What's happened
A roundup of the worst movies of 2025, including Amazon's streaming failures and costly flops, alongside nostalgic and geeky holiday TV specials like Star Wars Life Day and Doctor Who Christmas episodes, highlighting the year’s entertainment missteps and festive offerings.
What's behind the headline?
The Year’s Biggest Flops and Failures
- Many of 2025’s films, despite large budgets, were critically panned, with some costing over $300 million yet delivering poor audience reception.
- Amazon’s streaming release of 'War of the Worlds' was widely criticized for its low production value, resembling a Zoom call with Ice Cube, and was considered one of the decade’s worst.
- The romantic comedy featuring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell was dismissed as clichéd and poorly written, exemplifying the decline in quality of big-budget romantic films.
- The Russo brothers’ costly 'robot' movie on Netflix was a commercial failure, highlighting the risks of expensive franchise filmmaking.
Nostalgic and Niche Holiday TV Specials
- The 2025 holiday season featured a variety of niche and geeky specials, including the infamous Star Wars Life Day special, which is regarded as one of the worst but most entertainingly bad TV events.
- 'Babylon 5' offered a Christmas episode that balanced holiday themes with interstellar politics, appealing to sci-fi fans.
- 'Doctor Who' continued its tradition of Christmas specials, with episodes like 'The Feast of Steven' and New Year’s stories, maintaining its holiday legacy.
- These specials demonstrate that despite the overall decline in film quality, niche and nostalgic programming remains popular, often becoming cult hits.
Industry Trends and Audience Preferences
- The year reflects a disconnect between high-budget ambitions and audience satisfaction, with many films failing to meet expectations.
- Streaming platforms continue to dominate, but their content quality varies widely.
- Nostalgic and genre-specific holiday programming remains a key part of the entertainment landscape, offering alternatives to mainstream blockbuster failures.
Future Outlook
- The industry will likely see a push for more innovative storytelling to combat the fatigue from over-budget flops.
- Cult and niche content will continue to thrive, especially on streaming services, as audiences seek familiar and quirky holiday fare.
What the papers say
According to the NY Post, 2025 was marked by numerous critically panned and expensive films, with some costing over $300 million yet failing to impress audiences. The article highlights Amazon’s 'War of the Worlds' as a prime example of a disastrous release, describing it as a '90-minute Zoom call with Ice Cube.' Meanwhile, Ars Technica’s coverage of holiday specials emphasizes the enduring appeal of niche programming, such as the 'Star Wars Life Day' special and 'Doctor Who' Christmas episodes, which continue to attract dedicated fans despite mixed reviews. The contrasting perspectives reveal that while mainstream films struggled, niche and nostalgic content thrived, underscoring a shift in audience preferences toward familiar and genre-specific holiday entertainment.
How we got here
The entertainment industry in 2025 saw a surge in high-budget productions and streaming content, but many films failed critically and commercially. Meanwhile, holiday TV specials, especially sci-fi and nostalgic series, continued to be a staple, with some becoming cult classics despite mixed reviews.
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