As a new year dawns, many Americans are still processing 2024, which saw historical events like a contentious presidential election, a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse and huge pop culture moments like the release of the movie “Wicked.”
There may be no major presidential election, no more Eras tour and no extremely rare celestial event to look forward to in 2025, but there is plenty more to come in the new year.
The calendar begins with a national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter on Jan. 9, followed by the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, which falls on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 20.
In pop culture, Hollywood will celebrate a number of major awards shows culminating with the Oscars on March 2. Major movie releases will include a star-studded “Superman,” several offerings from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a third installment of the “Avatar” franchise at the end of the year.
The year will also see major criminal trials, including those of Diddy and Luigi Mangione, and a potential ban on one of the most popular social media apps in the country.
Here’s some of what you can expect in 2025.
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Jimmy Carter’s funeral
On Sunday, former president and Nobel Prize winner Jimmy Carter died at age 100 in Plains, Georgia, in the home he shared with his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023.
Funeral services for the former president will be held in Georgia and Washington, D.C., from Saturday, Jan. 4, through Thursday, Jan. 9.
In Americus, Georgia, a motorcade will pick up Carter’s casket and progress to Plains, then Atlanta, where Carter will lie in state for mourners to pay respects. He will eventually make his way to the U.S. Capitol and the Washington National Cathedral, where a national funeral service will be held.
Flags will also remain at half-staff for 30 days after his death, a timeline that overlaps Trump’s inauguration.
TikTok ban?
TikTok logo is placed on the U.S. and Chinese flags in this illustration taken, April 25, 2024.
This spring, President Joe Biden passed legislation that would ban the hugely popular social media app TikTok in January if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, does not sell it. The legislation has been in the works for several years because of fears that TikTok compromises national security.
If ByteDance does not sell TikTok by Jan. 19, the app will be illegal for distribution through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Internet service providers also will be required to make the app inaccessible on U.S. internet browsers.
In a last-minute decision, however, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments from TikTok and its parent company about why a ban could be unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is set to review TikTok’s arguments on Jan. 10, just over a week before the ban could be put in place.
Though China has been vocal about its opposition to selling TikTok, billionaire Frank McCourt has expressed his interest in purchasing the U.S. portion of the platform with a group of associates. McCourt, founder of Project Liberty and executive chairman of McCourt Global, said a consortium of associates has verbally pledged up to $20 billion for the purchase.
But if McCourt purchased TikTok, it would be only the U.S. portion and would not include TikTok’s algorithm, which China sees as its intellectual property, McCourt told CBS’ “Face the Nation” earlier this month.
TikTok logo is placed on the U.S. and Chinese flags in this illustration taken, April 25, 2024.
Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump
In January, Trump will begin his second, nonconsecutive term as the 47th president of the United States.
Trump will officially take over executive control of the country amid highly choreographed ceremonies on Jan. 20, which coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
It starts in the morning when Biden is expected to welcome Trump to the White House, as is custom. Around noon, the chief justice of the United States will administer the oath of office in a public ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. Trump will then deliver his inaugural address.
After the swearing-in, a traditional parade moves along Pennsylvania Avenue, featuring military bands, civic organizations and representatives from across the nation.
The day ends with inaugural balls and receptions.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., December 22, 2024.
Criminal trials: Diddy, Luigi Mangione
Pictured are Luigi Mangione (L) and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (R). Both men are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York where they await trial for federal charges.
American rapper and superstar Sean “Diddy” Combs will face the start of his federal sex crimes trial on May 5. He was indicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges and faces claims from more than 100 accusers.
Combs was arrested at a Manhattan hotel Sept. 16 and arraigned the next day. He has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty on all federal criminal charges, despite mounting civil lawsuits over the past year. He has been incarcerated in the Special Housing Unit at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson told the court the prosecution’s case would last at least three weeks. The defense case is expected to take a week, defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said.
Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson to death on Dec 4, also faces a criminal trial in 2025. Mangione has been charged in federal court, Pennsylvania state court and New York state court.
In the New York case, Mangione faces 11 charges, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, two counts of second-degree murder, including one as an act of terrorism, and a slew of weapons charges. In Pennsylvania, he was charged with forgery and illegally possessing an unlicensed gun, among others, while his federal charges include murder and interstate stalking.
The federal charges could bring a death sentence if Mangione is convicted.
He has pleaded not guilty.
‘Wicked’ Part 2
Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and Ariana Grande is Glinda in “Wicked,” directed by Jon M. Chu
The second part of the two-act release, called “Wicked: For Good,” is set for release on Nov. 21 − one year (minus a day) after the first installment.
“Wicked” and “Wicked: Part 2” were shot back-to-back from December 2022 to January 2024, according to Forbes, which means the second installment of “Wicked” has already been filmed.
The third Avatar installment
A general view of the atmosphere at the press preview for the opening of “The Art Of Avatar: The Way Of Water” Immersive Experience celebrating the film now on digital at Lighthouse Artspace LA on April 21, 2023, in Los Angeles, California.
The third installment of the “Avatar” series, “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” hits theaters Dec. 19, three years after “Way of Water” was released and just about 15 years after the original 2009 film.
Like “Way of Water,” “Fire and Ash” will introduce viewers to a whole new tribe of Na’vi called “The Ash People,” according to multiple outlets, including Parade and Variety. As the name suggests, this tribe has a culture that revolves around fire, a direct contrast to the water tribe of the previous film.
“You’ll see a lot more Pandora that you never saw before,” director James Cameron told Variety.
