If you’re one of the lucky fans who’ve been to a Billie Eilish concert, you know how special that experience is. There’s nothing quite like being in the pop star’s presence in real time alongside other people who’ve memorized the lyrics and been touched by her music, too. In less than two weeks, a lot more fans will be able to witness the energy around a Billie Eilish concert, however. Hit Me Hard And Soft: The Tour (Live In 3D) arrives in theaters as one of the more unique 2026 movie releases.

CinemaBlend had the chance to chat with Billie Eilish and James Cameron after the co-directors debuted the movie’s 3D experience at Las Vegas’s CinemaCon. During my chat with the pop singer, Eilish shared told me how having the director of the Avatar films by her side for this taught her about moviemaking. In her words:

Billie Eilish has put out a concert film before, but the scale was much smaller considering it was filmed at the Hollywood Bowl during the COVID-19 pandemic without a live audience and released on Disney+. This time around she brought James Cameron along to film the four shows she played at Manchester’s Co-op Live in July 2025 with 3D cameras to bring her shows to life. As Eilish also shared:

The 24-year-old has been in the directors chair before for a number of her music videos including “What Was I Made For?”, “Happier Than Ever,” “Lost Cause,” and “Therefore I Am.” Capturing a massive show full of over 20k people is a very different story and it sounds like there was a learning curve for her that she was noticing on the fly. While she had instincts in place for making the live show entertaining for everyone, capturing it as a movie meant different choices needed to be made. As the singer added:

Billie Eilish definitely has a great reputation for breaking boundaries when it comes to releasing her music – with how her Hit Me Hard And Soft album cover was photographed being just one of them. She’s also frequently involved fans in the experience with things like holding listening parties in theaters for the album as well. Her and James Cameron connecting to direct this concert movie feels like simultaneously an unlikely pair and makes all the sense in the world.

You can get tickets for Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard And Soft: The Tour (Live In 3D), hitting theaters starting May 8.

Somehow it’s already been a decade since the original Moana movie came out, and Disney fans can now look forward to the story being retold as a live-action film on the 2026 movie schedule. This week, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and the new Moana actress, Catherine Laga'aia, presented the film at Las Vegas’s CinemaCon, and the Maui actor brought up a golden point about the demigod and “real masculinity”.

The original Moana is already a special movie to a lot of people, so what will the new movie bring to audiences who’ve likely already seen the original many times? One thing that Dwayne Johnson said during the Walt Disney Studios panel (via Variety) definitely sticks out. In his words:

There’s always a lot of upcoming The Rock movies on the way for the superstar, so naturally, I’ve been wondering why the actor/producer would feel so passionately about remaking a movie that is already considered one of Walt Disney Animation’s best. It sounds like he’s very interested in spreading the message of the film further, and underlining one point about masculinity Maui stands for.

When we meet Maui in Moana, he thinks he’s the greatest hero, but he ultimately steps aside and needs Moana to save the day rather than earning all the glory. As he mentioned at CinemaCon, “all men” should give women the chance to feel the way that Moana does in her tale, and perhaps that’s one big reason the movie bears repeating in live action. Maui is definitely a rare character in media, and he’s got a great point here. The Rock also said this:

Along with Moana getting The Rock to play Maui again, it's also helping show his vulnerability and break stereotypes about big, strong men having to be tough all the time. The new movie will give more of a microphone to the Polynesian people and their culture, as a wide audience will get to see Polynesian actors front a major studio film – and that definitely doesn’t happen every day! You can check out the trailer for Moana:

I like that Dwayne Johnson has talked about being “protective” over Moana before, whilst doing the remake. I also appreciate that the director said “the opportunity to have flesh and blood” tell Moana’s hero’s journey made the movie worth his time. You can see the live-action Moana in theaters on July 10.

One of this year’s highly anticipated sequels would have to be Dune: Part Three. With the sci-fi saga's epic conclusion, fans will get to see the consequences of Paul Atreides’ rise as the Padishah Emperor. They'll also get to see where he stands with his lover, Chani, played by Zendaya. It seems the threequel’s female lead is already dressing in a way that channels the vibes of Arrakis. However, fans didn't seem to be feeling the outfit Zendaya wore while she promoted the film days ago.

There’s no doubt that sand plays a big role in the Dune movies. It’s central to how the desert planet of Arrakis works, and it's also the natural habitat of the franchise's’ giant sandworms. Sand also contributes to the creation of the valuable substance of Melange, which spurs fights amongst the powerful groups on the previously mentioned planet. So naturally, Zendaya went all method-dress while repping the film at this year’s CinemaCon, and it's quite a fashion statement:

You would think this sandy ensemble came straight from a store located in Arrakis! In all seriousness though, I'd say stylist Law Roach worked his magic again by plucking that outfit from Schiaparelli's Fall 2026 collection. The sandy shades of beige in the suit-skirt set came equipped with exaggerated shoulder pads and a wide, pointed collar. Also, the corseted skintight outfit is the perfect way to represent Zendaya’s evolution as an adult, and fans will see growth for fierce Fremen warrior Chani as well in the upcoming threequel.

While I believe Zendaya’s desert-inspired outfit is on point, the internet apparently isn't happy with this particular CinemaCon look. Here are some examples of the tweets some users posted:

• Zendaya in a dress made of sand fr - @codesbyshivam
• Zendaya always looks sickening, but I fear this might be her worst look. - @Dan1_ella1
• Zendaya dressed like a burrito.... 😭🤣 Bwahahahaha 🤣😭🤣 her 'sand dress' to promote Dune looks like someone turned a burrito into a dress 🤣😭🤣👏🤣 - @ArtofAprilAnna
• lmao she looks like she’s wearing a saltine cracker. - @MitchellWiggs
• It’s giving silent hill nurse glam. - @nonotreallylol

Whew, tell us how you really feel, guys. These commenters certainly didn't hold back, to say the least. I'd argue, however, that with the suit-skirt combo looking like second skin on the Drama actress, it shows that the fashionista is one with the sandy Arrakis planet.

Of course, this isn't the first time Zendaya has worn an eye-popping outfit to promote Denis Villeneuve's epic sci-fi films (which are based on the books by Frank Herbert). Amid Dune: Part Two's release, Zendaya’s C-3P0 armored look went viral and gave fans of glimpse of some truly futuristic-looking duds.

The Challengers actress has also rocked two other perfect outfits for that first sequel: a chic white jacket/maxi skirt set and a deep emerald satin number. She even turned fans' heads when she wore a matching outfit with her film’s co-star, Timothée Chalamet. It’s clear that when Zendaya walks the red carpet -- whether it be for Dune or another project -- the fashion world takes notice, usually for the better.

Zendaya's outfits, of course, shouldn't hamper any kind of success Dune's latest chapter will have, though. It seems, right now, that excitement for the movie is only rising ahead of its release. The first trailer for Part Three teases what should be a major spectacle, and it should be quite thrilling.

Fans still have some time before they can feast their eyes on the film but, in lead-up, I can't imagine Zendaya sweating any comments made about her latest outfit. Check out Dune: Part Three when it debuts in theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie schedule.

As we look forward to Toy Story 5's premiere on the 2026 movie schedule, it’s wild to think about how long the Pixar franchise has been going on. And, when Tom Hanks and Tim Allen turned up together at Las Vegas’ CinemaCon on Thursday to talk about the latest animated sequel, they hilariously pointed out how long they’ve been making these movies with a funny little interaction.

The first Toy Story movie came out back in November 1995, making these movies freshly 30 years old as of a few months ago. Hanks brought this up during the recent appearance with Allen, leading to this exchange:

• Tim Allen: "I don't think we look any different. We looked at video of us doing it, and we looked like our grandchildren in the video."
• Tom Hanks: "I thought, did I make the first one when I was in junior high school?"
• Tim Allen: "Horrible."
• Tom Hanks: "We have both had this experience where we've been somewhere in public, and an adult with a little kid has said, 'Oh my gosh, it's Buzz Lightyear! It's Buzz Lightyear! It's Buzz Lightyear! Honey, this is Buzz Lightyear!' And the kid looks up and sees that."

