29/03/2017 CinemaCon 2017 Roundup – day 2
STX films delivered a confident slate presentation this morning, kicking off day 2 of CinemaCon 2017. Focussing on their strong support for female film-making talent and the box office / critical success of BAD MOMS, STX has certainly achieved some groundbreaking things in their two year life span, despite a couple of mis-fires.
Highlights from their presentation today included footage of their next 3 releases – all from Luc Beeson’s EuropaCorp partnership. This was one of the most sought after distribution deals in Hollywood and STX are proud to have been selected. First out of the gate is THE CIRCLE (releasing in April) and was introduced on screen by lead star Emma Watson. Next, STX welcomed Luc Beeson himself and Cara Delevingne to the stage to introduce the world premiere of the VALERIAN trailer. It was so good they played it twice. Third release under the Europacorp deal is JK Simmons led RENEGADES.
STX announced a number of other titles in production underlining a very strong pipeline of forthcoming releases including DEN OF THIEVES starring 50 Cent, an UNTITLED STX/AMAZON FILMS partnership with Charlize Theron and Amanda Siegfried, Shailene Woodly vehicle ADRIFT, MILE 22 – introduced on stage by Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg and animated big screen adaptation of JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, written and produced by Elton John, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Fittingly the finale was reserved for the sequel of STX films biggest release to date – BAD MOMS AT CHRISTMAS. Mila Kunis rounded out a very strong show of STX talent.
The afternoon slot went to PARAMOUNT PICTURES who delivered a very impressive and slickly produced show. During the 90 minute presentation there were more A-listers on stage than Oscars weekend at Soho House. Kicking off with Team BAYWATCH, led by man of the moment Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron and the entire principal cast, Paramount declared their ambition to make this movie the biggest R rated comedy of all time. Paramount shared a lot of footage this afternoon and 3 of the biggest highlights were all original, non-franchise titles SUBURBICON, ANNIHILATION and DOWN-SIZING.
George Clooney and Matt Damon were joined on stage by Julianne Moore to present dark-comedy SUBURBICON, written by Clooney and the Coen Brothers. This was followed by 2 extended clips from Darren Aronofsky thriller ANNIHILATION (starring Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jason Leigh) and DOWN-SIZING, introduced by leading man Matt Damon about a new bio-technology than enables humans to shrink to a tenth of their size, a social experiment in response to over-population.
Continuing the environmental theme, the stand-out moment of Cinemacon 2017 so far came when former VPOTUS Al Gore arrived on-stage to introduce TRUTH TO POWER: AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL, followed by the global trailer premiere. Please watch it! This felt like a very important moment and a reminder of how powerful and important this art-form can be. Other highlights included AMUSEMENT PARK, an animated kids / family franchise from Paramount and Nickelodeon and a big finale from the TRANSFORMERS crew. Beginning with a cast Q&A led by Michael Bay and including Mark Wahlberg, Sir Anthony Hopkins (or T-Hop as he was christened by co-star Jerrod Carmichael) and ending with 10 minutes of finished footage from TRANSFORMERS:THE LAST KNIGHT. Bravo to the Paramount team for putting on an excellent show.
Third presentation of the day was from DISNEY. No A-list talent, no footage, just a very big focus on their phenomenal Domestic and Global box office success in 2016. Artwork and stills were the only things shared from forthcoming releases including THOR: RAGNAROK, BLACK PANTHER, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, CARS 3 and STAR WARS THE LAST JEDI. Disney announced the title of the WRECK IT RALPH sequel due for release in 2018, RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET. With a slate like this, what more do you need?
And that rounds off day Two at Cinemacon. Next up will be presentations from Universal, Focus and Warner Brothers.
– Dan Heale
Chief Strategy Officer