82nd Annual Golden Globes®
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LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 12: Director David Ayer, actors Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Cara Delevingne, Joel Kinnaman, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jay Hernandez, Adam Beach, Jai Courtney and Karen Fukuhara speak onstage during CinemaCon 2016 Warner Bros. Pictures Invites You to “The Big Picture”, an Exclusive Presentation Highlighting the Summer of 2016 and Beyond at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace during CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners, on April 12, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Todd Williamson/Getty Images for CinemaCon)
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CinemaCon: Warner Bros. Shows Off Comedy, Horror Slate Alongside Its Crowded DC Comics Field

On Demand services, which allow audiences to access movies from the comfort of their own home are the elephant in the screening room at this CinemaCon where exhibitors make no bones about being worried of possible repercussions on ticket sales. Especially with schemes like Screening Room, which aims to offer movies at home on the day of release in theaters. Which explains why Warner's CEO, Kevin Tusjihara, kicked off his company’s presentation Wednesday evening at the Caesars Palace’s Colosseum, by reassuring theater owners that his company would explore each new technology with them before committing to it. “I assure you we are not going to let a third party or middle man come between us,” he said, to applause from the crowd.

He then proceeded to boast about the recent box office success of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which has passed $800 million in global sales. Evidently, the studio is not daunted by the film’s critical failure. the fan’s mixed response and the substantial drops at the box office, and is sticking with its director Zack Snyder on Justice League, which he is currently shooting in London, from where he addressed the conference via Skype, while flanked by his cast.

CEO and Chairman of Warner Bros. Kevin Tsujihara, actors Amy Adams, Ben Affleck and Warner Bros. Pictures President of Worldwide Marketing and Distribution Sue Kroll  at CinemaCon 2016.

Getty Images

 

At the same time the studio seemed to hedge its bets on DC comics movies and superheroes, promising 20 more of them in the next few years, including Aquaman, Cyborg, the Flash, and a new Batman which will be directed by Ben Affleck who showed up along with Amy Adams to thank the exhibitors for their support and promise more to come.

Will Smith cheered up the crowd with his antics, as he marched down the stage with the director of Suicide Squad, David Ayer, and its cast, including Jared Leto, Adam Beach, Cara Delevingne, Jai Courtney and Karen Fukahara. He promised theater owners “Suicide Squad will fill those theaters up real quick.”

The audience also offered an action-filled teaser from the upcoming Wonder Woman, in which Gal Gadot kicks a lot of ass, demolishing a squadron of soldiers.

From superheroes, the audience was transported to the terrifying world of ghosts by director James Wan – who strode down the stage, accompanied by his stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson – and introduced his new horror sequel The Conjuring 2. Wan promised that the movie would be even scarier than its hit predecessor. Wan is the producer of another horror picture Lights Out from first time feature director, David F. Sandberg, who presented a slick teaser of the film with the help of his star Teresa Palmer.

More A-listers followed on the stage to introduce a long list of Warner Bros upcoming movies from a gamut of genres. Russell Crowe offered a trailer from his upcoming a private-eye comedy The Nice Guys, in which he co-stars with Ryan Gosling. Its stars pitched another comedy in the same vein, Central Intelligence, Dwayne Johnson, who joined the conference via Skype from Atlanta and Kevin Hart, who regaled the crowds with his humor before presenting a hilarious teaser from the movie. Todd Phillips, director of the hit franchiseThe Hangover  was there with Bradley Cooper to introduce his upcoming arms-dealing comedy War Dogs, starring Jonah Hill and Miles Teller.

The studio had drama on an offer as well, with Emilia Clarke showing up to promote a romance adaptation, Me Before You. But Fantasy seems to be what Warner Bros. will be focusing on this year, touting The Legend of Tarzan, which was introduced by its stars: Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz. Wrapping its presentation, to a rapturous applause, was a teaser from the Harry Potter spinoff film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Check out the trailers for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Suicide Sqiad, The Conjuring 2. The Nice Guys, Central Intelligence, Me Before You and The Legend of Tarzan.