These two probably had no idea that they’d be playing Woody and Buzz Lightyear well into their sixties and seventies (Hanks is 69, and Allen is 72), but they are, and remain beloved for their roles, of course. The actors joked around about looking like their “grandchildren” and like middle school kids when they first made Toy Story three decades earlier, by comparison to today.

Hanks threw the best shade, though, when he told an anecdote about what happens when parents point out to their kids that the actors are Woody and Buzz. He said they are met with a couple of grey-haired guys. Pixar itself kind of has its own wink at how old Woody is getting with the cowboy having a bald spot in one gag in the movie. You can check out the latest Toy Story 5 trailer here:

From what we know about Toy Story 5, this time around, the toys in Bonnie’s room (previously of Andy’s room) will have to fight for attention from a tablet that comes into the kid’s life called Lilypad. All our original favorites are back, including Jessie, Hamm, Rex, Slinky Dog, Mr & Mrs. Potato Head, along with a couple of favorites from Toy Story 4: Forky and Duke Caboom. The movie is helmed by Andrew Stanton, who has been involved in all the previous Toy Story movies. We can look forward to Toy Story 5 hitting theaters on June 19.

Doing the Toy Story movies together has made Tom Hanks and Tim Allen good friends since first starring in the roles back in the '90s. The pair apparently meet for lunch a few times a year to keep things going, and this fun exchange between them definitely is evidence of their fun-loving relationship.

There’s been chatter about a Top Gun 3 for years now. After the smash hit that was Top Gun: Maverick, it’s felt like the right move to make. Well, now it’s officially, finally being made, as Paramount announced that the movie is in the works and has a writer. So, now that I’ve had a full day to sit with that news, I’ve thought of four things I need to see happen in Top Gun 3.

It was announced that Top Gun 3 is in the works during Paramount’s CinemaCon presentation (via Variety), and it was confirmed that Tom Cruise would be back as Maverick, while Jerry Bruckheimer will be back as a producer. Along with that, it was revealed that Ehren Kruger, who co-wrote Top Gun: Maverick with Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie, would be returning to write the new movie.

So, with all that in mind, I've been wondering what might happen during Maverick's next adventure, and I've realized there are four things I need to see.

I Need An Update On Rooster, Hangman And The Young Pilots From Top Gun: Maverick

One of the biggest highlights of Top Gun: Maverick was the new class of pilots. I loved seeing Miles Teller and Glen Powell as Rooster and Hangman, and it was remarkable to watch them and their co-stars flourish in these parts that have now become defining pieces of their careers.

So, I’d like to see them back. I need to know where they’re at. Are Rooster and Hangman friends? Did any of the young pilots go on to teach at Top Gun? Could any of them work with Maverick? The opportunities feel endless, and I feel like it’d be a missed opportunity to not show us these characters in Top Gun 3.

Thankfully, Powell has given an update that makes me hopeful he’ll be back as Hangman, and Teller has said he’s down for Top Gun 3 as long as he has enough time to get in shape for it. So, it seems like they still feel the need for speed; we just need to hope they get written into the story.

I Need To See Some Kind Of Groundbreaking Airplane Stunt From Tom Cruise

Now, Maverick’s director, Joseph Kosinski, did tease that Top Gun 3 could tackle an existential crisis for Maverick that is “much bigger than himself.” That’s all fine and dandy, and I’m all for a big personal story. However, I also want stunts, and I want big ones.

I’m talking Mission: Impossible level plane stunts. While I don’t necessarily want to see Cruise and co. climbing around the outside of a plane while it’s in the air, I do want a level of innovation and thrill in Top Gun 3 that’s synonymous with Mission: Impossible. They did it for Maverick, so I’m sure they can come up with some wild, crazy, and heartpounding action sequences for this new movie.

Obviously, We Need Some Kind Of Shirtless Sports Montage

First, it was volleyball, then it was football on the beach, so clearly, Top Gun 3 needs some kind of summery, shirtless sports sequence. There's a precedent to maintain. I know a lot of work went into the football scene, and the cast got in tip-top shape for it, and I have no doubt they could do it again.

Maybe this time, they could be playing beach soccer, or potentially they could move the montage to a basketball court. I don’t really care what sport it is; all I know is I want to see the pilots having some fun in the sun.

At Least One Song Needs To Be Sung (Preferably By Rooster And Maverick)

In Top Gun, Maverick and Goose sang “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” in the bar, and we also got the always iconic “Great Balls of Fire” moment. Then, in Maverick, Rooster sang “Great Balls of Fire” again. However, Tom Cruise’s character did not partake in the singing.

So, in Top Gun 3, I’d love to see Maverick and his best friend’s son singing together. It could be “Great Balls of Fire” again. However, it’d also be fun if they found a new song to jam out to. Ultimately, I simply want this new movie to continue to pay homage to what makes Top Gun, Top Gun.

Now, will any of these things happen? I don’t know. However, I do know that Top Gun 3 is preparing for takeoff now, and I’ll be sitting in the theater the day it flies onto the big screen to see if these dreams come true.

Paramount Skydance announced its upcoming Star Trek movie is still "in development," and somehow, that's bumming me out more than the recent cancellation of Starfleet Academy. At a time when it feels Trekkies desperately need some positive news about the franchise's future, we're again stuck in this waiting period.

This year at CinemaCon, CEO David Ellison made exciting announcements about the studio's projects and confirmed it will aggressively release films throughout the 2026 movie schedule and beyond. However, TrekMovie.com and others reported that Star Trek was more or less a footnote, which is only a bit better than the previous year, when it was forgotten entirely. To me, that's not just upsetting, it's unacceptable, and it has me questioning just how serious the studio is about getting a movie out to its fans.

Star Trek Fans Know Nothing More About Star Trek's New Movie Than They Did In November

Back in November, we learned that John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein were working on a new Star Trek movie, which had many excited because they're just a handful of years removed from co-writing Spider-Man: Homecoming. At the time, it was reported that it was likely the movie would be disconnected from previous entries in the franchise, both in film and television, and would feature new characters.

Essentially, we were given nothing in terms of what it would be about, which is exactly what we got this time, too. A Star Trek movie that has nothing to do with previous works is "in development," which can mean anything from a script actively being written to its just a studio commitment to make a movie happen. If this reads as snarky, it's because Paramount has been repeating this same line for the past decade, and we're no closer to seeing another Trek movie in theaters right now than we were back when Star Trek: Beyond was first released.

Paramount Skydance Is Really Dropping The Ball On Star Trek's 60th Anniversary

Star Trek's 60th anniversary as a franchise was meant to be a big year for the franchise, and yet, Paramount Skydance has done little in the way of assuring fans it's still the high-value IP that brought in billions in streaming revenue not that long ago. Movies take a while to make, I know that, but we can't even get a bread crumb of what the pitch is or what this movie is even about?

We do have unreleased seasons of Star Trek shows on the way, but I think many people want some promising news about the path forward. It doesn't seem like that will happen until Paramount Skydance's merger with Warner Bros. happens, but I would assume that discussions have to be happening.

There's still hope that we'll get some special news about the future of Star Trek when San Diego Comic-Con rolls around, but I'm getting increasingly pessimistic after CinemaCon's presentation came and went. It's disappointing because I know a ton of Trekkies ready to celebrate the 60th anniversary, but so far, there's very little reason to get excited.

We'll continue to keep an eye out for what's ahead for Star Trek as the year continues. Almost all the shows and movies are available on streaming with a Paramount+ subscription, so make sure to pick up one to enjoy some classic shows.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is always keeping fans on their toes, thanks to consistently releasing new content in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Arguably, the most highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movie is Avengers: Doomsday, which is the shared universe's next big crossover. The movie will feature the return of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, and they recently clashed on the stage of CinemaCon, to hilarious results.

