titanic’. James Cameron is also the first director, writer and auteur ever to have four consecutive films gross over USD $1 billion at the global box office. “James Cameron has pushed the innovation boundaries of cinema decade after decade, but ‘Avatar’, with this installment as well as the trilogy as a whole, in time will prove its worth not just for its film-making, and not just for his scaled world-building IP, but rather the themes it has addressed globally using the medium of cinema such as Indigenous peoples, colonial settler movements, resistance movements, environmental sustainability on land and in the seas and oceans, and much more,” said Talal Malik. “Well-deserved, well-earned, and well-done, James Cameron.”
The Avatar trilogy’s co-producer with James Cameron was Jon Landau, who both met in 1993 when Landau was a 20th Century Fox studio executive, overseeing Cameron’s movie, ‘True Lies’, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Art Malik. Cameron then “lured” Landau away from Fox to join Cameron at his company, Lightstorm. Landa would produce Titanic, which would win him the Best Picture Oscar and become the highest-grossing film of all time, the first evet to reach USD $1 billion at the global box office. Landa and Cameron then collaborated to produce the Avatar trilogy to both global milestone commercial and critical acclaim, shortly before Landau’s death from cancer in July 2024, with Cameron stating that it was Landau who was the heart of the Avatar family” and “the centre of gravity of our bubble universe.” Landau’s memoir, ‘The Bigger Picture: My Blockbuster Life & Lessons Learned Along the Way’, written after his cancer diagnosis, was published in November 2025, featuring a foreword by Cameron.
At the launch of the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2025, it was said, “‘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 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 Films of 2025 in order are 1) ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, 2) ‘F1: The Movie’, 3) ‘One Battle After Another’, 4) ‘Sinners’, 5) ‘Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning’, 6) ‘Superman’, 7) ‘The Alto Knights’, 8) ‘Mickey 17’, 9) ‘Thunderbolts’ and 10) ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’.
There have been many films in 2025 which outside of the scope of the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2025, either due to limited theatrical releases globally, not representative of There have been many films in 2025 which are outside of the scope of the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2025, 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 Preview for 2026, highlighting the forthcoming movies that global cinema audiences can enjoy, as well as the A1Film Calendar 2026.
Alpha1Media (Media. ENHANCED) is a global media and entertainment firm. In the film sector, Alpha1Media focuses on film development, production, financing and cultural advisory services.