Many critics, pundits, and podcasters have told us that the mantra for movie studios and theaters has been “survive until ‘25.” And now that 2025 is here and we know what movies are slated to come out for the rest of the year, our question is will we survive or thrive in 2025? In this episode of The Long Take Review, the whole crew gathers together to try to answer this very question. We take turns picking four of our most anticipated films in our annual Movie Hype Draft. Which films will go first? Will anyone steal another co-host’s top pick before they have a chance to choose? Who will end up with the summer’s biggest blockbusters? Whose picks will win the most Oscars? And who will pick the films that will make their little cinephile heart the happiest? Play along with us to find out.

[EPISODE SPOILER WARNING BELOW: This episode is SPOILER FREE because we haven’t seen any of these movies yet, but if you keep scrolling after the thumbnail image in this post, you will see our complete rosters. If you would prefer to learn each of our picks by listening to the episode (and we highly recommend that!), wait until you’ve finished before you scroll down, review our draft picks, and then vote for your favorite line-up.]

Image Credit: The Hollywood Reporter, IGN, and Variety

P.T.’s Picks

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (dir. Christopher McQuarrie)

One Battle After Another (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

Materialists (dir. Celine Song)

Highest 2 Lowest (dir. Spike Lee)

Antonio’s Picks

Wicked: For Good (dir. Jon M. Chu)

Jay Kelly (dir. Noah Baumbach)

The Life of Chuck (dir. Mike Flanagan)

Hamnet (dir. Chloe Zhao)

Greg’s Picks

The Phoenician Scheme (dir. Wes Anderson)

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (dir. Rian Johnson)

The Mastermind (dir. Kelly Reichardt)

The History of Sound (dir. Oliver Hermanus)

Jen’s Picks

Frankenstein (dir. Guillermo del Toro)

After the Hunt (dir. Luca Guadanigno)

Sentimental Value (dir. Joachim Trier)

The Running Man (dir. Edgar Wright)

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