‘Oppenheimer’, ‘The Exorcist’ and More Feature in Universal Pictures’ CinemaCon Presentation
The ‘Fast’ team represented their tenth entry, while we also got looks at ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ and the new ‘Exorcist’ movie(s).
Cillian Murphy stars in 'Oppenheimer,' written and directed by Christopher Nolan.
Universal, which has suffered some mixed fortunes in recent years (and has raised the ire of theater chains with its day-and-date Peacock policy for movies such as ‘Halloween Kills’), does at least have an apparently solid slate of 27 movies ready for cinemas this year.
With 800lb gorilla (no, not King Kong, he works for someone else) ‘Fast X’ driving in soon, a healthy offering of horror, comedy and the result of winning over Christopher Nolan headed our way (that would be ‘Oppenheimer’), Universal also has had some better luck of late via the likes of giant hit ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ and the more modest success of ‘Cocaine Bear’.
Avoiding talk of “giant bombs” (best when considering movies), Universal’s presentation kicked off with a sizzle reel of filmmakers it has or is working with, and then got into the meat of the matter… Let’s go Nolan!
‘Oppenheimer’
Director Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy on the set of 'Oppenheimer.'
Having snatched Christopher Nolan from the clutches of Warner Bros., the studio kicked off its presentation with the director and his latest dramatic opus, ‘Oppenheimer’.
The story, rooted in historical truth is of the scientist (played in the movie by Cillian Murphy) who led the team developing the atomic bomb. It’s a narrative with baked-in drama and plenty of ethical handwringing, not just because their experiments could have set fire to the atmosphere (as Nolan mentions).
A big fan of IMAX, Nolan shot this one on the 70mm IMAX format, which seems fitting for such a big tale. And the cast... competing for the title of Most Crowded Ensemble 2023, ‘Oppenheimer’ surrounds Murphy with (deep breath): Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Dane DeHaan, Alden Ehrenreich and Matthew Modine. Phew!
Some fresh footage was shown to the crowd, with Nolan saying the new trailer will debut in front of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ but played in the room to the audience. It features the team hard at work, but also has scenes featuring Russian development of the technology, sparking fears of espionage.
And he’s done. Boom! ‘Oppenheimer’ will arrive in theaters on July 21st, coincidentally (OR IS IT?) the same day as Warner Bros.’ ‘Barbie’.
Following a brief interlude from President of Domestic Theatrical Distribution Jim Orr (who boasted about Universal not buying, but building franchises), the presentation was handed over to President of Distribution Veronica Kwan Vandenberg touting some of the successes of 2022, including ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ and ‘Ticket to Paradise’.
And with that, we’re headed to Illumination territory, with a message from Steve Carell’s Gru. And on stage, Chris Meledandri, who walks out to the ‘Super Mario Bros.’ music. And who wouldn’t, given that the movie is about to cross a billion dollars at the box office worldwide?
But even with the Nintendo-powered mega-hit still going, the company wants to talk about original movies, starting with birds…
‘Migration’
This holiday season, Illumination invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, Migration.
Following a brief, mysterious teaser earlier this month, we’re getting more footage and details of the story, which will be road trip movie, just focused on ducks taking flight when a family convinced their overprotective father to take them.
Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina, Carol Kane and Danny DeVito lead the voice cast for this one, which premiered a trailer for the crowd.
With a script by Mike White, and direction from Benjamin Renner, ‘Migration’ flies to theaters on December 22nd.
This holiday season, Illumination invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, Migration.
Following that, the presentation went straight to the dogs. Which is to say…
'Strays’
Will Ferrell arrives to pimp the raunchy live action/CG canine comedy, bringing with him the adorable Sophie, who plays his pooch character Reggie in the movie. Sophie steals some of the attention away from Ferrell, who starts listing his IMDb credits in order to compete.
It’s all to introduce an extended look at ‘Strays’, which already has a trailer online and features the voices of Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, Brett Gelman and more, plus Bill Hader as Reggie’s human owner.
Switching from family fare to horror, time for Blumhouse.
Jason Blum is here to celebrate the success of ‘M3GAN’ and nodding to the sequel in development with hopes of a 2025 release.
M3GAN in 'M3GAN,' directed by Gerard Johnstone. © 2023 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Related Article: CinemaCon 2023: Disney and 20th Century Studios Presentation
‘The Exorcist: The Believer’
Their big hope is a reunion with ‘Halloween’s David Gordon Green, who has been handed the keys to the ‘Exorcist’ franchise. He’s planning another trilogy, with the first movie due this year.
It’s called ‘The Exorcist: The Believer’, and stars Leslie Odom Jr. alongside original ‘Exorcist’ star Ellen Burstyn, back as Chris MacNeil, the mother of the possessed Regan.
The trailer reveals that rather than just one girl, this time it’s two –– everything’s bigger these days, right? They’re played by Lidya Jewett and Olivia Marcum.
