A new “Spider-Man” and rapper Bad Bunny kicked off CinemaCon, the annual Las Vegas meeting for movie theater operators, on Tuesday.
Every year, Hollywood moves to Las Vegas for CinemaCon, where upcoming films are previewed to theater owners, from major multiplexes to independents.
After a sad edition last year due to the pandemic, when the studios broadcast their films directly on the platforms without going through the theaters, optimism seems to be back.
“What are you doing here? Everyone said you were dead, everyone said you were finished,” Sony Pictures President Tom Rothman joked, drawing laughs.
Industry morale has been boosted lately by the triumph of “Spider-man – No Way Home”, the third-highest-grossing box office of all time in the United States. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, directors of 2018’s Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” took the opportunity to screen the first 15 minutes of “Beyond the Spider-Verse,” which is set to hit theaters this summer.
During the opening night, Sony also presented excerpts from “Bullet Train”, David Leitch’s thriller expected in July.
The opening scenes show Brad Pitt as a hitman, roaming the streets of Tokyo and fighting on a train with rap superstar-turned-actor Bad Bunny. “It wasn’t my first fight,” the Puerto Rican rapper joked.
After shunning the event during the pandemic, the stars are back at CinemaCom. Robert De Niro, Rachel McAdams and David Cronenberg are among the guests.
Hollywood recently made a move for theater operators by returning to an exclusive “window”, during which films can only be seen on the big screen before being released on platforms. However, this time frame has been reduced to 45 days or less, compared to around 90 days before the pandemic.
Speaking from Budapest, the director of “Dune”, Denis Villeneuve, said he was “concerned by this window which is shrinking more and more”, and called for it to be extended so that going to the cinema remains a “unique” and “precious” experience.
CinemaCon wraps up Thursday with Paramount’s screening of “Top Gun: Maverick,” the highly anticipated sequel to 1986’s “Top Gun.”
