Released in the UK this weekend, Friday, 2nd May 2025, there are 7 new releases looking to take your attention and where available could hit your local cinema and try and replace A Minecraft Movie from the top of the UK box office.

As well as the movies released in cinemas this weekend this list also includes a number of the top movies released on streaming platforms.

Check out other new releases from around the world.

• Thunderbolts*
• An Unfinished Film
• Another Simple Favour
• Mother's Pride
• Parthenope
• Shadow Force
• The Dumpling Queen

Thunderbolts*

• The movie is directed by Jake Schreier, it is the directors 4th movie.
• Jake Schreier also directed Paper Towns in 2015 which grossed £3.4 Mil. in the UK.
• It stars Sebastian Stan who also starred in A Different Man (2024).
• The film also stars Florence Pugh who's last movie was We Live In Time (2024).
• They also appeared together in Avengers Doomsday in 2026.
• This movie is released in movie theatres.
• The BBFC UK age rating is

An Unfinished Film

• The movie is directed by Ye Lou, it is the directors 7th movie.
• Ye Lou also directed Saturday Fiction in 2019.
• It stars Hao Qin who also starred in Namiya (2017).
• Ye Lou directed Hao Qin in Spring Fever, Blind Massage, and Mystery
• This movie is released in movie theatres.

Another Simple Favour

• The movie is directed by Paul Feig, it is the directors 13th movie.
• Paul Feig also directed Ghostbusters in 2016 which grossed £10.6 Mil. in the UK and grossed $229.1 Mil. globally.
• It stars Blake Lively who also starred in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).
• The film also stars Anna Kendrick who's last movie was Trolls Band Together (2023).
• They also appeared together in A Simple Favour in 2018.
• Paul Feig directed Blake Lively in and A Simple Favour
• Paul Feig directed Anna Kendrick in and A Simple Favour
• This movie is released on streaming platforms.

Mother's Pride

• The movie is directed by Nick Moorcroft, it is the directors 2nd movie.
• Nick Moorcroft also directed Fisherman's Friends: One and All in 2022 which grossed £3.2 Mil. in the UK.
• It stars Mark Addy who also starred in National Theatre Live: London Assurance (2010).
• The film also stars Martin Clunes who's last movie was Nativity 3: Dude Where's My Donkey?! (2014).
• This movie is released in movie theatres.

Parthenope

• The movie is directed by Paolo Sorrentino, it is the directors 19th movie.
• Paolo Sorrentino also directed Sabato, domenica e lunedì in 2004.
• It stars Dario Aita who also starred in Before the Night (2016).
• This movie is released in movie theatres.

Shadow Force

• The movie is directed by Joe Carnahan, it is the directors 9th movie.
• Joe Carnahan also directed Stretch in 2014 and grossed $4.8 K globally.
• It stars Kerry Washington who also starred in The Details (2011).
• The film also stars Omar Sy who's last movie was The Book of Clarence (2024).
• This movie is released in movie theatres on limited release.

The Dumpling Queen

• The movie is from director Wai Keung Lau.
• This movie is a directorial debut.
• It stars Li Ma who also starred in Warm Hug (2020).
• The film also stars Kara Ying Hung Wai who's last movie was The Invisible Guest (2023).
• This movie is released in movie theatres.

Check back on Monday to see what new movies made it onto the Weekend Box Office Chart.

Next week there are 4 new movies released

• The Surfer - Friday, 9th May
• Nonnas - Friday, 9th May - streaming
• A Big Bold Beautiful Journey - Friday, 9th May
• Clown In a Cornfield - Friday, 9th May

During their investors day Disney CEO Bob Iger announced much of the details about the new streaming service they will launch to compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon and the recently announced Apple service (TV+).

Disney own a lot of content from their own films and TV show to Marvel films, Star Wars, the recently purchased Fox movies and TV and Pixar to name but some of their massive catalogue.

The House of Mouse will most likely start to pull their content from other streaming services to make it more appealing and with a price point of $6.99 a month or $69.99 for the year it is certainly competitive.

There are a number of TV shows on the works which will only appear on the service like the Star Wars based The Mandalorian and the Pixar Monsters Inc. based Monsters At Work.

Also announced is the the recent box office hit Captain Marvel will be on the service at launch this is all very good for the millions of Disney fans out there, and throw HBO and ESPN into the mix and just maybe this is a Netfix killer.

The service launches on November 12th 2019 so keep an eye on 25thframe.co.uk at launch and we'll have a review of the service.

Peter Jackson has officially announced that his Hobbit films will now be 3 rather than just 2.

Be cynical if you like but I actually think this is a great idea, it worked so well with The Lord of the Rings, and for 3 exciting year we had 3 excellent films, and I truly believe that Jackson can do the same again.

On that more cynical note, each of the Rings films took close to or over a billion dollars in box office grosses, and over the years created a massive buzz that probably drove merchandising sales through the roof, as well as creating DVD sales in standard forem and extended form.

You can see why it makes sense to turn this into a trilogy, New Line Cinema (and all other studios involved) have probably just made themselves another couple of billion dollars in revenue, as I'm sure, unless the first film is an absolute turkey, that these films will make over a billion at the box office each, and thats before you consider everything else. With no release date or title the details are still sketchy, but at the moment lets presume that this will take The Hobbit into 2014, thats this December, December 2013 and then December 2014 for the next film.

The good news in all this is that we should get to see the entire book turned into a film and any un-filmed stuff from the Middle Earth universe that has so far been untouched. Roll on this December when we find out if the wait has been worth it.