{"id":610892,"date":"2026-04-17T20:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/610892\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T20:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:01:09","slug":"hollywood-winners-and-losers-cinemacon-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/610892\/","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood Winners and Losers: CinemaCon Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThere\u2019s a lot to cover: From the best trailers at CinemaCon (including Avengers: Doomsday<\/a> blowing the doors off), a Tom Holland<\/a> hologram, a Mandalorian movie that still looks like a Zoom meeting, David Ellison\u2019s attempt at human earnestness, and some off-topic thoughts about Clavicular. So put down that ad crack and buckle up for the highs and lows of the exhibitor conference in Vegas\u2026 <\/p>\n

\n\tLOST: DC Studios<\/a>\u2018 Presentation: Any news out of CinemaCon about The Batman Part Two? Nope. Anything exciting from the Superman sequel? How about a video message with stars David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult saying they can\u2019t wait to tell us more \u201csomeday\u201d? There was a teaser for Clayface that left the audience mildly intrigued. And some influencers say the new clip from Supergirl<\/a> was good \u2014 Kara on a space-bus full of aliens who get attacked by pirates, with a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe. Nothing was bad, but one hopes for more excitement coming off the momentum of last year\u2019s \u201cwe\u2019re back, baby!\u201d vibes from Superman and the terrific second season of Peacemaker.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe studio\u2019s biggest headline was made outside of the convention hall, when news broke<\/a> of Adria Arjona being cast in a mystery role in Man of Tomorrow. Is Arjona secretly playing Wonder Woman? She better be. Gunn is such a talented writer, he can make any obscure comic book character (like the rumored Maxima) appealing. But exhibitors would prefer a hero non-nerds have heard of. DC\u2019s three biggest characters are Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman and the messaging about the comic Holy Trinity at CinemaCon seemed to be: \u201cBat-who?\u201d \u201cNo comment\u201d and \u201cWe\u2019re working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWON: Marvel<\/a>\u2018s Presentation: Whereas Marvel\u2019s presentation was all: \u201cOh, you want our biggest characters back? Here\u2019s every single one of them. Including the ones we killed off. And the actors who swore they were moving on from the MCU. Happy? Sure, we\u2019ll probably throw in Happy Hogan too.\u201d Marvel played the first legit trailer for Avengers: Firehose of Spandex Down Your Gullet, a film that absolutely needs to work as it\u2019s from the studio that recently brought you Captain America: Brave New World and the filmmakers who brought you Netflix\u2019s The Electric State and Amazon\u2019s Citadel.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe reaction on social media was incredibly positive. Several said they had never experienced a response that overwhelming at CinemaCon. Disney actually showed the trailer twice (and not to pick on DC, but it\u2019s tough to imagine studio co-chief Peter Safran going, \u201cDo you want to see that Clayface teaser again?\u201d). In the footage, Robert Downey Jr. was \u201cunrecognizable\u201d in his Dr. Doom mask and used a heavily accented voice, which does make you wonder if paying a former Marvel star a reported $100 million to be unrecognizable is worth it (perhaps \u2014 like with Pedro Pascal in The Mandalorian and Grogu<\/a> \u2014 there are scenes with character\u2019s mask off).<\/p>\n

\n\tIt must be nice for Disney to have a film where the question isn\u2019t whether it makes a billion, but exactly how many billions. Hanging over all this was one grim thought: Disney created something this huge and exciting that will make so much money \u2026 and they still laid off 1,000 people<\/a>, many at Marvel, who worked so hard to make this happen. <\/p>\n

\n\tDisney also announced something called Infinity Vision, which sounds like a new format, but is actually a \u201ccertification\u201d for the studio to put their stamp of approval on premium format theaters which meet their high standards for screening Avengers: Doomsday. If that sounds like marketing bullshit to counter Dune locking up Imax for three weeks, it most certainly is. Infinity Vision might as well be called, \u201cWe\u2019re Not In Imax But Please Buy a More Expensive Ticket to Watch Our Movie Anyway.\u201d What do you want to bet that Infinity Vision is never mentioned again three weeks after Doomsday opens? If showing the Doomsday trailer twice was a move brimming with BDE, this felt like the opposite.<\/p>\n