As for the footage, it begins with Leslie Odom Jr’s daughter missing. Turns out she was in the woods, but now she’s in the hospital. “Baby you’ve been gone three days,” he tells her. Later: She starts convulsing. But there are other younger girls getting impacted by the demonic possession. We see one enter a Catholic Church screaming “The body and the blood! The body and the blood!” Odom contacts Chris MacNeil and she steps in to help these folks with possessed children. Turns out she definitely knows something. She confronts one of the girls later in the trailer and exclaims, “we’ve met before.”
‘The Exorcist: The Believer’ possesses theater screens on October 13th.
With something of cinematic whiplash, we’re back in family land for DreamWorks Animation.
‘Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken’
‘Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken’ will be in theaters on June 30th.
First up was DreamWorks’ watery new adventure ‘Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken’, which debuted some new –– if slightly incomplete footage.
The movie will be out on June 30th.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
‘Trolls: Band Together'
'Trolls Band Together,' directed by Walt Dohrn. © 2023 DreamWorks Animation. All Rights Reserved.
Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake arrived on stage to tout their new ‘Trolls’ movie (something of an irony given that the last one led the charge away from theatrical and to streaming as the pandemic bit). The duo lightly roasted the crowd (and each other) before revealing that the new movie will be about reuniting a boy band (seems fitting, given Timberlake’s presence).
The music returns to screens (big ones this time) on November 17th.
Trolls Band Together
And now, on to one of the company’s truly big hitters…
‘Kung Fu Panda 4’
Jack Black took the stage to wax rhapsodic about how the movies are his biggest franchise and that Po the Panda is his most iconic character. The funniest part of the presentation? It’s too early for a trailer, so Black did a dramatic reading of the plot. Po will be looking for a successor and taking on a new villain called The Chameleon –– a sorceress who can summon people from the past.
‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ is quite a ways away –– March 8 next year, in fact.
Focus Features
(L to R) Jake Ryan, Jason Schwartzman and Tom Hanks in director Wes Anderson's 'Asteroid City,' a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features.
By comparison, the Focus panel was much more subdued. Wes Anderson introduced a new clip from his latest, ‘Asteroid City’, and we got the first look at Ethan Coen’s ‘Drive-Away Dolls’ (starring Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo, Bill Camp and Matt Damon), which looks suitably great.
Footage was also screened from ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3’ (directed by star Nia Vardalos), and Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’, which sees him reunite with ‘Sideways’ Paul Giamatti.
‘Asteroid City’ is due in theaters on June 23rd, with ‘Drive-Away Dolls’ on September 22nd, ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3’ opening September 8th and ‘The Holdovers’ arriving November 22nd.
Not quite last, and certainly not least…
‘Fast X’
(L to R) Vin Diesel and Daniela Melchior in 'Fast X,' directed by Louis Leterrier.
Vin Diesel and several of the ‘Fast’ cast showed up to talk the latest entry in the mega franchise. Diesel went off script to explain how grateful he was to theater owners and remember Paul Walker before the gang introduced some new footage.
Well, “new” in that it features a big exposition dump about the story so far in the movie itself to help catch up Brie Larson’s Tess. That segued into an extended take on the most recent trailer.
‘Fast X’ drives in on May 19th, to be followed next year by the 11th movie, planned as a tiny arthouse movie shot entirely in black and whi… just kidding.
We’re promised a couple more surprises (much like Steve Jobs’ classic “one more thing…” at Apple shows).
‘The Fall Guy’
'Barbie' CinemaCon 2023 Presentation and Press Line, April 25th. Photos By Eric Charbonneau.
Ahead of the new Ryan Gosling/Emily Blunt movie, director David Leitch had his Eighty-Seven North stunt team put on a live show for the crowd. Then it was on to ‘The Fall Guy’ footage, which sees Gosling playing Colt Severs, a retired stuntman who is called in to help find a missing star of a new movie being directed by his ex-girlfriend (Blunt).
Blunt and Gosling were both on stage with Leitch, celebrating the dedicated stunt professionals who make movies like this one possible.
‘The Fall Guy’ will land in theaters on March 1st next year.
Finally, the real one last thing…
‘Wicked’
Though Jon M. Chu’s musical adaptation (in two parts) of the hit musical isn’t going to arrive until next year, we got a look at some rough early footage, including Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as the central witch characters and a snatch of the story’s most famous song, ‘Defying Gravity’.
‘Wicked’s first part will be in theaters on November 27th next year, followed by Part Two on December 25th, 2025.
Wicked: For Good
Follows Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The second of a two-part feature film adaptation... Read the Plot
And that’s it for Universal!
'Fast X' Logo. Courtesy of Vin Diesel's Instagram account.
Movies Presented at Universal Pictures 2023 CinemaCon Presentation:
- 'Oppenheimer' (2023)
- 'Migration' (2023)
- 'Strays' (2023)
- 'Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken' (2023)
- ‘The Exorcist: The Believer’ (2023)
- 'Trolls Band Together' (2023)
- 'Kung Fu Panda 4' (2024)
- 'Asteroid City' (2023)
- 'Drive-Away Dolls' (2023)
- 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3' (2023)
- 'Fast X' (2023)
- 'Wicked: Part Two' (2025)
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