Everything You Need to Know About CinemaCon 2024

With this year’s Cinema Con, the weekend long event in Las Vegas that gives major studios the chance to present their upcoming slate of releases to accredited attendees, having been officially wrapped up, we figured we’d waste no time in compiling the information to keep you posted on all the latest news in the film industry. Without further delay, here’s a comprehensive recap of everything that went down at Cinema Con 2024.

Warner Bros.

WB came out strong in their presentation, immediately bringing George Miller, Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth onto the stage to talk Furiosa. They didn’t say anything we don’t already know, but it was incredible to see the trio give insight into a highly anticipated release that is now just a month away.

Following that was Ishana Night Shyamalan talking about her work on her debut horror/thriller feature The Watchers, debuting a more extensive second trailer and generating hype for a release that has many horror fans in impatient wait, counting down the days to June 14. Next, a virtual appearance from James Gunn in the form of a pre-recorded video graced the screen, along with a brand new logo for his upcoming movie, Superman, accompanied by John Williams’ legendary original theme. This marks the first official bit of branding for Superman, and should get the ball rolling on more updates in the near future. That film is still slated for a July 11, 2025 release. Warner Bros. also mentioned Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story in the same breath, which will hit theaters in September and retell the story of Christopher Reeve’s life.

That was only the beginning of a show that saw a solid slate of additional announcements and coverage, which are as follows.

• Horizon: An American – Saga Part 1 – June 28 (with Part Two set for August 16).
• Mickey 17, slated for January 31, 2025. Director Bong Joon Ho debuted the first trailer.
• Trap, from M. Night Shyamalan, debuted with a trailer. Set for an August 9 release.
• Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Willem Dafoe, Catherine O’Hara, Monica Bellucci, and Justin Theroux provided a behind the scenes look at Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
• Todd Phillips debuted the first trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux and answered common questions regarding the release.

Angel Studios

Being the studio behind the surprise success Sound of Freedom, Angel had more eyes than usual on their presentation at CinemaCon this year. After a bold opening statement declaring that the studio is different from the Hollywood conglomerates, and that they’re here to stay, they debuted a trailer for a film called Sight, which follows a Chinese immigrant to the U.S. who became a world-renowned eye surgeon. It seems to follow their general outline of inspiring, hopeful content, with a slight tinge of tragedy.

After that came the announcement of Bonhoeffer, a historical drama that traces the life of pastor and German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was active during WW2 and was involved in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Both films had their first trailers shown.

The rest of the slate is as follows:

• Homestead, a thriller film set to be followed by a series, announced with a trailer.
• Touted with the potential of being the most successful animated movie of all time, David, a family-oriented adaptation of the David and Goliath story of Biblical origin, announced and set for a Thanksgiving 2025 release.
• An extended list of projects in production, including Young Washington: A Founder’s Story, were also announced.

Lionsgate

After thanking moviegoers for a successful 2023 in their opening statement, Liongate detailed what they’re calling “a new era” for the studio, in which they’ll pay equal attention to advancing new franchises whilst also continuing to develop current ones. They then rapidly-fired a list of upcoming releases that are in early development, including Chad Staheleski’s Highlander starring Henry Cavill and a new Blumhouse iteration of Blair Witch.

Next, the attention was turned to Guy Ritchie to promote his new film, coming to theaters next week, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. It was also announced that his next project for the studio is in production, entitled In The Grey and starring Cavill (who spoke on stage), Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza Gonzalez.

Further happenings included:

• A new trailer for The Strangers: Chapter 1 debuted. The film will hit theaters on May 17.
• Never Let Go, a Halle Berry-led horror film, was teased.
• Borderlands got a presentation and extended look from director Eli Roth and lead Ariana Greenblatt.
• Rupert Sanders and star Bill Skarsgård’s The Crow also received an extended look.
• An early look at the Michael Jackson biopic Michael was shown.
• Projects such as The Killer’s Game (Dave Bautista), Flight Risk (Mel Gibson, Mark Wahlberg), Shadow Force (Kerry Washington), and Good Fortune (Aziz Ansari) all got small bouts of news.
• Footage from Ana De Armas’ John Wick spinoff Ballerina was shown.

Universal/Focus Features

Universal began with a focus on Illumination, officially teasing a sequel to the Super Mario Bros. movie (slated for 2026), as well as an array of stuff regarding Despicable Me 4, including an extended clip of a castle heist and the news that Pharrell Williams is returning to write original songs.