What we know about Avengers: Doomsday is limited, but that changed a bit thanks to the footage that debuted at CinemaCon. In a video making the rounds online on Instagram, Downey and Evans had a faux fight, with the latter talking crap about the villain Doctor Doom. In his words:

Considering the fact that Doctor Doom is a threat to the entire multiverse, can you blame him? Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. clearly have a ton of love for each other, but fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order are ready to see them play adversaries. They hammed it up a bit for the crowd at CinemaCon, with RDJ responding by saying:

The Russo Brothers personally broke up this "fight" as fans cheered. This give and take, as well as the new footage, have never made the next Avengers movie feel more real. And while Chris Evans wasn't included in the Doomsday cast announcement, it seems like he's going to be back in a big way for the forthcoming blockbuster.

The Captain America Doomsday teaser confirmed Evans would be returning, and fans can't wait to see exactly how Steve Rogers is brought back into the fold. It seems like he'll have a major role in the next Avengers movie, rather than a small cameo. You can see the clip of him and Robert Downey Jr. below:

Anticipation for Avengers: Doomsday has been steadily building, with the movie finally being released this December. The pressure is on for the Russo Brothers to deliver, as they did so flawlessly in Infinity War and Endgame. This is especially true given the peaks and valleys that have come to the MCU since then, including box office bombs like The Marvels. But seeing RDJ and Evans back onscreen together might be exactly what the universe needs.

Avengers: Doomsday will hit theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully, we get a full trailer soon, as the movie is only a few months away.

Fresh off his 2026 Oscar win, Michael B. Jordan is back in action. This time, it’s for The Thomas Crown Affair, and he showed off the first footage for it at CinemaCon. Now, people are reacting to that first glance at this highly anticipated romantic crime thriller, and their thoughts on what’s to come have me very, very excited for this remake of one of the best heist movies.

This remake of The Thomas Crown Affair marks the second feature Jordan has directed, following 2023’s Creed III. He’s also set to star in the film alongside Adria Arjona. In the first trailer, it’s been reported that you can see Jordan in action as a thief, much like Pierce Brosnan and Steve McQueen were in 1999 and 1968, respectively, stealing a Van Gogh sunflower painting. It sounds like we’re going to see a sweeping, fun and hot crime caper when this film hits theaters, and that became clear after reading Wesley Stenzel’s recap for EW of the footage:

The setting of this film also seems to add to its irresistible ambiance. Another thing that adds to its sleek and sultry vibe seems to be the chemistry between Michael B. Jordan’s billionaire thief and Adria Arjona’s insurance investigator. According to The Playlist’s Gregory Ellwood, all this comes together to give this film a “requisite scope”:

Now, while details about the story of Jordan’s take on The Thomas Crown Affair are being kept under wraps for the most part, Deadline’s Jill Goldsmith did note how the actor’s chemistry with Arjona was very present in the trailer. Here’s what the outlet reported:

During the presentation, the Sinners star explained that his character “needed somebody who could keep him on his toes.” He also needed someone who could play this game of cat and mouse, but also fall in love with him. Well, Adria Arjona seems to be the perfect fit for the role, and I can’t wait to hear her say, “Tell me something: does this billionaire thing really work?”

Along with Jordan and Arjona, Kenneth Branagh is also in the cast. He’ll be playing the villain, and it sounds like the Creed star’s character might be out for revenge against him. Writing about this role as well as the high-stakes action and emotion that this trailer seemed to have, Chris Bumbray’s breakdown for JoBlo stated:

Well, this sounds like one great time at the theater, and you better believe I’ll be there to see the film from Jordan and Amazon/MGM.

It’s also worth noting that JoBlo’s report explained that Jordan’s take on all this seems “pretty faithful to the concept of the original movies.” During the presentation, the actor did make his admiration of the first two iterations of this story known, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he pays homage to them.

Now, with all that being said, I cannot wait to see The Thomas Crown Affair. However, we’ll have to wait a bit for it. The film is not part of the 2026 movie schedule, but it will be in theaters on March 5, 2027. In the meantime, you can stream both the 1968 and 1999 versions of this story on Tubi, The Roku Channel or Pluto TV.

I’ve watched Tom Cruise dive into action movies for the majority of my lifetime. The characters have all been slightly different, but they all pretty much have high-octane stunts and running really fast in common. Only twice during my formative years can I remember seeing the actor on the big screen trying something really different. The first was when he played Frank T.J. Mackey in P.T. Anderson’s Magnolia and frogs rained from the sky. The second was when he popped into Tropic Thunder and demanded dancing and “fat fingers.” (Though people sometimes cite the flop Rock of Ages as another eclectic role, I haven't seen it.) Now, there’s Digger.

What Tom Cruise Said About His First Post M:I Movie Venture

It’s still hard to believe Ethan Hunt is done for good, but after the release of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, Cruise was looking to do something different as his followup. He said at CinemaCon 2026 that it literally took him “40 years."

While audiences were treated to a first-look at the movie, Cruise also admitted even he feels “the movie is wild,” and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu said he “was not prepared for” Tom Cruise’s transformation, also noting:

Of course, anyone can say anything they want about an upcoming 2026 movie release that no one has really seen footage from. Putting your money where your mouth is can be another matter entirely. However, first-look audiences seem blown away by Cruise in particular.

Over And Over Again, First Reactions Say He’s Doing Something Different

Journalists are able to sit in a balcony overlooking CinemaCon to witness early footage themselves, and one resounding chorus from the crowd was that this is Cruise doing something completely different. Someone noted his “Foghorn Leghorn accent,” which caught my eye, but literally just look at these responses:

• Variety: ​​ "And this is definitely Cruise as you’ve never seen him before.”
• THR: "In the footage, Cruise is unrecognizable, sporting gray hair, wrinkles and a gut as he struts around his mansion and nurses his sick cat."
• EW: "He looks way more like Garry Marshall than like Ethan Hunt. He also acts like a massive jerk to everybody he interacts with, except his frail old cat. "
• Indiewire: Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell was something else. Cruise in Alejandro Inarritu’s film Digger plays an aging oil tycoon with gray hair, wrinkles, a big paunch belly, a firebrand Foghorn Leghorn accent, and no patience for the cataclysmic environmental event that his project has caused.

I think a lot of people love to watch Tom Cruise do death-defying stunts on the big screen, but he's been at it for so long it's difficult to remember there was a time in his career when the roles he took on were broader. They were a different kind of risk for the actor. While I'd still love to see him in Top Gun 3 (and maybe even an F1 spinoff should that A+fan idea pan out), there's a whole of roles out there I think he can still dominate. Now is the time.

WrestleMania 42 is taking over Las Vegas this weekend, and it wouldn't be WrestleMania season without some speculation about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's potential involvement. After little to no chatter about "The Great One" in the weeks leading up to the annual event, fan chatter has spread regarding the athlete's appearance at another big-ticket event in Sin City.

Dwayne Johnson was spotted onstage at CinemaCon, helping to promote the upcoming release of his third Jumanji movie. So no direct connection to the WWE, but the timing certainly opens the door to atone for his no-show at last year's WrestleMania. Either way, there's a lot to unpack with this development.

Will The Rock Stick Around For WrestleMania 42?

With CinemaCon ending on April 16th, the stage is set for Dwayne Johnson to have a significant role in WrestleMania 42. He's presumably free to show up on SmackDown, which is the show he's most associated with, and possibly inject himself in the main event alongside Pat McAfee.

Considering a chunk of fans are upset with McAfee's involvement in the main event, adding The Rock in the mix could be a way to take the heat off the ESPN host and further excite people about this weekend. A surprise appearance from "The Brahma Bull" would almost certainly move ticket sales a bit as the weekend nears, but what are the odds of it actually happening?

