The next 12 months will be huge for the international entertainment landscape, with change certain to occur on multiple fronts. Here, our outside team offers some bold predictions for 2025.
The birth of a new entertainment giant
“Traitors” season three
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The international M&A story of 2024 was undoubtedly RedBird IMI's acquisition of All3Media. While this deal will continue to generate headlines as the new owner's strategy intensifies, three of Traitors Super-indie's biggest rivals are hotly rumored to be on the block. ITV, Fremantle and Federation Studios are thought to be looking for buyers, mergers or investment opportunities over the coming months, so 2025 could be the year we see the birth of another Banjay-Endemol Shine-sized giant, or see another RedBird IMI decline in the content market. More details are sure to come soon but it's no surprise to think why a merger is on the minds of these entertainment giants. The market continues to contract in difficult conditions and making big hits is more difficult than ever. M&A brokers will be rubbing their hands with glee.
Elon Musk's X will be banned from a European country
Elon Musk ended 2024 in a very different place than he started it. By the end of the year, he had been put in charge of Donald Trump's new Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), was preparing to donate fortunes to subversive political parties such as Reform in the UK, and had to pay a $5 million fine to lift the suspension on X in Brazil was critical of the ban. Which Australia suggested on social media for under 16s. At the time of writing, the European Commission is close to concluding an investigation into X for breaching the new digital services law. So it looks like this year could be the year in which an EU country takes action and imposes a blanket ban on the controversial platform. With the president of Berlin and Venice, Alberto Barbera, abandoning X, one wonders what repercussions this move could have on the world of European festivals?
Internationalization of American awards and a cruise on the Croisette?
Photograph: Frank Fife/AFP via Getty
We achieved a record number of Golden Globe nominations for films in Cannes and Venice, while five of the top 10 Oscar nominees in 2024 made their debuts at Cannes and Venice. The internationalization of American taste and American awards continues apace (while in turn, have we ever been in a lull in great American filmmaking?). Could we see six blockbuster films at Cannes and Venice get Best Picture nominations this year? It's not unlikely. Meanwhile, Tom Cruise spoke about Cannes Top Gun: Maverick to the Riviera to begin the film's phenomenal box office run. Cruise is a huge fan of the festival, and Thierry Fremaux is always in the market for Hollywood royalty. Could we see Cruise return to Cannes with the next Mission Impossible sequel, which will be released in May when the festival ends? We haven't heard that this is on the cards yet, but it sure would be fun. Who wouldn't want to see a cruise on a Croisette?!
The 2025 Breakout series (in English) will come from a Spanish studio
A quick glance at the list of most-watched shows on Netflix confirms the popularity of Spanish-language dramas. Spain has an enviable film and television history and a long history of producing great films and series. Now, some of the country's biggest players are jumping into English-language series. Mediapro has established a new studio in the United States and Canada with projects from 24 showrunner Evan Katz, John Turturro and various others. The Spanish arm of French production giant Banijay wants to produce novels in English. Secuoya, which has a huge studio complex near Madrid and also prepares its own shows, was making plans to build up its English language capabilities. All this points to a major English success… coming from Spain.
Heaven to confront existential questions
The timing was such that Sky was the disruptor. Two decades later, it seems even more turbulent. The combined threat of competition from US broadcasters and the huge expenditure required to retain top-tier sports rights means Sky is being tested. It has ended its dramatic operations in Germany, although it has had some original successes outside the UK with the likes of Jackal day and Auschwitz tattoo. It has stuck with HBO content, but only non-exclusively, and the clock on this high-profile deal is slowly ticking. Comcast has done its best to stay relevant in the brave, brutal new world of television, and with its owner spinning off assets, existential questions will be asked in 2025.
Qatar: The Gulf state is stepping up to the cinema game
Photo: John Phillips/Getty Images for Ajyal Film Festival
Qatar is set to raise its cinematic profile in 2025 with the announcement of a new Doha Film Festival from November 2025 to replace the locally focused family event Ajyal. Qatar's attractive cinema career faded when the Doha Tribeca Film Festival was closed after four editions, but there are signs that the country is returning to normal amid expectations that the new festival will be closer in style to Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Festival. Local players are also accelerating with Doha-based production company Katara Studios recently unveiling a slate of four films, including a thriller billed as the country's first commercial film. Meanwhile, Qatari media group beIN will also be in the spotlight with its launch Bridget Jones: Boy crazy On February 14, 2025, which is co-financed by Miramax, in which it owns a majority stake. Meanwhile, rumors are abound that a movie teaser is about to be revealed.
An AI-powered drama will be produced… and it might not be so bad
Depending on who you talk to, rumors of AI's significant impact on the entertainment industry are either greatly exaggerated or greatly exaggerated. But could 2025 be the year this growing invasive technology produces its first watchable drama? The merits of Sora, OpenAI's video generator, are being discussed more and more in 2024, and the program has just been expanded to the public after nine months of touring Hollywood. Proponents of AI have always maintained that it can work alongside human creativity, but some remain deeply skeptical. Technology's influence on the next generation of shows and movies could rise several notches in 2025.
