CinemaCon Day 1 Recap - Sony Pictures Shows Off VENOM, SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, & Leonardo DiCaprio
CinemaCon officially got underway last night with a very strong presentation from Sony Pictures, which featured new looks at Venom, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood & more!
Last night, Sony Pictures opened CinemaCon with a bang as they previewed their upcoming slate, which included Venom, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, White Boy Rick, The Equalizer 2, and a lot more.
As you read this, I'll be in attendance at the Walt Disney Studios presentation and will be attending the Warner Bros. presentation this afternoon, so be sure to check back in later tonight or early tomorrow for my recap of Day 2's events.
Read my recap of the Sony Pictures presentation below:
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Holmes & Watson
Will Ferrell was the first onstage to preview his upcoming comedy Holmes & Watson, which will see him reunite with his Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby & Step Brothers co-star John C. Reilly, who plays the Watson to Ferrell's Holmes.
He began the night's festivities with a cover of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" and shared with us that he had just won $50,000 playing Roulette, something that had never happened to him before. He then introduced some funny footage from the Etan Cohen-directed movie, which included the duo lusting for the Queen of England, taking on a swarm of killer bees, and tackling a case involving the notorious Professor Moriarty (Ralph Fiennes).
The movie is due out December 21st, so it may be a while before Sony debuts this trailer to the public, but it does look like the studio may have another winter hit on the way this coming Christmas.
Superfly
Director X, Trevor Jackson (Grown-ish), Jason Mitchell (Kong: Skull Island), and Lex Scott Davis (The First Purge) were next on the docket to preview their upcoming action remake Superfly.
To be honest, I don't think the footage we saw differed all that much from the intense trailer released last month, but we did get to hear about how Director X, who is best known for his work as a music video director, updated the film from the 1972 original, taking the story from Harlem to Atlanta. However, he did assert "one thing has remained: the hustle."
Miss Bala
Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin), Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Infinity War), Ismael Cruz Córdova (In The Blood), and director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) were next and showed off the first footage from their upcoming action/thriller Miss Bala, which is a remake of the 2011 Mexican film of the same name.
The movie, which is also loosely based on a true event, sees Rodriguez continue her transition into action heroine as she plays a beauty contest winner that witnesses a murder at a club and the subsequent kidnapping of her friend. However, when she goes searching for said friend, she finds herself in deep with a mob boss, who uses her to do his bidding. The movie looks pretty solid and it was certainly a change of pace to see Mackie play one of the film's villains after his Marvel adventures as the Falcon.
Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween
Sony officially revealed Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween as the official title for their upcoming Goosebumps sequel and while there wasn't much footage to show off, we did get a small sneak peek at the return of Slappy, who, this time, will wreak havoc in the lives of three new young kids.
It's uncertain whether or not Jack Black will return as R.L. Stine and even though Slappy's voice does sound a little like him, it appears as though it'll actually be Avery Jones who will provide his voice. The movie is slated for an October 12 release.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
Believe it or not, but the Hotel Transylvania franchise has grossed over $820 million worldwide for Sony Pictures and the upcoming Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, which is due out on Friday, July 13th, looks to propel it past that monumental billion-dollar marker.
In lieu of any cast apperances and/or a new trailer, we were instead treated to a pre-recorded message from Keegan-Michael Key (The Predator), Selena Gomez (The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle), Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Kathryn Hahn (A Bad Moms Christmas), and director Genndy Tartakovsky. They also showed off an extended clip, which featured the monstrous batch of characters heading off to a monster cruise in the Bermuda Triangle.
White Boy Rick
Academy Award-winner Matthew McConaughey and producer Jeff Robinov were next on stage and previewed Yann Demange's upcoming crime drama, White Boy Rick, which looked absolutely fantastic. The movie is based on the true story of Richard Wershe Jr., who in the 1980s became the youngest FBI informant ever at the age of 14.
While McConaughey could potentially score another Oscar nomination for his role as Richard's father, it looks like his young co-star Richie Merritt may be the one to actually steal the show, leaving a strong impression in the extended sizzle reel we were shown.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado
Benicio del Toro vs. Josh Brolin. Count me the f**k in.