Why I'm Doubtful The Rock Will Have Any Significant Role In WrestleMania 42

While I wouldn't rule out Dwayne Johnson appearing on SmackDown ahead of WrestleMania 42, I can't help but think back to why he randomly appeared during WrestleMania season last year. The Rock showed up after Elimination Chamber, seemingly hinting he would target Cody Rhodes when WrestleMania 41 rolled around. As mentioned, Travis Scott showed up in his place, and The Rock was nowhere to be seen.

Johnson later revealed that his appearance at Elimination Chamber came after a call from TKO CEO Ari Emmanuel, who wanted help moving tickets for the event (via Sportskeeda). Flash forward a year, and the WWE is having the same issues with poor ticket sales being used in the main event storyline. We've already seen rumors that Emmanuel made the call to put Pat McAfee in the mix. Could he call in another favor for The Rock for a SmackDown appearance?

I think it's possible, but I don't see The Rock having any significant role in WrestleMania 42 beyond that. In the past, we've known he's wanted to be in good ring shape before committing to any form of match in the WWE. Now, he could just show up and deliver a low blow to Cody, but I'm not sure wrestling fans want that at this point.

Really, adding The Rock to WrestleMania 42 would further exacerbate the problem created when Pat McAfee was added to the main event. This angle went from being about the decades of history between Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes to a sideshow act with celebrity cameos. If The Rock is also thrown into the mix, I think it greatly overshadows Orton in the match entirely, so now I'm almost hoping The Rock isn't planning to appear at WrestleMania.

We won't have long to wait to find out what's going to happen either way, and see if The Rock heads over to the WWE after he wraps things up at CinemaCon. Tune in to WrestleMania 42 on Saturday April 18th and Sunday April 19th, and get ready for two jam-packed evenings of wrestling!

If you can believe it, thanks to lengthy delays, it has been nearly three years since Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse landed in theaters. And ever since, we Spidey fans (Web-Heads?) have been dying for just the slightest little glimpse of the next entry, wondering how Beyond the Spider-Verse was coming along. It might not be on the 2026 movie calendar, but after all this waiting, we finally have our first footage from the highly anticipated follow-up, and it apparently picks up where that wild Miles Morales cliffhanger left off.

Per Entertainment Weekly, new footage from Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse was shown off during Sony's CinemaCon event in Las Vegas on Monday. Directors Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson took the stage at Caesar's Palace, along with producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, to introduce a scene from the start of the final chapter in the animated trilogy. The clip picks up right where the ending of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse left Morales, stuck on Earth-42, where an alternate version of Miles (played by Jharrel Jerome) is acting as the villainous Prowler.

The footage reportedly wastes no time throwing Miles back into the deep end. It opens with him realizing the worst-case scenario is real: there is no Spider-Man in this world. And before he can process that, he’s face-to-face with his uncle Aaron and then promptly knocked out by the alternate version of himself. When he wakes up, he’s tied up and forced into a conversation with a Miles who didn’t become a hero. Instead, he became the Prowler. The back-and-forth is tense in that very Spider-Verse way, with our Miles trying to explain canon events and the fact that his dad is going to die in two days, while Aaron and Prowler-Miles are understandably stuck on a much simpler question: what is a Spider-Man, and why should they care?

Things spiral quickly from there. Our Miles starts glitching out, admits his atoms don’t even like being in this dimension, and tries to de-escalate a situation that’s clearly already past that point. Prowler-Miles, not exactly moved by any of this, points out he’s doing a lot of talking for someone chained to a punching bag. That’s when Miles finally switches gears, drops the explanations, and makes his move, blasting his way out and escaping. From there, the footage reportedly jumps into a rapid-fire montage, teasing bigger action, multiverse chaos, and the growing list of problems Miles has to deal with. Save his dad, stop the Spot, outrun Miguel and the Spider-Society. His answer? Simple: that’s just what heroes do.

Looking at the bigger picture, it’s easy to see why expectations are so high. The Spider-Verse story kicked off with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which introduced Miles and went on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature while pulling in over $390 million worldwide. It then expanded in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which blew things open into a full multiverse story and earned nearly $700 million globally.

Beyond the Spider-Verse was always meant to finish that story. It was originally planned as the second half of Across the Spider-Verse, but delays, including the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, pushed it back.

The Spider-Verse world isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Sony is already working on a Spider-Punk spinoff centered on Daniel Kaluuya’s version of the character, while Nicolas Cage is set to return as Spider-Noir in a live-action series for folks with an Amazon Prime Video subscription, though that one will take place in its own separate corner of the multiverse. As for the main story, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is currently slated to hit theaters on June 18, 2027.

As someone who has watched a lot of BTS Mission: Impossible footage in my day, I’ve seen what Christopher McQuarrie looks like on more than one occasion. He may typically be a behind-the-camera kind of guy, but he did appear as a cop in The Usual Suspects back in the day, and many of us have seen him in plenty of interviews over the last several decades. So, a lot of film fans have an understanding of what the writer/director looks like, but I was still unprepared for Tom Cruise admitting he gets mistaken for a Jerry Maguire star all the time.

Speaking as part of Paramount's CinemaCon panel, Tom Cruise got candid about his long and storied relationship with Christopher McQuarrie. We previously reported on how he contributed to an early M:I script before later getting involved with the franchise as a director, but this story about how 'McQ' (as Cruise affectionately calls him) gets mistaken for Jonathan Lipnicki really took the cake.

I cannot stop thinking about this comment, because now that I’m really looking at a side-by-side of McQuarrie and Lipnicki, I can’t unsee it. The two do kind of favor one another in a weird way, and have the whole cute glasses thing going. Never mind the director is 56 and the former child actor is only 34!

So, really what McQuarrie kind of looks like is Lipnicki’s parent.

It's worth noting that Lipnicki has dropped the glasses and looks a bit different these days. Plus, if people really sat down and mathed out when Jerry Maguire came out and how old Lipnicki was in that movie (he was only 6 when the flick released into theaters in 1996), I doubt this mistake would be made. However, it clearly amuses Tom Cruise to no end that it’s happened on (seemingly) more than one occasion.

Tom Cruise is tickled pink about this fan connection to Jerry Maguire, but Jonathan Lipnicki doesn’t have as A+ of a relationship with the fanbase. He says people quote lines from the Cameron Crowe film at him all the time –which makes sense as it was one of his biggest roles – but the real problem is people don’t know Jerry Maguire lines well at all.

It's a great Jerry Maguire BTS fact, and the best news for Lipnicki is that McQ is clearly sometimes taking some of those awkward fan interactions for him.

After a successful run with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Destin Daniel Cretton is adding another Marvel movie to the order of the universe with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. After the title of the fourth Tom Holland film was unveiled, the director told a personal story during Sony's 2025 CinemaCon panel that’s worth sharing with even the casual Spider fans out there.

I love a good pop culture crossover with a major franchise, and Cretton recently shared with MCU fans that his son’s first word was not exactly traditional. Instead, as he’s been prepping for the upcoming Marvel film there’s been a lot of Peter Parker stuff laying about, and his kid has been attracted to the material like moth to a flame.

The director may not know exactly how to feel about this development, but I find it very endearing. I get how it might lead to some sticky feelings at home, sure, as I have no idea how Cretton and his partner feel about their kid choosing “Spider-Man” over Mama or Dadda. But for someone who is currently in the deep end of Marvel planning, it’s sort of fitting the character is a major part of his kid’s milestones too.

Destin Daniel Cretton went on to say that he and the creative team have really had the best time planning for this major gig in Tom Holland’s notable summer of 2026 films. He said they’ve been “nerding out” over stuff like the suit, and I’m totally champing at the bit to see it rather than hear about it.

Unfortunately, time is both a friend and foe in this case. While there’s plenty to look forward to in the Spidey universe and I do enjoy the anticipation of an upcoming movie release, we still have quite a long while for this next movie to hit the big screen. In fact, the movie is expected to only begin filming in the summer months, and is targeting a July of 2026 release. We've heard some casting rumors, but nothing really concrete outside of the new movie's name.

