CinemaCon returns to Sin City for its annual visit and brings with it all the latest and greatest in movie theater hardware, snack bar goodness, and major movie studio sizzle reels!
Presented by NATO (The National Association of Theater Owners), CinemaCon is an annual convention that takes place at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, NV. This epic industry get-together will be held April 24th thru April 27th and will, once again, pride itself on the unveiling of all the latest and greatest in theatrical hardware (projection, sound, seating, etc.) and snack bar goodness (new treats as well as traditional standards like Red Vines and popcorn), but for crazed movie fans like me, the big draw at CinemaCon (one of our favorite annual events to cover) is the splashy studio presentations. That’s right! All the big studios will be on hand with a plethora of sizzle reels and in some cases, full film screenings, to dazzle the theatrical exhibition crowd and to remind everyone why the theatrical experience is still one of the all-time great forms of grand-scale entertainment.
Per usual, the proceedings will be hosted by the legendary Mitch Neuhauser. This man and his dedicated team know how to put on a show! Speaking of which, you haven’t borne witness to the full cinematic experience until you’ve seen a movie screening or taken in a studio sizzle reel at an event like CinemaCon. Translation; All in the exhibition business should be required to attend CinemaCon at least once so they can see firsthand what showmanship and presentation are all about.
Currently, a lot of what the studios will be bringing to the table at CinemaCon 2023 is being kept under wraps (as it should be, particularly in this day and age of the internet in which surprises are all too rare) but here in this piece, we can certainly fill you in on what we know so far. We can also speculate!
Here’s a brief look at the studios that will be represented and what we might expect to see;
SONY PICTURES
Sony Pictures will open up CinemaCon 2023 with what promises to be a magical evening. Sony certainly loves to bring surprises. Back in August of 2021, they shared GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE nearly 3 months early with a more than enthusiastic crowd. What’s more, they had Jason Reitman and his father, the late great Ivan, on hand to introduce the film. And last April, Sony entertained the crowd with nearly 15 minutes of SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE over a year ahead of its release. Speaking of which, with SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE slated to open this June, it’s safe to say they’ll have plenty more to share with attendees during this presentation. Those in attendance can also expect news regarding THE EQUALIZER 3 starring Denzel Washington, Eli Roth’s upcoming holiday set gorefest THANKSGIVING, Gil Kenan’s highly anticipated followup to GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (a movie I’m convinced won’t make its December release date as it’s still filming), and plenty more!
WARNER BROTHERS
Iconic Warner Brothers Studios, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, will occupy the opening morning slot at CinemaCon with what promises to be an epic presentation. They have an insanely massive slate that includes a plethora of DC properties which are mostly being spearheaded by James Gunn. WB also has the Godzilla-centric monsterverse, DUNE: PART 2, the much-talked-about musical adaptation of THE COLOR PURPLE, Greta Gerwig’s big screen take on BARBIE, MEG 2: THE TRENCH, BLUE BEETLE, and WONKA, just to name a few. Oh, and then there’s a little superhero movie called THE FLASH which, following a fair share of issues, is looking to come out clean on the other side. The word surrounding the film has been extremely positive. So positive, in fact, that WB is going to share THE FLASH in its entirety later on in the day. Given that the movie doesn’t come out until mid-June, this signals quite a sign of good faith. Beyond that, given that this is a 100th-anniversary celebration, we have very little doubt that there will be plenty of big surprises and plenty of massive star power on hand at Caesar Palace’s epic Colosseum during this presentation.
