Paramount Plus to Add 186 New Movies In January 2025 – Here Are the 10 Best

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Follow me on X.

Paramount Plus, the streaming service, plans to add 186 new movies to its lineup in January 2025. Here are the 10 best, in my humble opinion:

Basic Instinct (1992)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven, Basic Instinct is a psychological thriller that explores the dangerous allure of a hedonistic author (Sharon Stone) suspected of murder. Michael Douglas plays the investigating detective who falls headfirst in the honeypot. The film is a classic neo noir that made Stone a star and her tete a tetes with Douglas (written by crazy Joe Eszterhas) are both funny and seductive. Great f—- film, so to speak. Debuts January 1.

Chinatown (1974)
Jack Nicholson stars in this Roman Polanski-directed neo noir classic about a private detective who gets more he can handle when he investigates the transfer of water in 1930s Los Angeles. Nicholson cements his status as one of Hollywood’s greatest as the cool but vulnerable detective J.J. Gittes and the supporting cast is exceptional, particularly Faye Dunaway as a powerful widow with a host of skeletons in the closet. But the real star here is Polanski who was just five years removed from the graphic slaying of his wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson Family. Scene after scene in Chinatown offer subtle reminders of that grisly event but Polanski bravely taps his personal experience to tell a haunting tale. Debuts January 1.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) 
The spooky 1968 drama from Polanski stars Mia Farrow as a pregnant young woman who suspects a mysterious group wants to kidnap her baby. Farrow is brilliant and haunting as the paranoid (or is she?) mother and film auteur John Cassavetes plays her loving (but possibly suspicious) hubbie to perfection. Made before the horrific Manson family murders, the film now also takes on overtones of the massacre that took Polanski’s wife (Sharon Tate) in 1969, a parallel that has haunted the director throughout his life. The connection only makes the film more powerful and poignant in retrospect. Debuts January 1.

Face/Off (1997)
The action-drama from director John Woo stars John Travolta and Nic Cage as an FBI agent and master criminal (respectively) who switch faces and identities while engaging in a cat-and-mouse chase. Only Woo, Travolta and Cage could pull this off but it’s a rockin’ 133 minutes of action, over-the-top acting, and humor. Debuts January 1.

The Aviator (2004)
The absorbing (if overlong) drama from director Martin Scorsese starring Leonardo DiCaprio as legendary flyboy and billionaire Howard Hughes. DiCaprio is good as Hughes, but Scorsese is the star here with his stylish flourishes on display in nearly every scene. The impressive supporting cast includes Kate Beckinsale, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Willen Dafoe, Jude Law, John C. Reilly and Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn. (But please overlook the casting of Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow. Dear God, Marty.) Debuts January 1. 

Fatal Attraction (1987)
The 1987 drama from director Adrian Lyne that did more to curb adultery than any 1,000 sermons. Michael Douglas plays an attorney whose life is turned upside down when he has an affair with a disturbed book editor (Glenn Close) who’s never met a rabbit she liked. The film is a taut and juicy depiction of what people will do when emotions are stretched and temptation is dangled. Debuts January 1.

There Will Be Blood (2007)
Daniel Day-Lewis puts on an actor’s master class as Daniel Plainview, a 19th Century oilman who will stop at nothing to achieve wealth and power. The film, directed with perfection by Paul Thomas Anderson, is a snapshot of our nation as it begins its transition from a frontier land to a highly developed capitalist empire. And what a snapshot it is. PTA’s use of the camera is characteristically magnificent with some of the most beautiful and gripping shots you’ll ever see. Great acting. Great direction. Great movie. Debuts January 1.

Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Heaven Can Wait, the 1978 comedy tour de force from Warren Beatty who (co-directs with Buck Henry) and stars as a NFL quarterback who gets a second chance at life after mistakenly summoned to the after life. Debuts January 1.

The Doors (1991)
Oliver Stone’s 1991 love letter to the legendary 1960s band featuring Val Kilmer channeling lead singer (and part poet, part madman) Jim Morrison. The film is a dizzying and vastly entertaining look at an era in music when anything seemed possible and impossible at the same time. (Psychedelics, man.) Debuts January 1.

Three Days of the Condor (1975)
The 1975 conspiratorial era drama directed by Sydney Pollock stars Robert Redford as a bookish CIA employee whose nondescript New York station crew is mysteriously gunned down by a team of assassins. Redford’s character escapes but is soon hunted by a ‘deep state’ set of rogue government agents so he kidnaps a random (and, of course, beautiful) pedestrian played by Faye Dunaway and holes away in her apartment. Pollock taps into the 70s deep-rooted distrust of all things government to deliver a suspenseful cat-and-mouse thriller with strong performances from Redford and Dunaway. Debuts January 1. 

