Here’s a quick look at what we can expect from 2025…
COVER STORY
Years – they just keep coming. Like, we just got rid of one, and here’s another one already. And we didn’t even get the chance to catch a breather in between. How is that fair!
But another year it is, and here we are, stuck in the hamster wheel of life, trying to
distract ourselves from the pointlessness of it all by consuming and being consumed by our incessant desire for consumption. (What do you mean we should see a therapist?)
Good news though, there will be plenty of things this year that will keep us distracted so that we don’t have to spend too much time with our own thoughts.
Here’s a quick look at what we can expect from 2025…
We’ll begin with a super bold prediction, which is hence: world peace will remain elusive this year. “But Sam,” you might say, “maybe this is the year humankind will finally learn to get along.” I sure do appreciate your optimism, dear reader, but I fear imminent world peace is about as likely as me figuring out how to lick my own elbow. Outlook not so good, you guys. (Also, why would anyone want to lick their elbow? Eww?)
Anyway, shocking no one, there will be wars, massacres, attacks, skirmishes.
Countries – including Ecuador (February), Philippines (May), Bolivia (August), Tanzania (October), Chile (November), Singapore (no later than November), and possibly Bangladesh – will elect new governments. And Donald Trump will lead the world’s most powerful country (January onwards), while both the left and the right continue to be mindbogglingly problematic.
Meanwhile, the various - isms – sexism, racism, classism, ablism, agism… – will continue to plague humanity; we will continue hoping someone finally manages to put corporate greed on Ozempic; and women will continue to choose the bear.
Franchises will, as always, be all over cinemas this year, because originality is clearly frowned upon in the box office-oriented quarters of Hollywood.
If you are still a loyal fan of the struggling Marvel Cinematic Universe, then you’ll be pleased to find Captain America: Brave New World (February), Thunderbolts* (May), and The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July) on the big screen (and various MCU shows on the small screen over at Disney+). If you like DC, then Superman is back (July) – yet again – to make us wonder – yet again – how many Superman movies the world really needs. (Although this one is directed by James Gunn, so … ok, we’ll take it.) Sony, meanwhile, is said to not be developing any further projects in its Spider-Man Universe (SSU), so small mercies, we guess?
Elsewhere, Ethan Hunt will return in the final – but, like, probably not really final – Mission: Impossible film The Final Reckoning (May). If you want more familiar names, then there’s also Karate Kid: Legends (May), 28 Years Later (June), M3GAN 2.0 (June), Jurassic World Rebirth (July), Freakier Friday (August), Avatar: Fire and Ash (December), and just about everything that someone in Hollywood thought would make a couple of bucks on the back of its predecessors’ success. And the second part of Wicked will be out in November so at least we can take some solace in the knowledge that the Wicked promotional campaign will finally come to an end.
There will also be live-action versions of Snow White and Lilo & Stitch, and a live-action (plus animation) adaptation of Minecraft. And fans of animation will have plenty to pick from: Dog Man (January), Elio (June), Animal Farm (July), The Smurfs Movie (July), The Bad Guys 2 (August), Zootopia 2 (November), and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squareparents (December) will all come to a theatre near you at some point this year.
2025 (Taylor’s Version) is set to give us a lot of new music, what with musicians having this weird habit of, you know, making music. Whether we want them to or not. New albums are expected from the likes of The Weeknd, Charlie Puth, Lady Gaga, Kesha, Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus, Cardi B, The Darkness, Garbage, Nine Inch Nails, and Blondie. Fans are hoping that His Highness Lord Harry of Styles will drop new music. And fans are probably hoping that Katy Perry will not make any new music till she sorts out whatever midlife crisis she has going on at the moment. We are rooting for you, girl.
The reformed Oasis will embark on that tour that everyone and their mother – well mostly the mothers – are excited about.
Oh and Princess Tay Tay is, of course, expected to bless/curse our hearing holes with rerecordings of her self-titled debut album or Reputation or both (or preferably neither, but we can’t be that lucky).
Yes, we’ll have the usual tennis grand slams and football leagues and regular tournaments that sports fans tend to get excited about for some reason. But there are also a few other major events that are coming around this year.
The South Asian Games will be held in Pakistan this February, with Lahore serving as the main host city and 7 nations participating in 37 sports.
Pakistani cricket fans – i.e. people who enjoy having their hearts broken – can look forward to the ICC Champions Trophy that will be held in Pakistan – with the exception of India’s matches which will be played in Dubai – in March.
Lord’s will host the Australia versus South Africa ICC World Test Championship final; of course Pakistan is in no danger of making an appearance there, for our team’s performance has been so inconsistent, as it often is. But hey, there’s a reason we pay them as much as PKR 4.5 million per player as monthly retainer after all. I mean, there must be a reason. There is a reason, right? Could someone please tell us that reason??
We hope we will see the Women in Green in action – qualification pending – in September when the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup takes place in India. And surely the ladies are being paid the same as the gents, right? RIGHT??!
Anyway, enough about cricket; our hearts now belong to javelin, and we can’t wait to see what Arshad Nadeem does next.
Our TBR shelves are likely to gain quite a few entries this year. For non-fiction enthusiasts, Bill Gates sheds light on his early life in Source Code (February) while his ex, Melinda French Gates, reflects on change in The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward (April). Actor Michael Caine shares wisdom from his long, impressive life in Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life (March). And Queen Bey’s mom Tina Knowles will release Matriarch (April), a memoir that finds her talking about her life and raising popstars.
Over on the fiction aisle, Stephen King will try to make us flinch with his new crime thriller Never Flinch (May), featuring the beloved Holly Gibney.
Nora Roberts spins an intriguing web in the mystery thriller Hidden Nature (May). Suzanne Collins returns to the world of The Hunger Games with the prequel Sunrise on the Reaping (March) which tells Haymitch Abernathy’s story. And Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Atmosphere (June) tells the tale of a physics professor’s attempts to journey into space.