The focus then switched to Twisters, with director Lee Isaac Chung taking the stage along with the cast to tout new info and an extended trailer that had fans feeling in the aftermath. Next was a segment on horror, in which Universal confirmed sequels to Five Nights at Freddy’s and M3GAN, in addition to a short teaser for Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man.

Additional announcements included:

• Re-showing trailers for The Bikeriders and Back to Black.
• A new trailer for Conclave, from Edward Berger of All Quiet on the Western Front fame.
• The first trailer for Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu.
• A showcase for The Wild Robot featuring insight from director Chris Sanders and extended footage.
• A huge display for Wicked from Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, director Jon M. Chu and others with a showing of footage from the film’s opening.

Paramount Pictures

Gladiator II led off Paramount’s presentation and ended it, showing extended footage from multiple scenes and allowing the film’s creators to speak to expectations and excitement from fans. The build-up to this release has been astronomical, and if the reports are any indication, moviegoers can rest assured that they seem to have gotten this one right.

After that came a string of new announcements, with Edgar Wright’s iteration of The Running Man, starring Glen Powell, a Ridley Scott Bee Gees film, and a Seth Grahame-Smith Star Trek film headlining the segment. In the same breath, it was announced that South Park will receive a musical treatment from the original creators, featuring music from Kendrick Lamar and set to release on July 4, 2025.

More franchises getting another shot on the big screen are Scary Movie, The Naked Gun. A G.I. Joe and Transformers crossover movie was officially confirmed following the Rise of the Beasts post credits scene, and a live action adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is also in the works, dead set on an R rating.

The rest of the slate is as follows:

• Paw Patrol 3 and SpongeBob: The Search for SquarePants announced on the animated front, both set to arrive in 2025.
• A new animated Smurfs musical unveiled featuring a packed cast starring Rihanna, who will provide original music of her own.
• Aang: The Last Airbender, a cinematic Last Airbender sequel, confirmed for late 2025 with Dave Bautista set to star as the villain.
• An introduction from John Krasinski for a new trailer for IF, which will release wide on May 17.
• Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn previewed extended footage for A Quiet Place: Day One.
• Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry confirmed Transformers One, an animated film set to add to the franchise when it rolls into theaters on September 13.
• A Sonic 3 tease, confirming the return of Jim Carrey in an extended show of footage.
• A new trailer for the horror sequel Smile 2.

Disney

Disney opened their display on footage from the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, releasing on May 10. Despite being the fourth film and having a new director at the helm, anticipation for the film is at an all time high, and this footage reportedly only had folks more excited.

Next, they honed in on a smaller release: Young Woman and the Sea, starring Daisy Ridley. The film will release in limited fashion theatrically on May 31, despite being set to go straight to streaming originally. This marked the drop of the film’s first trailer, just a little more than a month away from release. Amy Poehler returned to the franchise next by leading a presentation for Inside Out 2, showing the first 35 minutes; by far, this was the most shown of any film at the event. The film will be released in full on June 14.

Kevin Feige then headed a stretch of Marvel announcements, defined by a Deadpool and Wolverine segment (with extended footage and timely banter about vulgar popcorn buckets) and an Anthony Mackie introduced clip from Captain America: Brave New World. The film was previously pushed back, and will now release on February 14, 2025. Feige didn’t leave the stage before throwing fans a bone with mentions of The Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts.

The rest of the announcements included:

• Extended scenes from Alien Romulus, introduced virtually by director Fede Álvarez and Ridley Scott.
• The trailer for Yorgos Lanthimos Kinds of Kindness, starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, and Willem Dafoe.
• Nightbitch, directed by Marielle Heller and starring Amy Adams, confirmed to arrive in December.
• The first trailer debuted for The Amateur, starring Rami Malek and Rachel Brosnahan.
• A tease for James L. Brooks’ Ella McKay, set to release in 2025.
• Barry Jenkins teased Mufasa: The Lion King with directorial insight and a brief look at the film.
• Dwayne Johnson revealed the first clip for Moana 2, as well as teasing information about the story.

That marks the end of Cinema Con’s vast array of exciting announcements and tidbits for moviegoers. We can’t wait to tackle these slates together with you, so make sure you stick around for timely updates and reviews as off of this news eventually becomes reality. We’ll see you at the movies.

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook Instagram Twitter(X)
YouTube TikTok