CinemaCon

Following a year that ranged from cultural and financial phenomenon Barbenheimer, to film releases delayed and/or under-performing due in part to the Hollywood strikes, the film industry gathered in Las Vegas last week to watch and hear what’s coming soon to the big screen. It was a wide-ranging group of films, with a high-powered gathering that included Halle Berry, Christopher Nolan, Kevin Costner and a slew of others, including a prominent shout-out to this year's Golden Globes.

“Those of us who’ve been called upon, sort of outrageously, to defend it [cinema] over the last few years are often accused, I’m often accused, of magical thinking, of nostalgia, of daydreaming as opposed to a sound business plan and it’s taken the last few years for us all to realize that when you’re talking about movies, magical thinking, nostalgia, daydreaming – that is the sound business plan. It’s the only sound business plan.

Universal Studios left viewers abuzz with a CinemaCon presentation slate of its upcoming big-screen offerings and those of subsidiary Focus Features that was alternately star-studded, kinetic and packed with surprises. Universal Pictures chairwoman Donna Langley kicked off the Wednesday, April 26 event, which at times included other Universal and Focus executives.

Martin Scorsese was the first recipient of the Legend of Cinema award during CinemaCon, the exhibitors’ conference that takes place every year in Las Vegas. During a private luncheon, hundreds of attendees gave a standing ovation to the maestro when he was presented with the honor.

Following dozens of thrilling trailers, announcements and Hollywood star power gracing the Caesar’s Palace Colosseum stage, CinemaCon 2023 made it to the home stretch with the final two studio presentations on the last day of the annual industry event teasing future movie releases. Paramount started things off, proudly boasting that after they premiered Top Gun: Maverick at the convention last year, it turned out to be a phenomenal box office smash, raking in nearly $1.

In Las Vegas, the annual CinemaCon is in full swing. The HFPA's Scott Orlin interviewed Managing Director Mitch Neuhauser and gives us an overview of the films showcased there that we will see in theaters very soon.

The Walt Disney Company, which is celebrating its centennial in 2023, threw a bit of a low-key commemorative revelry during its CinemaCon presentation at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Instead of cake and champagne, the Burbank-based Mouse House instead chose to let their upcoming slate of films, which for the first time presented product from all seven of their main studios, do the toasting.

CinemaCon 2023 kicked off with a bang on Monday, April 24, at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. An annual trade show hosted by the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), the event brings together exhibition executives and theater managers from all over the United States and indeed, the world.

Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Oprah brought fun and style to the second day of CinemaCon.  Pink popped, Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet went with sand tones, leather and designer labels.

Movies are back - that was the celebratory sentiment last year at CinemaCon, the annual film industry event in Las Vegas which attracts international and domestic cinema representatives from all over the world. It was a self-reassuring hopeful mantra that movie theaters are on the rebound in a post-pandemic reality.