Complete List of Movies & TV Shows Coming to Paramount Plus In January 2025

January 1
Murder Company* (2024)
Slingshot*
2 Days In The Valley
40 Days and 40 Nights
A Crime on the Bayou

A Dog’s Purpose
A Night At The Roxbury
A.C.O.D.
Adventureland
Agent Game*

Allied
Almost Famous
Amistad
An Officer and a Gentleman
Arrival

Barbarella
Basic Instinct
Becky*
Best Defense
Big Jake

Black Noise
Book Club
Boomerang
Bounce
Breakdown

Buddy Games
Chinatown
Chocolat
Citizen Ruth
Clear and Present Danger

Cold Mountain
Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind
Cop Land
Crawlspace
Crazy, Stupid, Love

Cursed
Dark Asset
Death Wish
Dirty Pretty Things
Domestic Disturbance

Don’t Look Now
Down To You
Downsizing
Drillbit Taylor
Drive Angry*

Drop Zone
Ella Enchanted
Emma (1996)
Face/Off
Fatal Attraction

Final Destination
First Blood
Florence Foster Jenkins
Focus
Footloose (2011)

Forces of Nature
Foxfire
Frida
Good Boy
Good Mourning*

Halloween VIII: Resurrection
Heaven Can Wait
House of Sand and Fog
Imagine That
Indecent Proposal

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5 Unrated
Judgement Night
Just a Kiss

K-19: The Widowmaker
Kinky Boots
Kiss The Girls
Labor Day
Labyrinth

Lady of the Manor*
Like a Boss
Mr. Malcom’s List
Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult
Nightwatch

Paid in Full
Panama*
Paper Moon
Paranormal Activity
Paranormal Activity 2

Paranormal Activity 3
Paranormal Activity 4
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
Patriot Games
Pet Sematary II

Poltergeist
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown
Rambo III
Rambo: First Blood Part II

Red Eye
Revolutionary Road
Rosemary’s Baby
Run & Gun
Santa Stole Our Dog!

Scary Movie
Scary Movie 2
Seabiscuit
Searching For Bobby Fischer
Sherlock Gnomes

Shutter Island
Sidewalks Of New York
Silence
Snake Eyes
Some Kind of Wonderful

Stardust
Staying Alive
Strictly Ballroom
Tales From the Darkside: The Movie
Tammy’s Always Dying*

The Addams Family (1991)
The Aviator
The Conversation
The Crow
The Crow: City of Angels

The Crow: Wicked Prayer
The Doors
The First Wives Club
The Gambler
The Honeymooners

The Hours
The Hunter
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Intervention
The Ladies Man

The Long Kiss Goodnight
The Longest Yard
The Manchurian Candidate
The Mechanic
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
The Night Clerk
The Original Kings of Comedy
The Peacemaker
The Perfect Score

The Pledge
The Queens of Comedy
The Romantics
The Ruins
The Running Man

The Score
The Soloist
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Switch
The Talented Mr. Ripley

The Three Amigos
The Truman Show
The Two Jakes
The United States of Leland
The Untouchables

The Virgin Suicides
The Wolf of Wall Street
The Words
The Yards
There Will Be Blood

Things We Lost In The Fire
Three Days of the Condor
Trainspotting
Trekkies 2
Undisputed

V for Vengeance
Virtuosity
Waking Up In Reno
War*
WifeLike
Zeroville*
Zodiac

January 2
Step Up Revolution*

January 4
80 for Brady

January 5
The Golden Globe Awards**

January 8
Raid the Cage (Season 2)**
The Price is Right at Night**
Blippi’s Big Dino Adventure
Blippi’s Out-of-this-World Space Adventure
Blippi’s Wonderful World Tour

January 9
Hollywood Squares**

January 15
Danger Force (Season 3)
Matlock (1986, Seasons 1-9)

January 17
Henry Danger: The Movie Premiere

January 22
Isle of MTV: Malta (2024 Special)
Help! I’m in a Secret Relationship (Season 3)

January 24
Star Trek: Section 31 Premiere

January 26
Watson**
Who’s Your Caddy?*

January 28
Killshot*
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon*

January 29
The Land*

January 31
A Murder in the Park*
Good Kill*
Manglehorn*
The D Train*
The Seven Five*

* Requires a Paramount Plus with Showtime plan.
** Available on live CBS feed on Paramount Plus with Showtime plan.

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The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch  television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.