Movies Cinemacon 2023: movies, movies, movies

[Guest]

Just finished day one here in Las Vegas. The day was capped off with a presentation by Sony.

 

1. Kicked off with a from-the-set intro from Will Smith and Martin Lawrence who are shooting Bad Boys 4 right now. These dudes do have great chemistry.

 

2. DUMB MONEY: Paul Dano is Deep Fucking Value in a dramatic retelling of the Gamestop shenanigans of 2021. Dano and the director (Craig Gillespie) intro'd the clip, which was roughly the first 5 minutes of the film. It was funny, and definitely cut from the same cloth as The Big Short. Cast is bannanas. It's one I'll be watching when it hits theaters.

 

3. THE MACHINE: Nothing really new other than a Cinemacon specific intro from Bert

 

4. INSIDISOUS # whatever: The whole original cast is back, should be good fun for those who like the franchise

 

5. SPIDER-MAN ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE: The main cast and co-director, Kemp Powers, intro'd a 14 minute sequence from the film. It makes me jealous how good this team is at film making. There is one shot in the film that may be the most beautiful composition I've ever seen in a computer animated film. One funny momeny was when Powers talked about seeing the first film while he was working on Soul at Pixar and then joked that he was glad his former bosses weren't in town until Wednesday (Disney is presenting Wednesday). This movie is going to be awesome.

 

6. KRAVEN THE HUNTER: I've never heard of this character. I feel like this is going deep into the well that just folks like @skillzdadirecta are going to be familiar with. They said it was their first R-rated Marvel movie, and the violence shown in the series of clips certainly warranted it. Brutal stuff. Taylor-Johnson seemed to be channelling a bit of Jackman's Wolverine here. Sony Marvel stuff not produced by Feige hasn't been very good, so I'm not betting this one will be either!

 

7. ANYONE BUT YOU: Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell intro'd their rom-com about two people that hate each other. Very paint by numbers. Hard pass.

 

8. GRAN TURISMO: David Harbor and Orlando Bloom came by to show off the first trailer of their film, directed by Neil Blomkamp. Harbor spoke a bit of the preplexing nature of the game-based film, and then asked the audience if they have ever played it, and then explained that it is a racing sim with literally no story. But the hook for the movie is that it is based on a true story of a top tier GT gamer who won a contest to become part of a real racing team. Honestly...the trailer was actually pretty good. I'm sold.

 

9. EQUALIZER 3: Fuqua, Fanning, and Denzel himself came out to show the first trailer for the flick. I mean, you kinda know what you're getting with this franchise at this point. The best thing was just Denzel's live intro. Dude is so flippin' charming, you can't help but smile while he is talking.

 

10: GHOSTBUSTERS AFTERLIFE SEQUEL: No footage as they are apparently very early in production, but they did say this one takes place in the city again instead of the middle of nowhere.

 

11. NAPOLEON: Tom Rothman, the big boss at Sony Pictures, talked about their new relationship with Apple. For those who don't know, for the next couple of years at least, Apple will be partnering with various Hollywood studios to release some of their titles with normal theatrical distribution deals. Scorcesse's Killers flick will be at Paramount, and Sony snagged Ridley Scott's Napoleon epic with Joaquin Phoenix. THey showed a 5 minute battle sequence from the film. It looks fantastic. Rothman noted how much he appreciated seeing Ridley Scott do a lot of the work on the film with practical effects, and it showed in the clip. Very exciting.

[skillzdadirecta]

Kraven is pretty well known... he's been in the cartoons and a couple of video games. He's an interesting character and had one of the darkest Spiderman storylines ever in the classic "Night of the Hunter storyline" from the 80's. He's a weird character to make a solo film from though because there's not much redeeming about him to make him a protagonist. Also Sony's track record with these SPidey related films that aren't animated has been abysmal. I haven't even bothered to watch Venom or Let there be Carnage. I'm curious to see if Silver Sable will be in Kraven though as the rumor is they are tying her to him in the movies even though in the comics, they had nothing to do with each other 

[SoberChef]

You staying at the same hotel the con is happening at @sblfilmsor someplace else? I heard that they went the price gouging route this year so some opted for other nearby hotels. Hope it isn't too hot out there this week for everyone in attendance. Looking forward to more recaps throughout the week as well, appreciate it!

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

16 hours ago, sblfilms said:

 

11. NAPOLEON: Tom Rothman, the big boss at Sony Pictures, talked about their new relationship with Apple. For those who don't know, for the next couple of years at least, Apple will be partnering with various Hollywood studios to release some of their titles with normal theatrical distribution deals. Scorcesse's Killers flick will be at Paramount, and Sony snagged Ridley Scott's Napoleon epic with Joaquin Phoenix. THey showed a 5 minute battle sequence from the film. It looks fantastic. Rothman noted how much he appreciated seeing Ridley Scott do a lot of the work on the film with practical effects, and it showed in the clip. Very exciting.