\n\tMIXED: Star Wars: It\u2019s weird Disney presented the first 20 minutes of the first Star Wars movie in seven years, and yet The Mandalorian and Grogu were almost forgotten once the Avengers trailer played. The final trailer<\/a> released is the film\u2019s best one yet \u2014 though Disney notably leaned on John Williams\u2019 iconic Star Wars themes to punch the nostalgia button (the film\u2019s score is by Ludwig G\u00f6ransson). Director Jon Favreau is emphasizing the production used more practical sets than the Disney+ show, but one critic<\/a> said there are still shots that appear to use the dreaded Volume wall, including a scene where \u201ceach character [is] speaking to the camera against a blurry background that recreates the feeling of a Zoom meeting.\u201d Also, the biggest thing people are talking about from the preview is how it\u2019s the first Star Wars with opening credits (in terms of praise, \u201cit has credits\u201d is just a half-step above saying \u201cthe movie exists\u201d). Look, betting against Favreau is probably unwise. The general consensus seems to be: \u201cIf you like The Mandalorian, you will like the movie.\u201d But is that enough?<\/p>\n

\n\tWON: Epic Prestige Trailers: Attendees were stunned by the first seven minutes<\/a> of Denis Villeneuve\u2019s Dune: Part Three (\u201cSaving Private Ryan with lasers\u201d is how several described it) and footage from Christopher Nolan<\/a>\u2018s The Odyssey (\u201cIt\u2019s not a story, it\u2019s the\u00a0story,\u201d Nolan modestly declared. \u201cI would have brought [the cast], but the massive weight of extraordinary talent would have collapsed the stage\u201d). Another trailer that impressed was Aaron Sorkin\u2019s The Social Reckoning<\/a>, with Jeremy Strong playing Mark Zuckerberg so perfectly that we can\u2019t wait to hear Brian Cox complain about it.<\/p>\n

\n\tA new Spider-Man: Brand New Day scene was solid, though the presentation<\/a> was curiously star-free. Holland bizarrely appeared via hologram (\u201cWait, we can do that now?\u201d asks every other actor who dutifully showed up in Vegas). While Zendaya<\/a> wasn\u2019t there, she was on stage for Dune \u2014 which is like somebody saying they can\u2019t go to a party with you because they have other plans, and then they show up with somebody else.<\/p>\n

\n\tWON: Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg<\/a>, Jason Momoa, Johnny Depp and (Sigh) David Ellison. After watching the trailer for Alejandro I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s dark comedy Digger, attendees were unsure whether Cruise\u2019s latest will be a good movie, let alone a hit, but everyone was talking about the actor\u2019s radical transformation<\/a> into a character with gray hair, a belly and wrinkles \u2014 in other words, they were stunned to see Tom Cruise look his actual age. He was also the star of the much-touted video announcing a brand new day at Paramount, featuring some of the talent (Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, Will Smith, James Cameron) that Ellison and Paramount film co-heads Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein have wooed to the studio since taking over in August to help rev up the slate to 15 movie a year.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn his first-ever CinemaCon stage appearance, Spielberg received a rapturous standing ovation and showed some intriguing Disclosure Day<\/a> footage<\/a> which helped lessen some of the box office uncertainty surrounding the title. The director revealed he convinced Universal to withhold the film\u2019s entire third act from trailers, which, in a better world, would be the law of the land for all movie marketing.<\/p>\n

\n\tMomoa was all over CinemaCon. He had Supergirl, Street Fighter and Dune: Part Three. As usual, Momoa brought his infectious energy, seeming just as excited to be in a movie as audiences are to see him.<\/p>\n

\n\tDepp received a very warm welcome from exhibitors when he took the stage for Ti West\u2019s Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol<\/a>. Depp getting this reception at a major industry event is enough to qualify as a win given his scandalous history, and the movie\u2019s footage was compelling as well.<\/p>\n

\n\tEllison was also a beneficiary of the expectations game. The audience expected a supervillain, yet begrudgingly had to admit he came off rather well (\u201cLong live the movies!\u201d<\/a> declared a man who knows his audience). Ellison reiterated his pledge to increase the output from Warners\u2019 and Paramount\u2019s combined to at least 30 films a year with a minimum 45-day theatrical window each. \u201cI wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,\u201d Ellison said to a skeptical audience of folded arms (metaphorically, at least). Late Thursday, finger-to-the-wind AMC Theatres bent the knee and swore their sword \u2014 announcing they now had a \u201cfavorable view\u201d of the merger (more on AMC in a minute).<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, the Warners presentation was so strong \u2014 touting their record-breaking 2025 and a packed upcoming slate \u2014 while the Paramount presentation was so OK (their biggest headline being the development of a Top Gun: Maverick sequel everybody could have sworn had already been announced), that CinemaCon just reinforced the feeling that this merger should be happening in reverse.<\/p>\n

