From unexpected blockbusters to sleeper hits that defied expectations! Join us as we count down the films that shocked audiences and critics alike in 2025's first half. These underdog stories proved that sometimes the most surprising cinematic triumphs come from the places you least expect.
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00:00Oh, a first little furry friend filled with whimsy and wonder.
00:04No, it's no big deal. Thanks.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most surprising movies
00:11that have made a huge splash either critically, commercially, or both in 2025 so far.
00:17We will only be including movies that were released in 2025,
00:21so there will be no 2024 Christmas bleed-overs like Nosferatu.
00:25Oh, I might ease your wounds.
00:32Number 10. A Working Man
00:34I was respectful. You won.
00:40You can never go wrong with Jason Statham.
00:42A Working Man has a ton of talent behind it, including writer Sylvester Stallone,
00:47writer-director David Ayer, and stars Jason Statham, Michael Pena, and David Harbour.
00:52It's no surprise it was the surprise hit of the spring.
00:55Originally slated for January, the movie was pushed back to March
00:58and received a decent, if not excellent, critical reception.
01:02Where's the girl?
01:03You a cop?
01:04You wish I was a cop.
01:05Where a working man shocked was at the box office.
01:08It was projected to gross between $10 and $12 million,
01:12but beat expectations and debuted at number one with an opening weekend of $15 million.
01:17It even dethroned Snow White in just its second weekend.
01:20But to be honest, we don't know if that speaks to this movie or that one.
01:24You know, I really don't remember you being this opinionated.
01:29Number 9.
01:30Den of Thieves 2.
01:31Pantera.
01:32Watch our six.
01:33Those aren't police headlights.
01:35Back.
01:37It's been a surprisingly decent year for action flicks so far.
01:41No one was really expecting a sequel to Den of Thieves,
01:44but we got one to open the dead month of January.
01:46And despite the enormous seven-year gap between movies,
01:50Pantera ate.
01:51Can I get in?
01:53Package in hand.
01:55And get out.
01:56We're clean, we're clean.
01:59Without anyone even knowing I was there.
02:01The movie received surprisingly good reviews
02:03and was generally well-regarded with moviegoers,
02:06many of whom enjoyed the more fun and lighthearted tone.
02:09It also did pretty well commercially,
02:11debuting at number one and spending four weeks in the top ten
02:14before finishing with a take of $57 million,
02:17which was good enough to greenlight a third movie in the franchise.
02:20Number 8.
02:30Black Bag.
02:31If she's in trouble, even of her own making,
02:34I will do everything in my power to extricate her.
02:39No matter what that means.
02:41You understand?
02:44My God, that's so hot.
02:47Steven Soderbergh cooked with Black Bag.
02:50A tantalizing espionage thriller starring Michael Fassbender.
02:53He plays George Woodhouse,
02:55a British intelligence officer tasked with investigating his own wife
02:58and fellow agent Catherine,
03:00who is suspected of leaking classified information.
03:03Who's the suspect?
03:05Your wife.
03:07This is Soderbergh's best film in years.
03:09An eclectic mix of beautiful style,
03:11great acting, and fun espionage storytelling.
03:14Black Bag quickly became one of the biggest critical darlings of the year,
03:18scoring huge numbers on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic,
03:21while also proving a big hit with general audiences.
03:25Will it be one of the best films of 2025?
03:28It's too early to say, but it certainly has the potential.
03:31Have you ever physically assaulted a significant other during an argument?
03:35Oh, you know I have.
03:38Again, yes or no?
03:41Yes.
03:42Enthusiastically.
03:44Number 7.
03:45Novocaine
03:45Do you know what it's like to wait your whole life to meet someone?
03:48Someone who finally gives your life meaning?
03:50Would you wait around for someone else to save her?
03:52Or would you do it yourself?
03:55We need more bonkers movies like this in the world.
03:58Jack Quaid stars as Nathan Cain,
04:00an introverted bank manager who cannot feel pain.
