This week in Las Vegas was the massive convention that discussed all things cinema CinemaCon. Which featured big movie news of what’s to come this year as well as some special looks at next year’s lineup of theatrical release projects from major studios like Universal Pictures, Disney, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Paramount and many more.
As there was loads of news from this week and only so much that could be discussed in one article, here are some of the highlights from some of the major studio presentations at this year’s CinemaCon.
SONY Pictures:
Being the first to kick things off Sony provided special looks at a lot of their upcoming movies slated for later on this year.
But some of the particular highlights were on their Spiderman Universe films in particular the announcement of an El Muerto movie starring rapper Bad Bunny who will play the anti-hero wrestler and will release January 12th 2024. Whilst being a rarely used, unknown character in the comics many are left with confusion on why Sony are even attempting a film like this. But I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Then Phil Lord and Christopher Miller showed up to present a special look at the upcoming “Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse.” Whilst being delayed to June 1st 2023, the two mention that the upcoming instalment is way bigger than the last film with having the largest crew for an animated film ever and over 240 characters in the film, with it taking place over 6 different universes (so far). The two also announced the title of part two “Spiderman: Beyond the Spider-Verse” which will release March 28th 2024.
We also got confirmation that “VENOM 3” and a “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” sequel would currently be in the works during the presentation.
This is all exciting news to hear for fans and with Sony presenting a massive slate of many other films for this year, there’s going to be a lot to look forward to.
Warner Bros. Pictures:
Of Course, with Warner Bros. so far starting off their year with their successful hit film “The Batman,” they clearly had to make a special announcement with Matt Reeves’ returning to direct another installment of “The Batman.” Which made many fans pleased to hear as it was a widely well-received film.
Baz Lurmann also took the stage to briefly discuss his new Elvis film coming out in June, mentioning how his film is ‘ “not really a biopic,” but more about America in the 50s, 60s 70s with Elvis Presley at the centre of culture.’ And that “Elvis is the original superhero.”
There was also a special look at “Wonka” starring Timothée Chalamet, the first look at Margot Robbie as “Barbie” and a special look at the upcoming “The Flash” movie starring Ezra Miller in cinemas June 22nd. It is to be said that there were further looks at Michael Keaton’s Batman in the preview and that he asks Barry one of his most classic lines “You wanna get nuts? C’mon let’s get nuts!”. Fans are bound to be excited when more is announced later on in the year.
Olivia Wilde also took the stage to present a preview of “Don’t Worry Darling” in cinemas September 22nd this year starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. She mentions that her psychological thriller is her “love letter to the movies that push the boundaries of our imaginations” and says that she was inspired by ‘Inception’, ‘The Matrix’ and ‘The Truman Show’.
With further DC news, the Cast of “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” also took the stage with Dame Helen Miren, Zachary Levi, Asher Angel and Jack Grazer as they showed off a special preview of the new instalment. The film is set to come out on December 21st this year. James Wan also stopped by to provide a sneak preview of the upcoming “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” which will be in cinemas March 16th 2023.
The Rock also dropped through to show off a trailer for “DC League of Super-Pets” (in cinemas July 28th), as well as an exclusive world premiere of the “Black Adam” trailer (in cinemas October 20th). He mentioned how this has been in the works for 10 years and it has truly been a dream of his to make.
With loads of DC news and plenty of other upcoming films, Warner Bros. seems to be shaping up a good future for itself with a few projects that will certainly be interesting to see later on in the year.
Universal Pictures:
Universal brought in the power with their presentation as they showed off some pretty interesting projects due to come out later this year. Starting with Jordan Peele presenting a special preview of never-before-seen footage from his upcoming movie “Nope”, mentioning that he cannot wait to personally thrive on the number of times he hears the word “Nope” when it hits theatres on July 21st. 
Jamie Lee Curtis also stopped by to present the very first look of “Halloween Ends”. She stated on how “it has been the ride of my life to portray Laurie Strode since 1978.” And that to trust her as this next instalment is going to “f**k you up”.
They also gave the audience a preview of the upcoming horror “M3GAN” along with preview of “BEAST” starring Idris Elba in which is due to hit cinemas later this year.
But some big news with Billy Eichner taking the stage as he came to talk about his historic rom-com “Bros” which is the first gay rom-com ever made by a major studio and the first studio film with an openly LGBTQ cast. He presents a world premiere of the trailer for “Bros”.
Also, Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan presented a special preview of the film “She Said” which is a movie based on true events of the NY Times Reporters’ Harvey Weinstein Exposé.
To close off Universal’s presentation Jeff Goldblum and Bryce Dallas Howard showed off some never-before-seen footage for the final instalment of “Jurassic World: Dominion”
Universal definitely came with a lot of other announcements as well throughout their presentation and they to have some exciting films to see later this year with “Halloween Ends” and “Jurassic World: Dominion” being a few that I can’t wait to see.
Paramount Pictures:
Paramount whilst has so far had a surprisingly good year had a fairly brief presentation where they showed off footage from some of their upcoming films “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank” in cinemas July 14th and “Babylon” coming later this December starring Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt and Tobey Maguire.
They also displayed a sizzle reel of footage and logos of some more of their upcoming titles “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”, “SCREAM 6”, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, the next ‘A Quiet Place’ movie “A Quiet Place: DAY ONE”, biopics for Bob Marley and the Bee Gees as well as many other titles.
One thing for sure is that they didn’t take too long to bring in Tom Cruise who gave a special message whilst standing on top a plane in mid-air. He introduced the first look at the trailer for the next ‘Mission Impossible’ along with a title reveal “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I”
From the sounds of it Paramount looks to be set up for quite a good year of movies along with next year having some fairly exciting projects to come.
Lionsgate:
Whilst Lionsgate didn’t have a lot to offer it did manage to show off some previews of their upcoming movies.
Starting with showcasing a special preview of “EXPEND4BLES” at CinemaCon which we so far know very little upon. However throughout the week poster art has been shared across social media spreading some reasonable hype around the upcoming action flick.
Then there were a few more looks shown of other films like upcoming horror “The Devil’s Light”, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret?” and “About My Father”.
Helen Mirren had a video message to introduce the movie “White Bird: A Wonder Story” which is a spin-off to the 2017 movie ‘Wonder’. She stated that director Mark Forster created “a film of magic realism that is both beautiful and emotional.” Which to me sounds fairly sweet to hear considering the 2017 film provided just about the same themes.
To close out the show they of course showcased “John Wick: Chapter 4” with Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski presenting a special first look at CinemaCon. Keanu even stated that ‘to think that it all started because of a puppy.’
Whilst not a lot shown in what was mostly a brief presentation from Lionsgate they do have a few projects that are expected to come very soon. I personally am definitely looking forward to “John Wick: Chapter 4” and cannot wait to check out many other movies that Lionsgate will have to offer this year.
Overall, CinemaCon had some big highly anticipated announcements like “Avatar: The Way of Water”, but it also had some unexpected surprises along the way with some additional epic facts on some of the upcoming movies slated for this year. There’s most definitely plenty to look forward to in the coming months and in the future for movies.