But if this story is any indication, Destin Daniel Cretton may have to keep an eye out. We already know that little guy is paying attention, and as they say.... out of the mouths of babes...

We’ve already heard so much about filming James Gunn’s upcoming Superman film, but there's always more to learn before the flick hits theaters later this year. The upcoming 2025 movie has been hotly anticipated as it is ushering in a new era for DC movies on the big screen, and it’s bringing a brand new Superman, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor to the big screen. It’s all so new that even the actors were mesmerized by seeing new lead David Corenswet in the suit for the first time (but humorously he had a bit of a different reaction).

Our Warner Bros. CinemaCon 2025 panel live blog already touched on Nicholas Hoult, David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan coming onstage, but my favorite moment happened when the Lois Lane actress and Lex Luthor actor revealed what it was like to see Corenswet in the suit for the first time.

Of course, it’s worth noting Hoult was on set to portray the literal villain in the movie, but he said that when filming the pivotal nighttime scene, he was more like a kid in a candy store. This wasn’t an unusual reaction for people seeing Superman on set, apparently, as Hoult humorously went on to describe how he felt he was having an emotional moment, then he turned around to see so many other people having the same reaction...

Brosnahan said while promoting the upcoming DC movie that she can distinctly recall her co-star’s “cape blowing in the distance” while they filmed a scene in the moonlight. It was spectacular for the newcomer actress on set, who has previously shared her five-word response to the first time she saw Superman’s look, but for Corenswet it was just another day in the suit.

Of course, they'd forgotten one truth: If you are the guy playing Superman and you’ve been donning the cape and tights for many months, getting illuminated by some moonlight is not really that exciting. In fact, we’ve heard a lot in the past about how unglamorous it can be to film superhero movies. There are green screens and wire work, sweaty suits and just the humdrum that is actually the day-to-day of making movies. It can take hours and hours to make things just so.

For example, fans have been loving Superman’s air kiss in the trailer, but Corenswet also debunked that being a cool moment for him. He noted it’s “a lot less romantic when you’re being hoisted in the air by your underwear,” and I take his point about the Lois Lane kissing scene. But for those who weren’t personally involved in the trunks versus no trunks debate, and who weren’t on set with the superhero suit on from Day 1 like Corenswet, being on set did become something a bit more majesti.

Now let’s just hope that majesty plays out on the big screen.

Glen Powell’s been on a bit of a tear between Top Gun: Maverick, Netflix’s Hit Man, and Universal’s Twisters, and he’s following that up with an upcoming Stephen King adaptation: The Running Man. After seeing first look footage at Paramount’s 2025 CinemaCon panel (which we live blogged), I have to say I’m almost as excited for this one as I was for Twisters last year – and if you thought the on set stuntwork he got involved in was incredible before, he’s hyping his upcoming 2025 movie release even more.

In fact, this one has Michael Cera gleefully destroying people with a water gun and some electricity, and that alone would be enough to get my butt into a movie theater seat. But Glen Powell was doing some heavy lifting when it came to action in the first footage I saw.

During the event, Edgar Wright and Glen Powell both came onstage, with the latter explaining why he “worked harder” on this project than he even did in previous movies.

This isn't the first time Glen Powell has put his body on the line for a role, so hearing him talk about how insane the work on The Running Man (which was previously adapted with Arnold Schwarzenegger leading in 1987) has me extra hyped.

I mean this is a guy that got into a Navy plane to train for Top Gun: Maverick. (And we heard there was some throwing up involved when G-Forces came into play.) Then, for Twisters, he thought it would all be CGI, but no, a ton of practical effects were brought to the set . At CinemaCon last year the actor admitted a jet engine was used to mimic the effects of a tornado whipping hay and more around on set. In short, I can confirm he's no slouch when it comes to stunts, similar to his mentor Tom Cruise.

The Running Man director Edgar Wright also opened up about Powell's work ethic on the set of the movie, and how much he ultimately took on his shoulders while filming.

CinemaBlend's Eric Eisenberg was also on hand at CinemaCon when Powell admitted he had to get into "bulletproof" shape in order for the movie to come together, and I'm hoping it pays off in spades for him, Wright and the rest of The Running Man cast. The movie is out this winter on November 7th, 2025.

When Deadpool & Wolverine was hitting the movie release schedule last year, I did wonder what Hugh Jackman would do next. Unsurprisingly, he headed back to his theater roots for From New York, With Love, which is expected to keep running until October 2025. But on the movie front his next project is a movie about some sheep solving a murder, and I can't stop thinking about it.

Amazon showed up for the first time this year at CinemaCon 2025, and during CinemaBlend's live blog of the whole event, there was a lot of hope we might get some Bond news. The closest thing we got to that was that some work has “started” in London, but to be honest, it didn’t really matter because the movie I am still thinking about days later actually had to do with Hugh Jackman and the sheep solving a murder.

Amazon announced Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie – a movie literally about some sheep who are devastated and try and figure out whodunnit after their shepherd dies –and the vibe in the crowd was audibly giving a “what is this?” sort of bent.

But then we got footage from the studio, and to be honest, the movie looks delightful. I’d still argue Three Bags Full reads more like a Hallmark movie title than a big screen venture, but Amazon is committed to bringing this one to the big screen, and after seeing the first look, it doesn’t look half baaaa-d. I know, I couldn't help myself.

Hugh Jackman theatrical follow-up after Deadpool & Wolverine with a little movie from none other than Kyle Balda, who helmed a bunch of Despicable Me franchise projects for Universal. Chernobyl and The Last of Us’ Craig Mazin wrote the script and some major talent is involved, and when I say major I mean it:

• Hugh Jackman
• Bryan Cranston
• Emma Thompson
• Nicholas Galitzine (Heartstopper)
• Patrick Stewart
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus
• Regina Hall
• Nicholas Braun (Succession)
• Molly Gordon (The Bear)
• Chris O’Dowd

But talent alone does not necessarily make for a good movie, and Three Bags Full will likely rise or fall based on its tone, which seems both amusing and engaging. As for its title, the movie is actually based on the book of the same name by Leonie Swan, a book you can purchase on Amazon and is called a “clever spin” and an “offbeat yarn” (yes those are both wool nods) on the detective genre.

Three Bags Full isn’t expected to come to theaters until 2026, but it’s part of a new move from Amazon to work toward reinvigorating the theatrical business. Amazon has committed upwards of 15 movies for full theatrical runs in the coming years so that audiences can continue enjoying movies on the big screen. And hey, at least Jackman won't have to worry about peeing in the Wolverine suit for this one...

The studio really had a big win with Red One last year (though less so at the box office), and it was a big move to see the studio show up at CinemaCon this year, and alongside properties like Bond, it’s nice to see Amazon also investing in some originals (and maybe selling a few books on the side in the meantime).

I didn’t have this on my bingo card when it came to Hugh Jackman’s upcoming roles, but the premise is so wacky it just might work, and it certainly made for one of the most interesting moments at CinemaCon this year. Along with Three Bags Full, Jackman will also be starring in Apostle Paul, The Death of Robin Hood, and Song Sung Blue, which is also in post-production.

And in the meantime, there's always that 8-hour video of Jackman breathing if you need a quick fix.

Last week, I had the chance to marvel at the incredible year this is for Stephen King fans around the world. Following the arrival of Osgood Perkins’ bloody and brilliant adaptation of The Monkey back in February, three more King movies are on their way to the big screen before the end of 2025 (Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck, Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk and Edgar Wright’s The Running Man), and I had a chance to preview all of them while on the ground covering CinemaCon 2025. I was entranced by everything I saw and heard about the three extremely different films, as I not only got to watch impressive footage but also hear some great behind-the-scenes stories.