 

Judging from the film's description:

 

Quote

The film is an original and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine (Vanessa Kirby). The film captures Napoleon’s famous battles, relentless ambition and astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary.

 

I have little doubt that it will completely ignore the little Corsican sack of shit's failed attempt to reconquer and re-enslave Haiti.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte is unquestionably one of the most eye-rollingly overrated figures in all of world history.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, SoberChef said:

You staying at the same hotel the con is happening at @sblfilmsor someplace else? I heard that they went the price gouging route this year so some opted for other nearby hotels. Hope it isn't too hot out there this week for everyone in attendance. Looking forward to more recaps throughout the week as well, appreciate it!

I stay at Caesars (where the convention is held) if my wife comes with, as she skips out on a lot stuff and goes back to the room, so it’s convenient to just go upstairs. But I’m solo this year, so I go cheap and stay across the street at Linq. I’m basically gone from 6:45am to midnight every day, between events and meetings, so I don’t really think much of where I stay. Linq is pretty convenient and it’s typically clean, so good enough for me to sleep in 😂

 

No idea if the hotel rates were higher this year at Caesar’s since is didn’t even look!

 

Are you in Vegas?

[skillzdadirecta]

7 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

I have little doubt that it will completely ignore the little Corsican sack of shit's failed attempt to reconquer and re-enslave Haiti.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte is unquestionably one of the most eye-rollingly overrated figures in all of world history.

 

Sir Ridley is doing the movie so of COURSE it will.

[TwinIon]

16 hours ago, sblfilms said:

Just finished day one here in Las Vegas. The day was capped off with a presentation by Sony.

 

1. Kicked off with a from-the-set intro from Will Smith and Martin Lawrence who are shooting Bad Boys 4 right now. These dudes do have great chemistry.

 

2. DUMB MONEY: Paul Dano is Deep Fucking Value in a dramatic retelling of the Gamestop shenanigans of 2021. Dano and the director (Craig Gillespie) intro'd the clip, which was roughly the first 5 minutes of the film. It was funny, and definitely cut from the same cloth as The Big Short. Cast is bannanas. It's one I'll be watching when it hits theaters.

 

3. THE MACHINE: Nothing really new other than a Cinemacon specific intro from Bert

 

4. INSIDISOUS # whatever: The whole original cast is back, should be good fun for those who like the franchise

 

5. SPIDER-MAN ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE: The main cast and co-director, Kemp Powers, intro'd a 14 minute sequence from the film. It makes me jealous how good this team is at film making. There is one shot in the film that may be the most beautiful composition I've ever seen in a computer animated film. One funny momeny was when Powers talked about seeing the first film while he was working on Soul at Pixar and then joked that he was glad his former bosses weren't in town until Wednesday (Disney is presenting Wednesday). This movie is going to be awesome.

 

6. KRAVEN THE HUNTER: I've never heard of this character. I feel like this is going deep into the well that just folks like @skillzdadirecta are going to be familiar with. They said it was their first R-rated Marvel movie, and the violence shown in the series of clips certainly warranted it. Brutal stuff. Taylor-Johnson seemed to be channelling a bit of Jackman's Wolverine here. Sony Marvel stuff not produced by Feige hasn't been very good, so I'm not betting this one will be either!

 

7. ANYONE BUT YOU: Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell intro'd their rom-com about two people that hate each other. Very paint by numbers. Hard pass.

 

8. GRAN TURISMO: David Harbor and Orlando Bloom came by to show off the first trailer of their film, directed by Neil Blomkamp. Harbor spoke a bit of the preplexing nature of the game-based film, and then asked the audience if they have ever played it, and then explained that it is a racing sim with literally no story. But the hook for the movie is that it is based on a true story of a top tier GT gamer who won a contest to become part of a real racing team. Honestly...the trailer was actually pretty good. I'm sold.

 

9. EQUALIZER 3: Fuqua, Fanning, and Denzel himself came out to show the first trailer for the flick. I mean, you kinda know what you're getting with this franchise at this point. The best thing was just Denzel's live intro. Dude is so flippin' charming, you can't help but smile while he is talking.

 

10: GHOSTBUSTERS AFTERLIFE SEQUEL: No footage as they are apparently very early in production, but they did say this one takes place in the city again instead of the middle of nowhere.

 

11. NAPOLEON: Tom Rothman, the big boss at Sony Pictures, talked about their new relationship with Apple. For those who don't know, for the next couple of years at least, Apple will be partnering with various Hollywood studios to release some of their titles with normal theatrical distribution deals. Scorcesse's Killers flick will be at Paramount, and Sony snagged Ridley Scott's Napoleon epic with Joaquin Phoenix. THey showed a 5 minute battle sequence from the film. It looks fantastic. Rothman noted how much he appreciated seeing Ridley Scott do a lot of the work on the film with practical effects, and it showed in the clip. Very exciting.