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS
CinemaCon wouldn’t be CinemaCon without a splashy Walt Disney Pictures presentation and while the Mouse House has channeled quite a bit of energy into their epic streaming service as of late, they still have plenty for your multiplexes on the way. I mean…We’re talking about the studio that hosts the likes of Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and 20th Century Studios, just to name a precious few. Over the past few years, the Disney presentations have generally consisted of a handful of sizzle reels and advanced scenes from upcoming films coupled with full advanced movie screenings. This year is looking to be no different. At CinemaCon 2023, Disney and 20th Century Studios will treat everyone to an early showing of the Stephen King adaptation, THE BOOGEYMAN, from 20th Century Studios. And you know what? I couldn’t be any happier because I love me a good horror film. And if a handful of recent test screenings are any indication, this one (it’s based on a short story from the beloved King book, “Night Shift”) is going to deliver the goods. Beyond that, there are simply too many epic possibilities to predict at this particular presentation. In addition to the soon-to-be-released GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 and a live-action adaptation of THE LITTLE MERMAID, there’s also a little movie on the horizon called INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY. With this highly-anticipated Indy swan song premiering at May’s Cannes Film Festival (over a month before the rest of the world gets to see it), it’s clear that Disney and Lucasfilm have a lot of faith in this movie. Might we get a look at the much-talked-about tuk-tuk chase footage that was recently screened at Star Wars Celebration? Maybe. Or…Maybe Lucasfilm will hold off and not show anything. They may just let the hype machine begin following that big upcoming Cannes premiere. Beyond that, Pixar has ELEMENTAL and given that the company that built TOY STORY always brings the house down, I suspect they’ll give us an extended peek at that. And then, of course, there’s the onslaught of Marvel products expected to drop over the next several years and you can certainly bet that we’ll be treated to a lot of news regarding all the superhero goodness that’s to come. On a final note, I’d be shocked if STAR WARS and AVATAR aren’t at least talked about during what promises to be another jam-packed presentation from Walt Disney Pictures.
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
I would be positively shocked if Universal didn’t take an ample amount of time to promote one of its biggest flagship franchises, FAST X, during this presentation. After all, it’s all about family. It’s also safe to say that we’ll get some new footage from Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated OPPENHEIMER. Elsewhere, we have yet to see a trailer for David Gordon Green’s new take on THE EXORCIST and with any luck, this is where we’ll see the first footage from the upcoming Blumhouse release. Also on the way, the delayed Dracula-centric horror film THE LAST VOYAGE OF DEMETER and TROLLS BAND TOGETHER. Universal could also take some time to share some details on some of their higher 2024 titles, too…Namely, DESPICABLE ME 4, KUNG FU PANDA 4, and Lee Isaac Chung’s TWISTERS. A lot of great stuff to look forward to.
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Paramount Pictures has no shortage of high-profile films dropping in the coming months, high among them, TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS. Additionally, they have the animated features TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM and PAW PATROL: MIGHTY MOVIE hitting theaters this summer. Beyond that, this famed studio has a BOB MARLEY biopic in the works alongside a sequel to Ridley Scott’s GLADIATOR. This is to say nothing of the hotly anticipated A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE from PIG director, Michael Sarnaski. Of course, no one brings the showmanship at a Paramount presentation quite like the incomparable Tom Cruise therefore it would be quite the shock if Maverick himself wasn’t on hand to share a behind-the-scenes look at his latest insane movie stunt. At the very least, we should see a little something from both MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-DEAD RECKONING PART 1 AND MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-DEAD RECKONING PART 2. Paramount Pictures pretty much won CinemaCon 2022 with the first-ever screening of TOP GUN: MAVERICK, a movie that would go on to dominate the box-office throughout most of 2022, so I have no doubt that they’ll be swinging for the fences, and who better to have a bat than Tom Cruise? Well…How about Martin Scorsese? As excited as I am for anything Cruise might bring to share, I’m equally excited about a possible first look at Martin Scorsese’s big prestige fall release, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. Paramount Pictures will be aiding Apple TV with this title by way of a limited theatrical release in October and I for one couldn’t be any more excited. It should also be noted that Mr. Scorsese will be on hand at CinemaCon 2023 for a conversation/luncheon where he’ll also receive the “Legend of Cinema” Award. Yep…I suspect Paramount is going to be bringing it this year.
LIONSGATE
Riding high on the massive success of JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, you can bet that Lionsgate will dish on their upcoming JOHN WICK spinoff, BALLERINA, starring Ana de Armas. Likewise, we can also expect more info on this holiday season’s new entry in the popular HUNGER GAMES franchise. Additionally, Lionsgate has new chapters in THE EXPENDABLES and SAW franchises ready to lens along with a new DIRTY DANCING movie featuring an appearance by the original film’s star, Jennifer Gray. That said, the bulk of Lionsgate’s presentation will be reserved for an advanced screening of the irreverent comedy, JOY RIDE from director Adele Lim and producer Seth Rogen. This Asian-American road trip movie finds a group of friends bonding and learning more about themselves as they travel through Asia looking for one of their birth mothers.
Watch for our CinemaCon 2023 coverage here at Cinemast.net throughout the next week.
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