THE eighth biggest box office hit of 2025 globally, How To Train Your Dragon reimagines the beloved, Oscar-nominated franchise as a live-action epic, and is available to stream now on Showmax.
On the rugged isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations, Hiccup stands apart. The inventive yet overlooked son of Chief Stoick the Vast, Hiccup defies centuries of tradition when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking society.
Mason Thames (The Black Phone) stars as Hiccup, with BAFTA nominee Nico Parker (The Last of Us) as Astrid, Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) as Gobber, and Gerard Butler back as Chief Stoick.
Oscar nominee Dean deBlois, who helmed the animated franchise, writes, directs and produces the film, which boasts a Grammy-nominated score by John Powell (Wicked).
More highlights in January lead with The Life Of Chuck, hailed as “the best Stephen King film ever made” by Collider. The Life of Chuck celebrates the life of Charles “Chuck” Krantz as he experiences the wonder of love, the heartbreak of loss, and the multitudes contained in all of us.
Emmy nominee Tom Hiddleston (Loki, The Night Manager) leads the star-studded cast, which also includes Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, Critics’ Choice winner Jacob Tremblay, Critics’ Choice Super nominee Karen Gillan, and Mark Hamill (Star Wars OG), with narration by Emmy winner Nick Offerman.
Directed by Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House), The Life of Chuck won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and has an 80% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Collider hailed The Life of Chuck as “truly profound and magical”, and The Wrap called it “a stunning celebration of the moments that make life worth living”.
- Smurfs | Stream now
Code blue! When Papa Smurf is mysteriously taken by evil wizards Razamel and Gargamel, Smurfette leads the Smurfs on a mission into the real world to save him.
Smurfs’ all-star voice cast includes Rihanna, John Goodman, James Corden, Nick Offerman, Kurt Russell, Dan Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, and Jimmy Kimmel.
The movie combines live action, animation, and a smurfing line-up of musical numbers, including original songs from Rihanna and Tyla.
Desi Trill’s hit song Higher Love (feat. Cardi B and DJ Khaled) was nominated for a 2025 Kids’ Choice Award for Favourite Song From A Movie.
- Volspoed | Showmax Original | Tuesdays
Volspoed is a turbo-charged reality series that pulls viewers straight into the high-adrenaline course of endurance racer Antonie Marx and his wife, Ronette Marx, a former Miss South Africa finalist and the steady hand on the home pit.
On the track, Antonie chases fractions of a second at speeds topping 200 km per hour. Off it, the Marx family faces a far tougher circuit: ambition, sacrifice and the emotional highs and lows of living at full throttle.
Volspoed pairs the intensity of endurance racing, a sport where danger is ever-present and the need for speed can cost lives, with the raw, personal stakes of a family fighting to stay in the same lane while pushing to win the South African Endurance Series.
- The Mindy Project S1-6 | Binge now
Series creator Mindy Kaling (The Office, Never Have I Ever, The Sex Lives of College Girls) stars as skilled ob/gyn Mindy Lahiri, who’s navigating the tricky waters of her personal and professional life as she pursues her dreams of becoming the perfect woman, finding the perfect man and getting her perfect romantic comedy ending.
When it debuted in 2012, the hit comedy was named Most Exciting New Series at the Critics’ Choice Awards, where Chris Messina was later nominated for two Best Actor: Comedy awards. The series went on to nab Emmy, Writers’ Guild of America, People’s Choice and Teen Choice nominations, with an 86% overall critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Keep an eye out for the stellar line-up of guest stars, including Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern, and Emmy winner Seth Rogen (The Studio).
- Touch | Stream now
Based on the bestselling novel by Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, Touch follows one widower’s emotional journey to find his first love, who disappeared 50 years ago, before his time runs out.
Selected as Iceland’s Oscar entry, Touch has won 11 awards and has a 93% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Variety calls the film “a weepie filled with humanity and hope… a uniquely powerful, humane film about people rebounding from the rubble of devastating losses, choosing courage and love to overcome grief”.
- The Copenhagen Test | M-Net (DStv Channel 101) 7pm Thursdays from 15 January | Showmax 8pm Thursdays from 15 January
The Copenhagen Test follows first-generation Chinese-American intelligence analyst Alexander Hale, who realises his brain has been hacked, allowing access to everything he sees and hears. Caught between his shadowy agency and the unknown hackers, he must act normal to flush out who’s responsible and prove where his allegiance lies.
From multi-award-winning executive producer James Wan, the espionage thriller series stars People’s Choice winner Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Barbie) and Melissa Barrera (Abigail, In the Heights).
Collider calls The Copenhagen Test “a smart, twisty spy thriller with a sci-fi edge”.
