CinemaCon kicked off with a bang tonight in Las Vegas with Sony Pictures. The emphasis of the nearly two-hour show was on the studio’s big tentpole franchises, leaning heavily on its Marvel Spider-Man license, as well as it's risk-taking with a slate full of original films. Josh Greenstein, President of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, took the stage to start with a pat on the back for the company’s $3.3 billion worldwide box office grosses in 2021, helping rejuvenate movie theaters with films like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, the latter of which accounts for nearly $2 billion in box office revenue alone, the third highest-grossing film of all time. Its theatrical exclusive window lasted 88 days.
(Marvel)
Like Venom and Morbius, El Muerto is a character from the Spider-Man comics who will receive his own big-screen adventure. In the title role is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as recording artist Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny was a surprise guest on stage at CinemaCon to announce the film, sharing that he has always loved wrestling and playing Juan Carlos, aka El Muerto, is a dream come true. “It’s gonna be epic,” he said as the release date was announced: January 12th, 2024. Before we meet El Muerto on the big screen, two other Spider-Man live-action films in this series will be released: Kraven the Hunter on January 13th, 2023, and Madame Web on July 7th, 2023. Both of these films were featured in a sizzle reel at the end of the presentation that showcased the studio’s upcoming lineup.
Marvel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Writers and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were on hand to showcase the highly-anticipated follow-up to the Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. They started by sharing some numbers:
- 240 – The number of unique characters in the film (compared to 40 in the first movie)
- 6 – The number of universes Miles Morales and Gwen Stacey will encounter in the film
- June 2nd, 2023 – The release date, revealed during the event.
(Sony/Marvel)
CinemaCon attendees were treated to the first 15-minutes of the film, which is still in a work-in-progress state. We got to see the introduction of several characters in that timeframe, including Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099, Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman, and Vulture. We also got to see into Gwen Stacey’s universe, Earth 65, which has a mood ring visual esthetic that sets it apart from Miles Morales’ Earth 1610.
Marvel Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
The next animated Spider-Man is so big, it’s actually a two-parter. This was already known, but the title hadn’t yet been announced, which is now officially called Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. We also learned when the film will be released, the Easter timeframe of 2024.
Bullet Train
The first film presented was actually Bullet Train, hitting theaters on July 29th. Director David Leitch (Deadpool 2) was on hand to introduce the action/thriller/comedy film, based on the Japanese novel by Kōtarō Isaka. The all-star cast includes Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Shannon, Bad Bunny, and Sandra Bullock. We were treated to the “First reel” (a term from when movies were released on film, which equates to around 11-minutes). The film starts at a frenzied pace as Brad Pitt’s character boards a Shinkansen train from Tokyo to Osaka in search of a briefcase on board. As the train leaves the station, we meet many of the key players in rapid succession. The depiction of Tokyo looks more like the Harajuku district or an anime series come to life than the real Tokyo does, presenting a highly stylized fantasy.
Where the Crawdads Sing
In a pre-filmed introduction, producer Reese Witherspoon shared her excitement for the highly anticipated film adaptation of the best-selling novel by Delia Owens. Some new footage was shown, which felt like it could be a second trailer. The film is Sony’s first release post-CinemaCon, coming to theaters on July 15th.
The Woman King
Nicole Brown, president of Tristar Pictures, introduced director Gina Prince-Bythewood and her film The Woman King, scheduled for release on September 16th. The film stars Viola Davis, who also serves as a producer, and was on hand to be the first recipient of the CInemaCon Trailblazer Award, which is named after her for future honorees. During Viola Davis’ acceptance speech, she shared five words that she doesn’t want to take to her grave: “I was not breave enough.” She has always wanted to inspire people with her work and since becoming a producer, she has sought out projects that not only tell great stories but that showcase diversity and excellence. She considers finding The Woman King as divine intervention, calling it her magnum opus. The film is based on the true story of The Dahomey Amazons, an all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey. The trailer premiered following Viola Davis’ acceptance speech, a historical epic set to the song “My Power” by Beyoncé from the album The Lion King: The Gift and the film Black Is King.
Heart of Lion
George Foreman recorded a special video message about the biopic currently in production, titled Heart of a Lion, which is being directed by George Tillman Jr. and scheduled for release on April 7th, 2023. This also included the debut of footage from the upcoming film.
Other Films
Before closing out the presentation, Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, had the audience help record a special birthday greeting for Dwayne Johnson, star of the Jumanji franchise, although no information was shared about the next film. Another franchise with more films in development is Ghostbusters, but the studio also refrained from giving any details about what will come next. But in a sizzle reel that included footage from the studio’s upcoming film slate, we saw clips from the family film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, the Tom Hanks film A Man Called Otto, a film adaptation of the classic children’s book Harold and the Purple Crayon, Adam Driver in the sci-fi film 65, the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody, and Celine Dion’s acting debut in It’s All Coming Back to Me.
Stay tuned to LaughingPlace.com this week for more news out of CinemaCon.
