8 Upcoming Titles from Black Filmmakers in 2025

As part of our Black History Month coverage, we’re celebrating black filmmakers and storytellers while highlighting a few of the most anticipated films of 2025. Some of the most beloved Black filmmakers and actors who have been a part of some of our most storied franchises and series are back on the calendar for 2025 with new projects that have us already anxiously anticipating their arrival. Actors like Brian Tyree Henry and Danielle Deadwyler and filmmakers like Antoine Fuqua and Ryan Coogler are all coming to our screens with grounded dramas, boisterous comedies, haunting horror, and biopics of legendary artists.

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Please read on for our picks of the best upcoming titles from Black filmmakers in 2025. Do you have a favorite? Please let us know in the comments.

Sinners (2025)

First, we have one of the most anticipated titles on our list and possibly one of the most anticipated titles of 2025. Ryan Coogler’s next effort Sinners is an original story written and directed by Coogler and starring his longtime collaborator Michael B. Jordan. The Black Panther director has crafted what appears to be a fantasy period piece crime thriller musical set in the Jim Crow south. Jordan stars but also serves double duty with a ‘twin’ role that promises music, sin, vampires and criminal activity from the looks of the trailer. Not much is known about the films plot details but Coogler is re-teaming with many of his Black Panther collaborators so we are expecting a similar exceptional output.

Opus (2025)

For our next entry, we have Opus starring Ayo Edebiri, who is capping off a impressive year starring in the last season of The Bear, but also in the highest grossing film of 2024 playing Envy and Inside Out 2. For Opus we find her first on the call sheet for former GQ writer Mark Anthony Green’s directorial debut. The second film on our list from agent turned producer Charles King’s production company MACRO (the other being Sinners) but the first one to hit theaters this year. It recently debuted to slightly mixed reviews at the Sundance Film Festival, but we are still intrigued to see what the reception will be when it hits audiences. With notes of The Menu and American Fiction echoing through out the trailer we still have faith it can exist a timely and prescient critique of our current media landscape.

Michael (2025)

Also this year we have Michael, an autobiographical musical about Michael Jackson, starring Colman Dingo, Nia Long, Miles Teller, and Laura Harrier, with newcomer Jaafar Jackson playing the the iconic King of Pop. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Equalizer, Training Day) the story will follow Jackson’s career from his time with the Jackson Five through his peak in the seventies and eighties until just weeks before his death in 2009. We agree attempting to showcase the life of one of the most famous artists on the planet is a tall order but the team assembled here has all the right pieces to make it a masterwork.

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)

If you were blessed to watch British-Zambian writer-director Rungano Nyoni’s first film, I’m Not a Witch, then you will understand why we were so excited to see her latest effort On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. I’m not a Witch, lit up the Cannes Film Festival in 2017 and instantly established Nyoni as a director to watch following a long history of successful short films. In On Becoming a Guinea Fowl we see her continue to refine her craft as a filmmaker as she explores the absurdity of burying a relative while trying to keep their secrets buried as well. Funny, cutting, slightly tragic, but with that ever-present dry British wit, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, is a hilarious examination of what happens when nobody wants to tell the truth, but everyone is committed to the lie.

The Woman in the Yard (2025)

Our next entry is designated for those who lean toward the spooky set. A Woman In the Yard stars Danielle Deadwyler in an eerie drama about a grieving mother attempting to put her life together after tragedy. While in the midst of her grief she is visited by a shrouded woman all in black sitting in her yard with no intention of vacating. Not much is known about the plot; however, it comes from Blumhouse, those masters of horror who have given us incredible features such as Black Phone, MEGAN, and, of course, Get Out. The first trailer gives us more questions than answers. Still, as we’ve seen with films like The Piano Lesson, & The Harder They Fall, and just about everything she’s a part of, Deadwyler is an actress we just can’t stop watching. And this should be not different.

Clean Slate: Season 1 (2025)

Laverne Cox stars in our next series Clean Slate. In it, Cox plays a transgender woman who returns to her hometown in Alabama, after financial woes, force her back to her humble beginnings. In doing so, she attempts to give a ‘clean slate’ to her estranged loved ones particularly her less than PC but well-meaning father, played by George Wallace. The chemistry between Wallace and Cox radiates throughout the trailer. Is the city girl return to the country story that has played across several Netflix series including From Scratch and Virgin River, but this time we get the added bonus of a diverse cast featuring a powerful message about trans identity in America.

Watson: Season 1 (2025)

This year we also have Watson a crime procedural, which stars Morris Chestnut, taking on the eponymous role as the ever present Sherlock Holmes sidekick Dr. Watson in updated to retelling of the Sherlock tale – sans Sherlock. And intriguing update to be sure as our new iteration explores what a modern day Watson might get up to if Sherlock Holmes never emerged from his fatal fall on that cliff. From the same team that brought you the Jonny Lee Miller Sherlock for Elementary we are hopeful the magic that has allowed CBS to reinvent previous properties like The Equalizer and Matlock will translate to our latest take on Dr. Watson.

Dope Thief

Next, we have a television adaptation from the mind behind Ben Affleck’s crime thriller The Town. Dope Thief follows two Philadelphia friends who pose as DEA agents to rob a house then face severe consequences when it turns out there would be targets are actually a large-scale narcotics operation. Starring Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura the novel the series is based on places it squarely in the crime noir genre but with a dogged commitment to character as much as graphic violence. Apple has already seen success with previous crime adaptations, such as Black Bird and we expect Dope Thief to continue that trend.

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