04:04This comes in handy when his co-worker and love interest is kidnapped by bank robbers.
04:08Get on the ground!
04:10Open the box!
04:13Cops are here early!
04:15We need a hostage.
04:16While not a huge box office success,
04:18Novocaine was a big critical surprise,
04:21with both critics and general audiences scoring it highly on their respective sites.
04:25The chemistry between Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder was widely praised,
04:29as were the movie's creative action scenes and sheer sense of goofy fun.
04:33It's a breezy watch, and sometimes you want nothing more than that.
04:38Do you understand pain?
04:41Number 6.
04:42Mickey 17
04:43Now you'll watch as I permanently delete your being from it.
04:47That way you'll understand the meaning and terror of finality.
04:51No more reprints!
04:52That's what you both should be thinking when you die.
04:55Dead forever!
04:55In the end, Mickey 17 will technically bomb,
04:59and that's thanks to an inflated budget of nearly $120 million.
05:04But that potentially speaks more to how expensive movies have gotten than this movie failing.
05:09Hype was enormous,
05:11as this was Bong Joon-ho's first film since the global sensation that was Parasite.
05:15And he mostly delivered.
05:17But I'm you.
05:19I'm not you.
05:21I'm not gonna live like you.
05:25I'm gonna kill you.
05:27Mickey 17 received a good critical reception,
05:30with many praising Robert Pattinson and the movie's goofy satirical tone.
05:34It also opened to $19 million,
05:36and would go on to gross over $120 million,
05:40which is quite respectable for an original non-IP film.
05:43It's even more respectable for a piece of sci-fi satire,
05:46a genre which doesn't often get butts in seats.
05:49Behold, the collective power of Bong and Pattinson.
05:53Every time you die, we learn something new,
05:55and humanity moves forward.
05:57Oh, wait!
05:58He's alive!
05:59It's fine.
06:00My life is gonna be beautiful.
06:04Number 5.
06:06The Monkey
06:07Hey, you wouldn't have to remember if my aunt had a wind-up toy monkey at the yard sale?
06:13Oh, no, I don't think so.
06:16Oh, not a cherished childhood memory now, was it?
06:19Not many genres are actually turning a profit these days,
06:23horror being a key exception.
06:25It speaks to how little these movies cost to make,
06:28with The Monkey coming in at just $10 million.
06:31Adapted from a Stephen King short story,
06:33The Monkey follows the titular toy as it embarks on a killing spree.
06:36Hello, brother.
06:38Bill.
06:38The monkey that likes killing our family.
06:43It's back.
06:44It's not a super original story,
06:46but it still delivers the goods in the capable hands of Osgood Perkins.
06:50With a great villain, some fantastic kills, and a sick sense of humor,
06:54The Monkey is certainly memorable.
06:56It was also a big hit at the box office,
06:58spending five weeks in the top ten,
07:00and grossing over $60 million worldwide,
07:03turning a hefty profit for Neon.
07:06It's a toy monkey.
07:07It's evil.
07:09It's basically the devil.
07:10Number 4.
07:11Companion
07:12I just don't want to screw everything up.
07:15Come on, Beboop.
07:15You're not going to screw everything up.
07:18Just relax.
07:20You know?
07:21Don't be all moopy and weird.
07:23Just remember to...
07:24remember to smile and act happy.
07:26Sophie Thatcher has exploded in recent years,
07:30and is now one of the biggest scream queens of her generation.
07:33She also helped carry Companion into unbelievable success.
07:38Another January release,
07:39Companion does some fresh and unique things with the cabin horror subgenre,
07:43and its brilliant screenplay is full of fun twists.
07:47Do you not like me, Cap?
07:51You know, it's not that I don't like you, Iris.
07:54Iris, it's the idea of you.
07:58You make me feel so...
08:00replaceable.
08:04Thatcher is also superb as Iris,
08:06who may go down as one of the decade's best horror characters.
08:10And who can forget its solid run in theaters?
