CinemaCon as an annual occasion doesn’t have fairly the identical title recognition of one thing like San Diego Comedian-Con. In any case, it’s a conference for regional theater homeowners from throughout the nation speaking about theatrical home windows and searching new fashions of projectors.
And but, more and more, the main film studios deal with CinemaCon prefer it is Comedian-Con. Fanboy bloggers are invited, the highest trailers and new footage teases are touted, and a parade of A-listers take the stage on the Caesar’s Palace Colosseum with pre-written hype classes about their upcoming movies.
No, not yearly on the annual Las Vegas conference is as eventful because the one by which Olivia Wilde was served divorce papers on stage or once we have been all satisfied by some screaming followers that “The Flash” was going to be enormous, however there’s fairly a bit we’re curious to see this yr on that (very) huge display.
Does Amazon MGM Have the Items?
Final yr, we puzzled why Amazon MGM and Apple, which had touted their dedication to theaters, weren’t in Vegas to current when “Sound of Freedom” studio Angel Studios was.
Not less than a kind of studios was listening, and Amazon MGM is making its debut at CinemaCon on the Colosseum stage. With the exit of Jen Salke, movie chief Courtenay Valenti is now the highest canine working the present, and he or she’s been ready till the second was proper to showcase every part they’ve on their theatrical movie slate. That marketing campaign started this month at SXSW when Valenti and Salke collectively vowed to launch a slate of 12-14 theatrical releases subsequent yr, and doubtlessly 16 by 2027.
Executives like Adam Aron at AMC have already favored what they’ve heard and touted Amazon MGM’s arrival because the added enhance the field workplace wants. However we’ve heard these guarantees earlier than.
We anticipate to get a fuller image of the studio’s schedule and a few concrete dates for larger initiatives, and hopefully a primary have a look at movies like Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt,” Lord and Miller’s “Challenge Hail Mary,” and “Verity” (primarily based on the Colleen Hoover e book). Will they be motion pictures that really look theatrical and never simply streaming motion pictures given a theatrical advertising push?
And hey, it doesn’t damage that Amazon MGM simply closed its deal for Amy Pascal and David Heyman to guide the James Bond franchise. It’s too early to anticipate any information, however we guess they’ll remind of us that Bond is again in good fingers.
What Comes After Superman?
Final month, James Gunn and Peter Safran talked to a small group of press with a miniature state of the union in regards to the new look DC Studios. We’ve already seen the primary have a look at “Superman,” and that can actually be the star of the present of Warner Bros.’ presentation. It wouldn’t shock us if we bought an prolonged have a look at the movie or only a new trailer.
However will a few of these particulars Gunn and Safran shared extra intimately now be prepared for heart stage? The subsequent main DC movie, “Supergirl: Girl of Tomorrow,” is presently in manufacturing, so it’s potential we get a small tease for it or Mike Flanagan’s “Clayface,” and perhaps a number of dates as effectively.
DC will probably be only a quarter of WB’s full presentation, nevertheless, which intends to showcase one of the best of what Warner Bros. Photos, New Line Cinema, and WB Animation are additionally all cooking up. Extra scrutiny has been paid to the staff up in Burbank as Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy’s slate is lastly prepared after a few costly flops like “Joker: Folie a Deux” and now “The Alto Knights.”
We already bought the complete trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After One other” final week, however we would additionally get some deets about titles like Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!,” Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights,” and Zach Cregger’s “Weapons,” the latter of which simply bumped up its launch date to this summer season.
Welcome Again, Sony!
Sony Photos took the yr off at CinemaCon in 2024, however in 2025 is again to opening the conference, specifically as a result of it prioritizes theaters by not having a streaming service of its personal. Its slate consists of Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later,” Darren Aronofsky’s “Caught Stealing,” Kogonada’s “A Large Daring Stunning Journey,” and, in fact, some “Spider-Man” teases.
Whereas Sony itself didn’t have a presence in 2024, its anime arm Crunchyroll did, and it has one other “Demon Slayer” film hitting theaters this summer season that would additionally get a glance as pleasure round anime in theaters continues to realize traction.
We Need Extra “Depraved”
Final yr’s CinemaCon was the primary time we bought an actual have a look at “Depraved” and the hype Common had for it. Jon M. Chu was the featured speaker at an end-of-convention luncheon, and so they all knew that they had a winner on their fingers. Now everyone knows it too and so they’re poised to take a victory lap, however the excellent news for Uni and theater homeowners alike is that they’ve one other film with “Depraved: For Good” already within the can. We’re hoping for a tease of some footage even when the complete trailer is probably going months away from releasing on-line.
Common can be screening for the primary time its reside motion “The best way to Prepare Your Dragon” in full. Focus Options too has already promised us the primary have a look at Wes Anderson’s newest “The Phoenician Scheme,” it has new Yorgos Lanthimos film “Bugonia” cooking, and we wouldn’t be stunned to get some sort of taped video message from Chris Nolan from the set of “The Odyssey.”
Can James Cameron High Himself Once more?
We already bought our “Implausible 4” trailer and our “Avengers: Doomsday” casting announcement, and whereas “Tron: Ares” stands to be fairly cool and a possible huge a part of Disney’s presentation, the actual spectacle will probably be what new tips James Cameron has up his sleeve for “Avatar: Hearth and Ash,” his follow-up to 2022’s “The Manner of Water.”
Disney is within the behavior of retaining the celeb cameos to a minimal and as a substitute displaying lengthier sequences from the movies themselves, and we’re hoping “Avatar” is certainly one of them. However don’t be stunned to listen to folks describing what they noticed from Pixar’s “Elio,” from the live-action “Lilo & Sew,” or from Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*.”