The Big Picture · Auction
The 2025 Movie Auction Returns!
July 8, 2025/ 138 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Chris Ryan
The mid-year auction: Sean, Amanda, and Chris each fill a five-film slate of unreleased second-half-2025 movies with $1,000 of fake money. New this round is a tiered scoring system (box office, Metacritic, Oscars) from researcher Sam Burtwistle, plus the standing rule that you can't bid on a film you've already seen.
A sale of 15 lots across 3 paddles, $2,419 at the hammer.
Top lot: Weapons, to Paddle 2, $465.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
The paddles who spent what
The board this sale, by hammer price
- 01
$465Weapons 2025No.2 Chris RyanZach Cregger's follow-up to Barbarian. Top lot of the sale, driven up in a two-man war with Sean.
- 02
$420Jay Kelly 2025No.1 Amanda DobbinsNoah Baumbach; George Clooney, Adam Sandler. Netflix. The Baumbach bidding war she and Sean always end up in.
- 03
$300Avatar: Fire and Ash 2025No.3 Sean FennesseyJames Cameron's third Avatar. A box-office play: Sean has never seen one and plans to catch up.
- 04
$260After the Hunt 2025No.1 Amanda DobbinsLuca Guadagnino; Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri. Campus-impropriety drama. Amazon MGM.
- 05
$219Hamnet 2025No.3 Sean FennesseyChloé Zhao adapts Maggie O'Farrell; Paul Mescal, Jessie Buckley. His Oscar contender.
- 06
$180A House of Dynamite 2025No.1 Amanda DobbinsKathryn Bigelow; Idris Elba. White House officials race an incoming missile. Netflix.
- 07
$165No.2 Chris RyanEdward Berger; Colin Farrell as a gambler on the run in Macau. Netflix. Chris got Michael Clayton vibes.
- 08
$100Roofman 2025No.1 Amanda DobbinsDerek Cianfrance; Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst. Escaped bank robber holes up in a Toys R Us.
- 09
$70Is This Thing On? 2025No.2 Chris RyanBradley Cooper directs; Will Arnett, Laura Dern. His James L. Brooks homage.
- 10
$62Superman 2025No.3 Sean FennesseyJames Gunn's DCU reboot. Bought four days before release, purely for the box office.
- 11
$60No.2 Chris RyanScott Cooper; Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen making Nebraska.
- 12
$41No.3 Sean FennesseyJafar Panahi's Palme d'Or winner. Neon. Bought to pump his Metacritic (sits at 87).
- 13
$40No.1 Amanda DobbinsThe third and last Downton film. Bought for herself, box office be damned.
- 14
$36No.2 Chris RyanRuben Fleischer; third Now You See Me. A value pick Chris meant as a joke and won.
- 15
$1Predator: Badlands 2025No.3 Sean FennesseyDan Trachtenberg; Elle Fanning. A $1 for-fun pick with no points behind it.
Titles link to TMDb where a confident match exists. Unlinked entries are too new to be cataloged or aren't films.
Passed in raised, no bid
Previous sale January · first-half 2025 slate
- F1 —
- The Phoenician Scheme —
- Opus —
- M3GAN 2.0 —
- Marty Supreme —
Also mentioned raised along the way
Fall Oscar hopefuls & festival titles raised FrankensteinTrain DreamsWake Up Dead ManNouvelle VagueThe Secret AgentThe MastermindBlue MoonSacrificePressureSorry BabyFamiliar TouchCaught by the Tides
2025 box office & franchise talk A Minecraft MovieLilo & StitchHow to Train Your DragonCaptain America: Brave New WorldThunderboltsWicked for GoodZootopia 2Tron: AresThe Smashing MachineThe Fantastic Four: First StepsPredator: Killer of Killers
Older films name-checked The Wild BunchSpeciesReservoir DogsKill Bill: Vol. 1The Hateful EightDonnie BrascoFree WillyWyatt EarpThelma & LouiseThe NaturalThe DoorsTop Gun: MaverickMichael ClaytonBefore I Go to Sleep28 Weeks LaterEnemyPrisonersThe Card CounterConclaveBeirutChallengersSuspiriaCall Me by Your NameA Bigger SplashLarry CrowneLeave the World BehindTicket to ParadiseBen Is BackNotting HillMirror MirrorThe CellThe FallHell or High WaterHouse of GucciBeetlejuice BeetlejuiceJoker: Folie à DeuxNow You See MeNow You See Me 2ZombielandBarbieTwisterMaestroPunchlineSpanglishFunny PeopleHustleUncut GemsO Brother, Where Art Thou?White NoiseLa La LandBabylonFirst ManNomadlandEternalsPoint BreakDetroitTriple FrontierDownton AbbeyDownton Abbey: A New EraMaterialistsPriscillaThe Wolf of Wall StreetDawn of the Dead300Guardians of the GalaxyGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3BarbarianNeedful ThingsHidden FiguresInterview with the VampireJumanjiCivil WarBring It OnThe Place Beyond the PinesKilling Them SoftlySnow WhiteValkyrieFail SafeFlightplanTitanicWuthering HeightsRelayThe OdysseySeven PsychopathsWhiplash
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The EternautSmokeThe White LotusAndorThe BearAnd Just Like That...HomecomingSugarThe Wheel of TimeDepartment QThe BureauOzarkArrested DevelopmentAround the HornPardon the Interruption
Ads StarbucksNetflix (T-Mobile Home Run Derby)State Farm