One of these great stories – specifically one told by Josh Brolin – leads this week’s edition of The King Beat, but it’s but one of three headlines in this week’s column digging into the latest news from the world of Stephen King. There’s a whole lot to discuss, so let’s dig in!

The Running Man Production Devised A Super Cool Way To Make Josh Brolin More Comfortable Performing While Looking Right At The Camera

When an actor does their thing in the making of a movie, the general idea is for them to ignore the existence of the camera. Creating an authentic performance means forgetting the artifice of the filmmaking process, and that’s hard to do if there is an over-awareness of the lens capturing your every move. This in mind, it’s somewhat understandable that Josh Brolin faced a special kind of freak out in the making of The Running Man when the shooting of a sequence required him to perform right down the barrel, so to speak.

Brolin spoke about this experience during an entertaining luncheon at CinemaCon last week where the actor participated in a Q&A panel with writer/director Edgar Wright and Running Man co-stars Glen Powell and Colman Domingo. He spoke about his time playing the villainous Killian in the upcoming Stephen King movie, and he specifically referenced a time on set when he was unnerved by a setup on set that required him to act directly into the camera. Said Brolin,

In The Running Man, Josh Brolin plays the film’s central antagonist: the lead producer of the Games Network, which is the state-run media channel that broadcast’s the film’s titular reality show. Some of the character’s key scenes in the book are intense one-on-one interactions with Ben Richards (including an early sequence where the protagonist is recruited to be on The Running Man), and Edgar Wright’s approach for at least one of these moments apparently puts us directly in Ben’s point of view.

Acting directly into a camera is hard not only because it forces a performer to recognize the existence of the lens, but also because it means that there is nobody opposite them to play off of emotionally. But Wright is an immensely talented filmmaker who works with other very talented people, and Brolin explained that the crew was able to devise an awesome workaround for this issue that ultimately made him more comfortable on set. He continued,

Cool, right?

The discussion of this special kind of invention behind-the-scenes of The Running Man has made me all the more fascinated by the film and excited for what Edgar Wright has in store… but it wasn’t just the discussion of the upcoming 2025 movie that amped my curiosity about the film.

After Getting An Early First Look At The Running Man, I’m Curious If/How The Stephen King Movie Will Adapt The Book’s Super Dark Ending

SPOILER WARNING: If you haven’t read The Running Man and don’t want to be spoiled on the ending (which may end up being adapted), you may want to skip down to the next section!

When it was first announced in early 2021 that Edgar Wright’s remake of The Running Man was getting made, I wrote a feature explaining that I felt two aspects of the source material would probably be better off getting changed – despite the whole initiative of the project being the creation of a more faithful adaptation than the 1987 movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. My first note was that protagonist Ben Richards should be cast with a Black actor (allowing the film to highlight systemic racial issues in our modern justice system)… but that notion admittedly went out the window as soon as it was announced that Glen Powell was playing the lead.

My second point was that it would probably be best if the remake didn’t directly adapt the dark, potentially controversial ending from Stephen King’s book… but based on the footage that was showcased at CinemaCon 2025 last week, the project might be ignoring that suggestion as well.

To rewind a bit, the reason why I felt the ending should be changed for the new movie is simple: the actions by the hero of the story are disturbingly reminiscent of the events that occurred on September 11, 2001. At the end of Stephen King’s book (which was first published in 1982), the protagonist is horrified to discover that the sinister Games Network not only doesn’t plan to deliver his earned prize money to his family after his participation as a contestant on The Running Man, but they have been straight-up killed. Emotionally devastated, Ben’s response to the news is to hijack a plane and fly it into the state-run media’s skyscraper headquarters.

I don’t think I need to explain beyond that recounting of events why that may not be the best direction for Edgar Wright’s upcoming film – but that’s why I was so surprised to catch a couple of standout moments in the Running Man CinemaCon footage. While that material has not yet made its way officially online, I was surprised to notice that there were shots of a fight aboard a mid-flight airplane and a pilot being killed. There wasn’t any specific context presented for these clips in the edit, but seeing them, my brain immediately clicked back to the extremely dark conclusion of the novel.

Overall, the first look at The Running Man suggested that the Edgar Wright film is going to be much more “fun” than the source material (as evidenced by a shot where Glen Powell lies on a bed and slaps his own tighty-whities-clad ass and Michael Cera kills a bunch of soldiers with a super soaker and an electrified floor), and I would be stunned if the blockbuster presented a faithful adaptation of the ending… but there is now enough evidence that makes me question that assumption. Frankly, though, that only makes me more excited to see the movie when it arrives in theaters later this year – specifically on November 7.

I’m Super Curious How One Plot Description Detail For Mike Flanagan’s Upcoming Carrie Will Impact And Change The Story From Stephen King’s Book

To be perfectly honest, I’m not totally sure what to expect from the Carrie series that is now in development from writer/director Mike Flanagan at Amazon MGM. On the one hand, Flanagan has an impeccable record when it comes to adapting the works of Stephen King – with Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep and The Life Of Chuck all ranking among the best King movies of all time – but this is also a book we’ve already seen adapted for the screen three previous times. What could the show possibly add to the massive legacy?

Going by new details that arrived online this week, one detail may be revelations about Carrie White’s father.

This week, Variety reported the news that actress Summer H. Howell is nearing the signing of a deal that will see her play the titular role in Carrie, and beyond the casting, the trade report also includes an official logline for the project. It reads:

Most of that information – from the domineering mother to bullying to telekinetic powers – is very familiar to anyone even remotely familiar with the story of Carrie… but the “father’s sudden and untimely death” part is new and intriguing. The paternal side of the eponymous protagonist’s genetic code is not something that has ever gotten any focus in previous adaptations of the Stephen King novel, and I wonder how significant a hook it will be in Mike Flanagan’s vision.

In the book, Carrie’s father is Ralph White, a fundamentalist Christian and construction worker who dies in an accident prior to his daughter’s birth – but it seems that the show will be going in a different direction with the character. Instead of Carrie being raised by Margaret as a single mother, it seems her dad will be around into her teenage years and potentially home schooling her before his “untimely death.” If this is the case, I have three standout questions: 1) Will investigation into his demise be a plot point on the show? 2) What will having Ralph around mean for the characterization of Margaret? 3) Will the paternal presence reveal more about the origins of Carrie’s psychic abilities?

Mike Flanagan has promised that there is an answer to the question of “Why remake Carrie again?” and I wonder if this detail about the developing project may be significant insight. The show hasn’t gotten an official series pickup yet, but that news is expected imminently, and when that news comes, we’ll hopefully get to learn more about the plans for the adaptation.

That brings us to the end of this week’s edition of The King Beat, but as always, I’ll be back next Thursday here on CinemaBlend with a brand new column digging into all of the latest news from the world of Stephen King.

How To Train Your Dragon premiered at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this month, and lots of fans of the original Dreamworks pic raved about the new movie bringing some big animated moments to life. Among its differences is an (almost) entirely new cast, though the live action remake did bring back Gerard Butler to play Stoick the Vast. And I have to say, he seemed to be having the best time doing it.

Butler came onstage ahead of the premiere along with director Dean DeBlois to promote the summer 2025 movie release. The actor opened up about re-joining the franchise at CinemaCon 2025, joking that Stoick hadn’t aged—and there’s a very 2025 reason the Viking zaddy looks so good in live action.

Butler: "The franchise has been part of my life for 15 years, but he [Stoick] hasn’t aged a bit."

Director Dean DeBlois: "The magic of movies."

Butler: "and Ozempic."

Butler (also joking): "…I just can’t think of any other actor who could do it justice."

Unlike a lot of the then-younger actors like America Ferrera and Jay Baruchel, who have aged out of their roles (both are in their forties now), Butler was 41 when he played Stoick the first time on the big screen, voicing the character in the animated 2010 film. Now he’s 55, but conceivably looks like he could still be in the correct age range to be Hiccup’s dad. Per the actor, it’s the “Ozempic” that’s really been helping.

