CinemaCon 2022 kicked off its first half of programming in Las Vegas with three studios, Sony, Neon, and Warner Brothers, all reaffirming in their own distinctive yet formidable way to the worldwide delegates of theater owners that movies are back to the big screen. After nearly two years of theatrical shutdown then slowdown and a steady torrent of prominent products streamed day and date, the testimonial that films are meant to be seen in the theatrical experience resonated with the crowd of more than 3,000 envoys.

“When I was here seven months ago,” said Sony Pictures President Josh Greenstein during the convention’s first studio presentation, “I said theatrical would triumph, and indeed it has, and we did it together.” His boss, Sony chief Tom Rothman, went even further, lambasting critics who decried that audiences wouldn’t return. “Don’t you know you’re dead? Can you read? You’re finished!” And then projected on the screen behind him his studio’s triumphant box office of $3.3 billion from the past eight months.

Sony, Neon, and Warner Brothers each brought an eclectic array of products to tease the theater owners of their upcoming 2022 slate, with some even going as far to preview important films they plan to release for 2023. Let’s break them down.

SONY

Fresh from the $1.9 billion conquests known as Spider-Man, Sony began their 2022 program with a bang, unspooling the first reel of their action comedy Bullet Train. Directed by David Leitch (Deadpool 2), the film stars Brad Pitt as one of five assassins aboard a fast-moving bullet train that find out their missions have something in common. They proceeded to show as well the first 15 minutes of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to the 2018 Golden Globe and Oscar-winning animation film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller announced that they were working as well on the second sequel, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which will hit theaters in 2024.

Stealing a bit of Wakonda’s thunder, the studio brought on director Gina Prince-Bythewood and star Viola Davis to highlight their The Woman King, a real-life account of one of the world’s fiercest group of warriors, who happened to be female in Africa. Davis, who was also presented on stage with the inaugural Trailblazer Award, commented that her goal as an actor was to present characters that had never before been seen in a body like hers. “I felt it was the absolute conduit with introducing a whole new area of storytelling to the world.”

Reese Witherspoon introduced via virtual message the film Where the Crawdad’s Sing, starring Daisy Edgar Jones while former World Heavyweight Champion George Foreman spoke about his upcoming biopic, directed by George Tillman. Also announced were sequels to Venom and Ghostbusters.

NEON

Celebrating its five years of existence, which includes a Best Picture Oscar for Parasite, the independent New York-based studio showcased three films it will be releasing during the summer. Bringing on stage David Cronenberg, making his Las Vegas debut, the acclaimed director presented the trailer to his upcoming Cannes presentation Crimes of the Future, starring Viggo Mortensen, Kristen Stewart, and Lea Seydoux. As with such Cronenberg features as The Fly, Eastern Promises, and Naked Lunch, Crimes is bloody, brutal, and looks positively provocative.

The studio will follow with a special documentary in association with National Geographic called Fire of Love, based on the lives of volcano explorers Katia and Maurice Krafft that uses actual footage from their own research to chronicle their astonishing life.

Finally, they brought out Brett Morgen to highlight his five years in the making film about David Bowie called Moonage Daydream. Sanctioned by the Bowie estate, Morgen has created an unusual blending of rare archival footage of the iconic performer with state-of-the-art animation to tell his story. The director noted how important Bowie was to his own youth, as he struggled to find his own identity.

“My differences were my strengths,” he said. “David Bowie is the perfect star for this moment.”

WARNER BROTHERS

Historically providing the biggest star power for the convention, the nearly 100-year-old studio did not disappoint. Quickly announcing a sequel to their recent $750 million The Batman to also star Robert Pattinson under the direction of Matt Reeves, studio chief Toby Emmerich wasted no time as he too promised the exhibitors that Warner’s was committed to a strong theatrical window for their movies (If you recall, last year the studio made all their 2021 films available on their HBOMAX streaming service day and date, which caused a huge uproar from not only the theater owners but talent as well).

Guided by actress Aisha Tyler, a steady parade of products followed, led off by Baz Luhrmann who brought with him a sneak peek at another Cannes presentation, Elvis. Based on the life of one of the 20^th century’s most influential figures, the film follows Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) through the 50s, 60s, and 70s, as told through the eyes of his controversial manager Col. Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).

Olivia Wilde introduced her sophomore directional effort Don’t Worry Darling, starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, which she attests was influenced by her love of such films as The Matrix, The Truman Show, and Inception.

DC provided the major share of attention as the studio showcased Shazam: Fury of the Gods, with Zachary Levi and Helen Mirren, brought on stage to talk about the sequel. Dwayne Johnson made a surprise appearance to promote Black Adam, which was initially offered to the actor ten years ago and now features a very Dirty Harry vibe to the nearly 5,000-year-old justice seeker. Johnson also showed a sequence from the DC League of Super-Pets, where he voices Krypto, Superman’s trusty canine who is called upon to save his master. Warner’s also teased a few 2023 titles in the DC arsenal, including The Flash, featuring the return of Michael Keaton as Batman as well as Jason Momoa virtually introducing James Wan, who showed a teaser for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Two other prominent 2023 teases were a few snippets from Wonka, a new origin musical starring Timothée Chalamet as the infamous candy proprietor as well as an image of Margot Robbie, inhabiting the most iconic doll of all time, Barbie.

From the sound of applause, it seems apparent that the movies are back.