Always cool to hear your insights from cinemacon.

 

No surprise that Spiderverse and Napoleon look good, but I'm kinda glad that Gran Turismo might turn out well. I'm mostly just rooting for Sony to do a good job with all their upcoming video game adaptations. Horizon and GoW in particular I'd love to see turn out well.

[SoberChef]

I hear that The Flash was rather spectacular. I'm unfortunately not in Vegas, although I'd love nothing more than to attend Cinemacon. What I'm curious about @sblfilmsis isn't the convention for members of theater owners? Or are there industry people also in attendance then?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, SoberChef said:

I hear that The Flash was rather spectacular. I'm unfortunately not in Vegas, although I'd love nothing more than to attend Cinemacon. What I'm curious about @sblfilmsis isn't the convention for members of theater owners? Or are there industry people also in attendance then?

The convention includes theater owners, theater staff, movie studio employees (mostly sales execs and marketing execs), equipment vendors (projector manufacturers, audio companies like Dolby, etc), concession products vendors, and then vendors of all sorts of other theater related stuff (seats, carpets, point of sale systems, etc.). Additionally there is a good amount of entertainment press.

 

If you were in Vegas I would tell you to come hang out at some of the parties with me!

[SoberChef]

You are an awesome individual @sblfilms& so greatly appreciated. Thanks for the kind sentiment, truly means more than you know. Have a guava margarita for me!

[Guest]

Day 2: All about Warners

 

1. The first 25 minutes of the Warners presentation was David Zaslav talking about the commitment of the studio to theatrical releases. It was basically all just off-the-cuff remarks (you can see the teleprompter screens in the back of the room when it is prepared remarks), talking about his love for going to see movies in theaters his whole life. He also got really into the weeds at one point about how direct-to-streaming makes movies worth less to them as a business because they are worth less to consumers. The data on this is actually really fascinating! Even people who don't go see movies in theaters view theatrical releases as more prestigious than direct-to-streaming titles, even those who are exclusively streaming viewers.

 

2. THE COLOR PURPLE: Intro'd by Oprah and the director, Blitz, they showed an extended trailer set to the musical's big number "Hell No". Film looks visually great. I've actually never seen the original film, though it should be noted that this is an adaptation of the Broadway musical. The three female leads also came out and answered some questions. Two of the actresses were also in those roles in the musical, so that is kinda neat. I think it's a Christmas release, which studios have found some good length out of musicals in that frame in the last decade.

 

2. BARBIE: An extended trailer plus short scene intro'd by Gerwig, Ferreria, Gosling, and Robbie. First, I just have to mention how incredibly funny Ryan Gosling was. Just had hilarious answers to the often silly questions that they were being asked. Greta Gerwig is also terrifically dorky, nervous, and adorable. I want to be friends with her! As far as the footage...holy moly, this movie looks better and better the more I see and hear. Gerwig was talking about the writing process and how Baumbach at one point started hinting that the might want to direct it, and she told him no I'm not surprised, looks like she had a great time building this flick.

 

3. MEG 2 THE TRENCH: It's more of The Meg. Either you like this stuff of you don't

 

4. BLUE BEETLE: Extended version of the current trailer Intro'd by the Director, Angel Soto, and the two leads. This looks 100% OKAY. Something more on the level of Shazam 2. Not exciting at all, but I hope it makes money because the director seemed so nice. I even bumped into him at the trade show as he was just walking around looking at all the stuff and having a good time.

 

5. THE NUN 2: I can't tell you anything about this one because I hate scary movies and was pretty much under my seat during this  The footage though was intro'd by two of the leads, Taissa Farmiga (Vera's sister, I believe) and Storm Reid (most recently in TLOU). They said it was super creepy on set, so the movie is probably really creepy too!

 

6. DUNE PART II: Footage intro'd by Denis, Zendaya, and Timothy. Obviously, the movie is visually stunning, but I think the more exciting thing for me is the way Denis described it as "Part I is the appetizer, contemplative and quiet. Part II is the main course, action packed and filling". Looking forward to this one much much!

 

7. WONKA: Timothy Chalamet was back out to show off an extended trailer for this one. Directed by Paddington's Paul King, the movie seems legitimately delightful. Chalamet said it shows a more optimistic Willy, unlike the more cynical version you see by the time Wilder plays him. So is this technically a prequel to the Wilder film? The highlight bit was Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa.

 

8. AQUA MAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM: It looked like Aquaman...I dunno, I never really was in to Mamoa's Aquaman, but seems like more of that if you happened to like it. I will note that the under water visual effects look MUCH improved over the first film.

 

9. THE FLASH: Warners screened the whole film. It wasn't complete, a little bit of unfished VFX, and apparently slightly longer than the theatrical cut will ultimately be. Movie is really great. See my impressions in the Flash Trailer thread.

[skillzdadirecta]

1 hour ago, sblfilms said:

I've actually never seen the original film