\n\tLOST: Lionsgate: The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping trailer looked strong, with a boosted budget clearly on the screen. But you can\u2019t win if you don\u2019t even give a presentation (their Nobu party playing Michael Jackson music to promote their upcoming biopic was, at least, something).<\/p>\n

\n\tLOST: Alamo Drafthouse and AMC Moviegoers: We\u2019ve written about<\/a> Alamo Drafthouse\u2019s \u201cforget the biggest reason you love us and use your phones during the movie now\u201d backlash. The pile-on against the once-beloved theater chain\u2019s QR code ordering system hit a new level after Indiewire critic David Ehrlich penned a spectacular<\/a> slow-burn-to-scorched-earth viral rant about his hellish experience during a (surely already hellish) Super Mario Galaxy Movie screening (calling the Alamo policy change \u2014 not the movie, though perhaps that too \u2014 \u201cone of the most idiotic, nonsensical, brand-nuking heel-turns in the long and sordid history of late capitalism,\u201d among other gems).\u00a0Does parent Sony actually like this change? Don\u2019t they want moviegoers to pay rapt attention to the pure cinema on display in Anaconda?<\/p>\n

\n\tWithout a shred of irony, Sony\u2019s Tom Rothman then went on stage at CinemaCon to scold theater owners<\/a> \u2014 other theater owners \u2014 for not providing a better user experience (\u201cGet off the ad crack!\u201d was the finest executive quote of the convention). Rothman urged owners to resist prioritizing short-term profit-boosting at the expense of long-term relationships with moviegoers (Tom, look out, the QR code is calling from inside the house!).<\/p>\n

\n\tIn other \u201cyes, but how can we make moviegoers want to stay home?\u201d ideas: AMC Theatres announced<\/a> they\u2019re adding big screens in their lobbies to show ads. So even if you arrive late to dodge the 30 minutes of pre-show ads in the theatre, you\u2019ll still get commercials blasted down on you, Blade Runner-style, while waiting at the concession counter for your commemorative Michael tie-in blanket (yes, a real thing<\/a>, and you\u2019ll be slowly pulling that blanket over my lifeless face before you\u2019d ever catch me with one).<\/p>\n

\n\tWON: Clavicular: In non-CinemaCon news, the looksmaxx influencer managed to unite the internets in mocking his dew-eyed meltdown and interview walk-off<\/a> over being asked modestly difficult questions about his reputation (instead of being asked, say, which moisturizer is best for post-jaw hammering). Critics gleefully pointed out he was mogged by the show\u2019s correspondent daddy, Adam Hegarty, who, admittedly, came off rather smug (but also seemed like he can, unlike Clavicular, change a tire). A few days later, Clavicular \u201coverdosed\u201d during a livestream<\/a>, was rushed to the hospital, swore off \u201csubstances\u201d<\/a> and his publicist dumped him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo how, pray tell, did this guy win? The only coin of the influencer realm is popularity and notoriety, and coming across rather vulnerable in the wake of his hospitalization arguably helped this guy (even if vulnerability is a quality that Clavicular and his ilk cannot himself). \u201cI\u2019d never even heard of Clavicular and suddenly he\u2019s everywhere,\u201d marveled one industry insider to a THR editor.\u00a0Exactly. Clavicular personally had a very bad week, but if he cleans up his act, these last few days could easily result in a career acceleration event.<\/p>\n

\n\tAll told, it was perhaps one of the newsiest and eventful CinemaCons in recent memory, which bodes well for the industry. Until next week, remember: Just say no to ad crack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a lot to cover: From the best trailers at CinemaCon (including Avengers: Doomsday blowing the doors off),…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[3076,49,48,361,101938,5768,162753,26562,75,3078,26766,10780,871,107920,28597,39778],"class_list":{"0":"post-610892","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-avengers-doomsday","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-christopher-nolan","13":"tag-dc-studios","14":"tag-disclosure-day","15":"tag-dune-3","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-marvel","18":"tag-spider-man-brand-new-day","19":"tag-steven-spielberg","20":"tag-supergirl","21":"tag-the-mandalorian-and-grogu","22":"tag-tom-holland","23":"tag-zendaya"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}