- Izingane Zes’Thembu S3 | Binge from Tuesday, 20 January
Nominated as Best Non-Scripted TV Series of 2025 at The National Film and TV Awards South Africa, Izingane Zes’thembu follows five of Musa Mseleku’s older children.
Having grown up in a polygamous family, and on TV in Uthando Nes’thembu, Mpumelelo, Mpilo, Sne, Lwandle and Abongwe are now navigating the ups and downs of young adulthood, battling for love, respect and independence.
- Die Byl S6 | Binge from Tuesday, 20 January
Serial killer experts Piet van der Bijl and his team return in the final, gripping season of Die Byl. A ruthless killer on a crusade sets out to give them hell on earth, while the team struggles with their own humanity.
Waldemar Schultz and Milan Murray were once again nominated for their lead roles at last year’s Silwerskerm Awards, while Melissa Willering was up for Best Supporting Actress.
Die Byl was also up for Best Afrikaans TV Series at the 2025 National Film and TV Awards South Africa.
The returning cast includes Lika Berning as Lena, Ty Keogh as Captain William Miller and Marcel van Heerden as Dr Anton Fourie, while new cast this season include Antoinette Louw, Rika Sennett, Geon Nel, Cedwyn Joel, Carel Nel, Melanie du Bois, Hannes van Wyk, Pascual Wakefield, Johan Botha and Lida Botha.
- Crutch S1 | First on Showmax | Binge from Wednesday, 21 January
Crutch stars Emmy nominee Tracy Morgan (30 Rock) as Francois “Frank” Crutchfield, who goes by “Crutch.” The brash yet beloved Harlem shop owner has his world turned upside down when his highbrow son and free-spirited daughter move back into the family home.
Crutch has a 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Variety calling it “a hilarious sitcom about family, community and the ups and downs of life… Stuffed full of laugh-out-loud moments, a robust and talented cast and some iconic guest stars, the show is fun, refreshing and well thought-out… Crutch has all the makings of a classic sitcom”.
- Jurassic World: Rebirth | First on Showmax | Stream from Friday, 23 January
Labelled “fantastical, romantic, awe-inspiring, [and] most of all… fun,” by Newsweek, Jurassic World: Rebirth was the fourth biggest box office hit of 2025, and has been shortlisted for the Best Visual Effects Oscar for 2026.
Anchored by double-Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson, People’s Sexiest Man 2025 Jonathan Bailey, and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, Rebirth sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth, inhabited by the worst of the worst that were left behind on an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park.
“What a comeback,” The Guardian says in its 4/5-star review. The “franchise roars back to life [with] …a brighter, breezier, funnier, incomparably better-acted and better-written film, with unashamed nods to the summer smashes of yesteryear [and] … terrific romcom chemistry between Johansson and Bailey”.
- I Love LA | First on Showmax | Binge from Monday, 26 January
A tight-knit friend group gathers after years apart, navigating the complexities of ambition, relationships, and how time has changed them.
Creator Rachel Sennott (Bottoms, Shiva Baby), rising star Odessa A’zion (Marty Supreme) and People’s Choice winner Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games) lead the cast. Guest stars include Teen Choice winner Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl), Emmy nominee Moses Ingram (Queen’s Gambit, Obi-Wan Kenobi), and multi-award winner Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings, Yellowjackets).
I Love LA has an 86% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Indiewire describes the series as “very funny”; Elle as “comedy gold”; and Vulture as “a comedy that’s both precise and unhinged, absurdly funny yet emotionally true – a portrait of youthful ambition and friendship that makes someone slightly older both grateful to not be that young anymore and just a little envious of those who are”.
HBO has already ordered a second season, after I Love LA became its second top freshman comedy in platform history, averaging nearly two million US cross-platform viewers.
- Fire Country S3 | Binge from Wednesday, 28 January
Fire Country stars co-creator Max Thieriot as Bode Donovan, a young convict in an unconventional prison release programme in California, working with elite firefighters to extinguish massive, unpredictable wildfires.
New characters this season include Southern California firefighter Camden Casey (Jared Padalecki from Supernatural) and ex-con Audrey James (Daytime Emmy nominee Leven Rambin from True Detective S2 and Gone). Also look out for Grammy-nominated musician Jelly Roll and Emmy nominees Constance Zimmer (UnREAL, Good Trouble) and Morena Baccarin (Deadpool, Serenity), whose spin-off show, Sheriff Country, starts on M-Net this month.
Co-created by Emmy-nominated Grey’s Anatomy producers Tony Phelan and Joan Rater, Fire Country is exec-produced by Oscar nominee and multiple-Emmy winner Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI, Top Gun, Bad Boys, Pirates of the Caribbean).
Fire Country was CBS’s most watched new show of the year in its first season, was nominated for Best Action Series at the Critics Choice Super Awards, and has already been renewed for a fourth season.