I’m honestly glad the studio got Gerard Butler back for the new movie and brought him to Universal's CinemaCon 2025 event. The characters are obviously all still familiar, regardless of being played by new actors. However, it’s really nice for that connective thread to be there to usher the franchise into this new era.

I also know Butler was joking when he said onstage he “can’t think of any other actor” who would be a fit for the role, but there’s still a germ of truth to that. Stoick was probably a fun character to voice back in 2010, but getting to wear the big beard and the Viking helmet and play the over-the-top character again looks like it was a blast. ... a blast of hot dragon air that is.

In all actuality, Butler previously said the whole getup in live action was like the "five pieces of hell," which is a little surprising given how much fun he's having onscreen (and onstage). His whole take kind of reminds me of a time when the late Ray Stevenson also wore a similar getup for a Marvel movie and he told me once in an interview he had to wear an ice pack to keep cool.

Look, it's hard being a bearded wonder, but the good news is that while Universal and Dreamworks already announced a second live action movie in the works, there's already a blueprint for that second movie, and that means Butler won't have to hang onto the fur coat and Viking beard forever.

While it was Dune’s NSFW popcorn bucket that really helped put the movie theater trend on the map, Marvel has had a slew of really cool releases in recent years, including the Captain America: Brave New World shield popcorn bucket, which Anthony Mackie was even a huge proponent of. As it turns out, he’s not the only person affiliated with Marvel who’s into the popcorn bucket trend, as Kevin Feige slipped in a tidbit at CinemaCon 2025 that definitely made me very happy.

When speaking about Avengers: Doomsday going into production this month, the head honcho of upcoming Marvel films admitted he too maintains a collection of the perky plastic souvenirs.

He’s not the only popcorn bucket enthusiast. Disney fans are known to wait in long AF lines for certain buckets, and Timothèe Chalamet admitted he owns a version of that aforementioned Dune bucket. There’s a rumor running around that even Tom Cruise is fully embracing the wave and has plans to introduce a Mission: Impossible –The Final Reckoning bucket that will be a standout. But the more people champion these buckets, the more interesting I hope they get.

To note, this isn’t the first time Feige has referenced a popcorn bucket at CinemaCon. Last year, he mentioned Deadpool & Wolverine would be getting one (though he did not mention his own collection at the time). At some point during production, Reynolds caught wind of the viral Dune bucket and the Marvel team ended up totally pivoting. What we got was an equally lewd bucket, with Feige saying at the time:

I'd be willing to bet that's one Feige has in his collection. Sure, not all of these popcorn buckets are created equally, but insofar as trends go, the creativity of some of these is excellent, and it doesn’t wholly surprise me that Feige might have some in his own home. As someone who’s worked in movies for years, I’ve amassed a quantity of merch that is not for the faint of heart. I can’t imagine how much stuff is passed along to you if you are the head of a studio, as Feige is.

Anyway, the Marvel head honcho appeared via video during CinemaCon 2025’s Disney Panel, and he also shared a tidbit about the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday film that is worth sharing again here. The movie has gone into production, but despite that gargantuan, hours-long announcement a few days ago, Feige also noted “not all who joined the film” had been listed at the time.

The long-awaited and much-anticipated Freakier Friday is finally hitting the 2025 movie release schedule on August 8th. Despite that still being months away we have seen a trailer for the Freaky Friday sequel, so myself and other fans knew a bit about the movie going in. But seeing some footage isn’t necessarily the same thing as hearing audience reactions.

In fact, Linday Lohan appeared with Jamie Lee Curtis onstage during the Disney Panel at CinemaCon 2025 (which CinemaBlend live-blogged, and also included content from Thunderbolts*, Avatar: Fire and Ash, the new Predator movie and so much more). They came onstage to Chappell Roan’s “Hot To Go," which featured prominently in the first footage from the movie, but I was most stoked when Lohan admitted some people have seen the movie already!

The actress said she was “overwhelmed” by the audience reaction, which ties in with a comment a Disney head honcho said earlier during this panel. He noted the studio was happy with “the response” the sequel to the 2003 film has gotten, as well. Per Lohan:

It makes total sense to me. Freaky Friday came out shortly before Mean Girls. It’s a fun movie you can watch with your friends or your mom, and the fans who were teens when it came out frequently have kids of their own now. There’s a lot of audience love for just the footage we’ve seen so far, and our own Corey Chichizola has already declared Jamie Lee Curtis is already quotable again this time around – after her “crypt keeper” line went viral in the first film.

It’s been clear for months there’s an appetite for this film, and while an early audience may be somewhat of a biased audience, I am rooting for this one to land.

And per Curtis, she’s hopeful it will land with a theatrical audience, a comment that’s been uttered over and over again during Paramount’s panel, Universal’s panel, Sony’s panel, Lionsgate’s panel, Warner Bros.’ panel and even newcomer Amazon’s panel. There does seem to be a real push to put content that people are going to want to see into theaters, and Curtis says this is one that should be viewed on the big screen, though time will tell.

Wait we must, though I'm still bullish after Lohan shared the early reactions to the film. While Thunderbolts* and a few other Disney properties are making their way into the theatrical pipeline in the coming months, Freakier Friday won’t be released until August 8th. But there’s a lot this year to get excited for – like Lilo & Stitch live-action, so stay tuned.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is just a few months away from arriving in theaters around the world, and Marvel Studios has done an impressive job maintaining the movie's secrets. We know that the film is set in an alternate universe with a retro-futuristic 1960s vibe, that it won't simply be rehashing the familiar origin story of the team, and that Galactus is going to have a key role, but the trailers that have been released online haven't shared many other details beyond that.

That's a great thing for those of us who are excited to discover all of the feature's secrets on the big screen this summer, but today at CinemaCon, footage from the upcoming Marvel movie did reveal two key elements that have successfully gotten me even more excited for the MCU blockbuster: we got our very first look at Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal a.k.a. The Silver Surfer, and we learned that the story will feature Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) and Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) being pregnant with their first child – a kid who comic book fans know eventually grows up to be the ultra-powerful Franklin Richards.

We first learned that Julia Garner was going to be playing Shalla-Bal last April (a couple months prior to the start of production on Fantastic Four: First Steps), and it's certainly not shocking that a film featuring Galactus is also featuring the Silver Surfer, but it was nonetheless terrific to see the character realized on the big screen today as Walt Disney Studios hosted its presentation at The Colosseum at Caesar's Palace this afternoon.

She appeared in two key moments in the CinemaCon footage, the first with her doing her job as the herald for the cosmic being with a penchant for eating worlds. Appearing for a face to face with the movie's titular team, she asks them if they are the protectors of Earth, and Sue Storm offers a clear and decisive "Yes" in response. Without missing a beat, Shalla-Bal then declared, "This planet has been marked for death."

This scene was later followed by an epic shot of the Silver Surfer riding her board through the sky through a giant cloud of dust. It was quite impressive and cool.

As for the pregnancy, the revelation was made in a quick and funny scene with Marvel's First Family. Reed and Sue enter a room where Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) is waiting at a table full of food, and he accuses them of being late. When this inspires a peculiar "What do you mean?" response from Sue, Johnny clarifies that he was talking about them not being on time for dinner, but then he jumps to the conclusion that his sister is pregnant with her first child. He leaps from his chair and embraces Sue, and tells her that she is going to be a great mom, and then he turns to Reed to tell him that he's going to be a great dad... but then he rescinds the complement and notes that he is "out of his depth."

The reason why this pregnancy is such a big deal is because of the aforementioned comic book history of Franklin Richards. While Sue Storm and Reed Richards independently have remarkable gifts, they are nowhere near the level of what their son can do, as he is one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel canon. He has extremely potent psionic abilities, and he can do everything from reality warping to teleportation to energy manipulation. To say the least, the parents are going to have their hands full – and there's a part of me that wonders if Franklin may somehow eventually be the key figure that sees the canon of Fantastic Four: First Steps connect with the main MCU canon (this is just a hypothesis, but it's something to consider).