With co-star Josh Brolin in Los Angeles for the premiere of a small indie due out this weekend, Benicio del Toro was a solo act, showcasing a brutally awesome extended sizzle reel at Sicario: Day of the Soldado. Without getting too far into spoiler territory, the movie will see del Toro's Alejandro tasked with kidnapping and then subsequently protecting a young girl from the full force of the U.S. and Mexican governments. If you thought the trailers were good, then you haven't seen anything yet.
A Dog's Way Home
Can't say this was my cup of tea, but its heartwarming trailer did look to be a crowdpleaser, although it may have also revealed a little too much about the family-oriented film's plot.
Ashley Judd (Twin Peaks) and Alexandra Shipp (X-Men: Dark Phoenix) are among the human stars in this Charles Martin Smith-directed film, which is based on the W. Bruce Cameron novel of the same name.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
While Solo: A Star Wars Story may not have worked out for Phil Lord and Chris Miller, it looks like they've gone above and beyond with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The duo didn't end up directing, but they're fingerprints are all over this upcoming Mile Morales adventure. Shameik Moore, who voices Miles, appeared alongside the co-producers to preview an unfinished sizzle reel of the upcoming movie and I must say that it looks unlike anything you've ever seen before as far as superhero movies go.
The footage kicked off with a look at the original Spider-Man in action, wearing his classic suit and going up against villains like the Green Goblin and more, before it's revealed that he died in battle at the age of 26. His death inspires Miles to take up the mantle and then - surprise - it's revealed that Parker is somehow alive (and seriously out of shape). We don't get many more plot details, but we do see Parker training Morales as well as quick shots of Miles taking on the Prowler and Kingpin.
As for who's voicing Peter Parker, that remains unclear, but he didn't sound anything like John Krasinski, so we can put that rumor to bed.
The Equalizer 2
Director Antoine Fuqua was onhand to present a sizzle reel for The Equalizer 2, which sees him reunite with 2x Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington for something the duo has never done before: a sequel, which actually looks considerably better than the original.
Their sizzle reel offered an extended sneak peek at the train sequence we're teased with in the trailer as we see Robert McCall confront a mob boss that has kidnapped his own daughter just to make her mother suffer. He then gives us an A+ quote, "There are two types of pain. The type that hurts or the type that alters. You decide which one you want," before we get to see a lot of the film's badass action beats.
The Girl in the Spider's Web
In an unexpected, but very welcome, surprise, Claire Foy (The Crown) and director Fede Álvarez were present to showcase our first look at The Girl in the Spider's Web and the footage was pretty damn intense as we bear witness to Foy's take on Lisbeth Salander confront and impart justice on a philandering/abusive husband that had just done unspeakable harm to his wife.
Foy's Salander looks to be just as captivating as Rooney Mara's iteration and the film promises an all-new mystery for our tattooed heroine to crack. However, this time, it looks like it's personal.
Venom
Sony saved the best for last and brought out Tom Hardy, Riz Ahmed, Michelle Willaims, and director Ruben Fleisher to show off a brand new extended trailer for Venom, which was greeted with a thunderous round of applause.
The trailer we saw was actually a bit longer than the one released last night, offering slightly more footage of Eddie Brock detailing his job as a reporter, interrogating Dr. Carlton Drake (Ahmed), and more shots of him using the symbiote to take out more than a few of the Life Foundation's goons. Hardy also described the film as one he could show his son, which may seemingly suggest that this may be more of a PG-13 affair than we've been led to believe.
The movie drops on October 5th, which is coincidentally a day after my birthday, so guess my plans are all set.
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
Just when we thought it was all over, Sony Pictures' chairman Tom Rothman brought out both director Quentin Tarantino and Academy Award-winner Leonardo DiCaprio to officially announce Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which was an absolutely electric ending to a strong opening night presentation.
They didn't share anything too revealing about the film's plot, but did confirm that DiCaprio would star alongside Brad Pitt, which is a pairing that Tarantino likened to a team-up of Robert Redford and Paul Newman. The movie is all-set to shoot this summer and will take place in 1969 Los Angeles.