Stars include Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet and Michelle Yeoh.
More movie and TV releases
US actor Jeremy Allen White poses in the press room with the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for “The Bear” during the 76th Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theatre at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024.
There is no shortage of media releases to anticipate in 2025, from revamps of classic shows to long-awaited new seasons and big-screen premiers.
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Dates TBD: “Stranger Things,” “You,” “Squid Game” Season 3 (Season 2 arrived in December), “Wednesday,” “Monster,” “The Last of Us,” “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” “Welcome to Derry,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “What Not to Wear” reunion, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “The Bear” and “Welcome to Wrexham.”
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Jan. 2: A modern revamp of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” will air on ABC.
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Jan. 27: “The Bachelor” returns to ABC.
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Feb. 14: Season three of “Yellowjackets” comes to Parmount+ with Showtime.
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Feb 16: “White Lotus” returns to HBO.
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Feb 26: Season 48 of “Survivor” begins on CBS.
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April 22: “Andor” Season 2 comes to Disney+.
Space exploration
SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket is launched on its sixth test at the company’s Boca Chica launch pad in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., November 19, 2024.
Space agencies like NASA and SpaceX have some major missions planned for the upcoming year.
Elon Musk is pushing for SpaceX to significantly ramp up Starship test launches in 2025, a proposal that would quintuple the flight tests of the SpaceX megarocket from five demonstrations in 2024 to 25 next year. Musk’s request would need approval from federal regulators.
SpaceX envisions the powerful spacecraft being a fully reusable transportation system that can carry humans and cargo to Earth’s orbit, the moon and even Mars. Though SpaceX is rapidly preparing for its flight test, the company has not yet announced a target date.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission One lander, seen here, will carry 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the Moon’s near side when it launches from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Also, a commercial lunar lander will soon be heading to the moon with a fleet of scientific instruments for a $93.3 million NASA mission to study the moon’s environment before humans return.
The lander’s instruments will examine the lunar subsurface and global navigation satellite abilities, among other questions. The data NASA hopes to collect also should provide insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces affect Earth.
NASA’s cutting-edge SPHEREx telescope is also on the cusp of launching on a mission to solve some of the universe’s oldest mysteries – including how it came to be. The telescope, which has a $242 million price tag, was developed to survey more than 450 million galaxies and 100 million stars in our own Milky Way. Some galaxies it will observe are so distant that their light has taken 10 billion years to reach Earth.
The two-year mission will launch no earlier than late February.
An artist’s conception for what the SPHEREx telescope might look like once it’s launched into orbit around Earth.
Likewise, the first step in establishing the world’s first commercial space station will come as early as August. Vast, a space company based in Long Beach, California, announced in 2023 that it plans to launch its space station, called Haven-1.
The mission will be quickly followed by Vast-1, the first human spaceflight mission to Haven-1. The four-person crew will ride a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to dock with the station for up to 30 days while orbiting Earth, according to Vast.
Boeing Starliner astronauts to return on SpaceX vehicle
Stranded Boeing Starliner astronauts near six months in space
NASA’s Starliner astronauts will make their long-awaited homecoming to Earth as early as the end of March.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore weren’t supposed to be at the International Space Station beyond a few days in June when they reached the orbital outpost on the inaugural flight test for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. But their return was delayed multiple times until NASA finally decided in August that the safest route would be to send the pair back to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon vehicle.
The Boeing Starliner undocked in September without the astronauts and landed in the New Mexico desert.
The Starliner astronauts were set to return in February with two spacefarers who are part of a SpaceX mission called Crew-9. But earlier in December, NASA opted to delay that return until late March to give time to ready the Dragon vehicle that will ferry their replacements to the space station.
No historic eclipse, but more space events to come
April 8, 2024: The different stages of the solar eclipse and the total solar eclipse over Lake Placid, New York.
The year will begin with a “planet parade” during which Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars all shine brightly every night after sunset in January and February. In January and February, look for Venus and Saturn in the southwestern sky and Jupiter and Mars toward the southeast.
On Jan. 13, a lunar occultation of Mars will be visible in the U.S. A lunar occultation occurs when the moon passes in front of a star or planet and blocks its light for about an hour before moving on its way around the Earth.
March 13-14 will see the only total lunar eclipse visible from the United States in 2025. A total lunar eclipse occurs when Earth comes directly between the sun and full moon and casts a shadow onto the lunar surface.
On April 22-23 and Oct. 21-22, the annual Lyrid and Orionid meteor showers will appear in the night sky.
The year’s lunar events will wrap on Nov. 5 with a supermoon.
Award shows
An Emmy statue is seen on the red carpet ahead of the 74th Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, on September 12, 2022.
One consistent we know we can look forward to every year without fail: awards season. This year’s shows will play out on the following schedule:
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Sunday, Jan. 5: 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards
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Sunday, Feb. 2: 67th Grammy Awards
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Saturday, Feb. 8: Director and Producer Guild of America Awards
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Sunday, Feb. 16: BAFTA Film Awards
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Sunday, Feb. 23: 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards
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Sunday, March 2: 97th Academy Awards
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September (TBD): 77th Emmy Awards
Contributing: J. Staas Haught, USA TODAY Network; Dean Regas, Cincinnati Enquirer; Naledi Ushe, Edward Segarra, Jeanine Santucci, Aysha Bagchi, Greta Cross, Saman Shafiq and Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inauguration, Diddy trial, possible TikTok ban: What to expect in 2025
