Dewetting dynamics of the nickel thin film on the alpha-quartz substrate is closely investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. Morphology after the spontaneous dewetting of thin films changes from multi-droplets, single-droplet and cylindrical structure as the film thickness increases. In the thin cylindrical structure, a neck is induced to break into the droplet due to the Plateau-Rayleigh instability whereas the thick cylindrical structure does not break. Nucleation and subsequent solidification happen only in the large droplet after the dewetting due to the size effect, which is dominated by the kinetic factor of nucleation in the small system. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.