08:12The movie, while not a huge earner,
08:14was still quite profitable for Warner Brothers,
08:17with a box office take of $36 million
08:19against a budget of just $10 million.
08:22So,
08:23what do we do now?
08:26Uh,
08:27I mean, the only thing we can do,
08:28we call the cops, we tell them everything.
08:30Right, yeah.
08:31Number three,
08:32One of Them Days.
08:34For real.
08:34I am sorry.
08:38I wasn't trying to be...
08:41Because actually you're on time.
08:43I got off at seven.
08:44Many people have written about the lack of comedies these days.
08:49And One of Them Days is here to prove that
08:51A,
08:51they can still be made,
08:53and B,
08:53they can still be profitable.
08:55This is a buddy comedy about two women
08:57trying to find rent money before they're evicted at 6pm.
09:00And the resulting shenanigans that follow.
09:03Damn, Fabian.
09:05What happened?
09:07Uche kicked me out this morning.
09:09It was all bad.
09:10Uche can't cut nobody no break.
09:12Then your grandma just died.
09:14She ain't even in a growl yet.
09:15The movie was quietly released in the dead of January
09:18and earned excellent reviews,
09:20with many praising the chemistry between Kiki Palmer and SZA,
09:23and the movie's ability to resurrect the dying buddy comedy genre.
09:27And thanks to strong word of mouth,
09:29it also spent seven weeks in the top ten
09:31and grossed over $50 million,
09:34well above its $14 million price tag.
09:37I know you're not going to try me on the first,
09:39knowing damn well I'm with a paying client.
09:40You do the cash, right?
09:42Yep.
09:42You are so dirty.
09:44You told me you're going to finish my hair this morning.
09:47Can you please go inside and we can handle this later?
09:50I'm so sorry.
09:51This is so ghetto.
09:52Number two, Dog Man.
09:54I got an idea.
09:55Oh, tell me, nurse, what's your idea?
09:57What if we sew the dog's head onto the man's body?
10:03Great idea and stuff.
10:05Talk about coming out of nowhere.
10:07Dog Man is one of the biggest surprise hits of Q1 2025,
10:11being a spinoff of the Captain Underpants movie from 2017.
10:15Do you remember that?
10:16Maybe not, as it wasn't even a big hit,
10:18grossing just $125 million.
10:21Even greenlighting this movie in the first place was a risk,
10:24but the risk paid off beautifully.
10:26Doctors and nurses have successfully saved Officer Knight
10:29and Greg the dog by creating...
10:35Dog Man!
10:40Dog Man earned good reviews and delighted general moviegoers,
10:44even scoring an A cinema score.
10:47Perhaps even more surprising was its box office success.
10:50The movie beat expectations and opened to $36 million,
10:53becoming the second-best January opening for an animated movie.
10:58It also spent two weeks at number one
11:00and finished with $131 million,
11:03well above its $40 million budget
11:06and even beating its predecessor.
11:08Being the world's most evilest cat,
11:10escaping from jail all the time,
11:11the man yelling at me and making me look bad again,
11:14and I just...
11:15I'm trying!
11:17Dog Man, I'm trying, you know?
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11:35Number 1. A Minecraft Movie
11:37And here we come to it.
11:51A movie so huge and so surprising
11:53that it shattered everyone's expectations.
11:56It seemed like the general public
11:57was quite bearish about a Minecraft movie,
12:00especially following that disastrous teaser trailer
12:03that was widely mocked on the internet.
12:04What the hell?
12:08But it just goes to show
12:09that the internet is not real life,
12:11and you should never bet against Minecraft.
12:13The movie enjoyed a historic weekend,
12:16obliterating industry projections
12:17and debuting to $301 million,
12:20making this the highest opening weekend ever
12:23for a video game movie.
12:25Move aside, superheroes,
12:26there's a new fad in town.
12:28Who are you?
12:30I am Steve.
12:32Did the success of these movies surprise you?
12:35Let us know in the comments below.
12:37Reporting on the incredible saga of Dogman.
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