Starring the aforementioned Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Julia Garner along with Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ralph Ineson, Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich and Natasha Lyonne, Fantastic Four: First Steps will be arriving in theaters everywhere on July 25, and while the CinemaCon trailer for the film hasn't been officially released online, it hopefully won't be too much longer before the next publicly released footage from the film arrives (at the very least we'll get a new trailer at the start of next month when Thunderbolts* hits theaters). Be on the lookout here on CinemaBlend in the coming weeks for more about the exiting feature, as it's definitely one of our most anticipated blockbusters of the summer.

We're at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas, where movie studios come to show exclusive looks at their biggest releases of the year. Closing out this year's show is the Walt Disney Studios panel! We hope to hear new information on Thunderbolts, Freaky Friday, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and perhaps, Avengers: Doomsday? Keep it here for by-the-minute breaking news, and refresh this page for updates!

For more from CinemaCon 2025 coverage, check out our live blog of the Sony panel, which features new information on Spider-Man 4, the Lionsgate panel, which features new information on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the Warner Bros. panel, which features new information on Superman!, the Universal Pictures panel, where we got the tea on Wicked: For Good, the Amazon MGM panel, where we got a sneak peek at Masters Of The Universe, and the Paramount Pictures panel, where we got a brand new look at Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning!

On our way into the Coliseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, we were handed Wheaties boxes that, of course, featured the faces of Marvel's beloved group of anti-heroes, the Thunderbolts. Inside was popcorn, which is cute, but to be honest... I'd of rather had Wheaties.

The panel will begin shortly!

First, Lilo & Stitch! We got a look at a full clip where Lilo had brought the unruly Stitch to Nani's workplace. We saw a bit of the scene referenced in the trailer, and watching it play out gives us exactly what we wanted. It was adorable and funny. You can see it May 23!

Lindsay Lohan and Academy Award winner Jamie Lee Curtis have taken the stage to talk Freakier Friday! They talked about their love for making these films, and how badly they want the fandom to see this sequel in theaters. Then they debuted an exclusive clip from the film.

In the clip, the mom and daughter duo were fumbling to flirt while the man in question had no idea they'd swapped bodies. What can I say? It's a Freaky Friday sequel, and it seems great.

Jared Leto and Jeff Bridges have taken the stage to talk about Tron: Ares! Leto promised that this movie was going to hit us "Right in the grid, wherever that is," and threw to an exclusive new clip from Tron: Ares.

The clip opens on a cop car being ripped in half as it drives into a lightcycle line. It is obvious that this movie will very much takes place in the real world, aggressively merged with the game of Tron. The big standout from the trailer was the bit we heard from the soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Another banger. You can see it in October!

Elle Fanning is on stage introducing Predator: Badlands! She spoke of how stoked she was to work with Dan Trachtenberg after his massively successful Prey. She then threw to a trailer.

The teaser didn't reveal much, but we got a solid look at the predator himself at the end as he slices a jungle creature in half, and the crowd erupted in applause. It looks pretty phenomenal, and the film will be released on November 7.

Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong are on stage to talk about their upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic, Deliver Me from Nowhere. Jeremy Allen White is a man of few words, but he did say that portraying The Boss was a "dream come true," and they threw to a teaser.

That looks like a biopic, all right! The footage didn't reveal very much, but it did end with a clip of White belting on stage as Bruce, and it was pretty epic. You can see the film later this year.

Jamie Lee Curtis is back on stage to present James L. Brooks with CinemaCon's Cinéma Vérité award. He took the opportunity to plead for art within commerce, pointing out that data has nothing on human emotion. He then threw to a clip from his new film, Ella McCay.

Ella McCay (played by Emma Mackey) is an idealistic young politician dealing with her deadbeat dad (Woody Harrelson) who is trying to make amends with her. The film looks honestly delightful, in the same vein as As Good As It Gets, Jerry Maguire, Broadcast News and the other great dramedies in Brooks' filmography. You can see it in theaters September 19!

The Thunderbolts are here! They stumbled in with a disheveled Wyatt Russell, with the bit being that he was having a little too much fun in Vegas. He's joined by Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Hannah John-Kamen. After Florence Pugh hilariously stumbled through her scripted teleprompter banter, telling the crowd that she hadn't been drinking, the crew threw to a clip.

The clip featured the crew together in the back of a truck that Bucky (Sebastian Stan) is driving. Alexei (David Harbour) asks what the plan is, and it's clear that Bucky doesn't have one. They drive the truck through a wall and cause a huge ruckus fighting folks before Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) says over the intercom that she had "left the door open" for them.

Once together, Valentina looks at The Red Guardian and says "Who's this old Santa Claus," which got a huge laugh from the audience, and we then got footage in what was more of a traditional trailer. Near the end, Bucky tries to make an impassioned speech to the crew, only for Yelena to say, "Beautiful, Dr. Phil." It was all very hilarious, and the action looks great. I, for one, can't wait. See it May 2!

Kevin Feige joined us via video to introduce a new trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps! Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm informs the crew that she and Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards are having a baby. Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm tells Sue that she'll be the best mom ever, but hilariously tells Reed that he doesn't have the same faith in his abilities as a dad.

It seems that The Fantastic Four are in a pretty good place, as the whole world loves them and praises the astronauts as heroes. The crowd erupted as Julia Garner's Silver Surfer appeared on screen! It's really the only way to do the character in live-action, with the look being detailed and textured, not the smooth cartoonish version of the character we've seen in the past. We quickly have to move past how awesome she looks as she informs the crew that Earth has been targeted for destruction. See it July 25!

Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan has taken the stage to talk about Zootopia 2! He informed us that he'd be playing a brand new character, a snake, and then he threw to an exclusive new clip.

The clip featured Jason Bateman's Nick and Ginnifer Goodwin's Judy in group therapy, with Judy claiming that they'd officially been partners for one week. Quinta Brunson's character, who is running the session, psychoanalyzes the duo in hilarious fashion. You can see it in theaters on November 26, 2025!

James Cameron has come to us via video to introduce a "new reel" for Avatar: Fire And Ash!. He talked about the "one-two punch" of the pandemic and streaming, and hopes that this film can be the "shot in the arm" the industry needs. He then introduces Oscar winner Zoe Saldaña to the stage.

Saldaña offers a brief word about James Cameron, saying she misses him at CinemaCon this year but knows he's hard at work on the film. Then she throws to the clip... in 3D!

The clip introduces us to the "wind traders," a group who uses impressive ships to live primarily in the air. The aircrafts themselves and the society they've built certainly serve as a visual spectacle. A montage of action scenes follows that, if I'm being honest, are hard to differentiate from the other films in the franchise. Either way, this installment is shaping up to to be a worthy addition! You can see it on December 15!

And that's it for CinemaCon 2025, folks! Thanks for following along with us on these live blogs. Keep it here at CinemaBlend for the latest news on all of these upcoming releases!

There’s been long-standing rumors on the internet that Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt either didn't get along or were totally whatever with one another during the filming of Interview with the Vampire way back in 1993 (for a '94 release). But during Paramount 2025’s panel (which CinemaBlend live blogged), Tom Cruise told a surprising-but-fun story about racing go karts together during the making of the iconic film.

It was while talking about McQuarrie’s ghost work on World War Z the subject of Brad Pitt even came up, with the M:I star referring to him as his “friend.” Like Cruise, Pitt has his own 2025 movie release coming, F1, and Cruise wanted to hype that. He’s always a champion of tentpole movies, but this one just so happens to be coming from his Top Gun: Maverick buddies Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer.

Cruise said he’s championing the release, but also told a BTS story about their own time filming together.

We saw the first 10 minutes of F1 during Warner Bros.' panel earlier this week, and it did not disappoint. We saw Brad Pitt's character go from prepping for a race in a trailer to doing some big driving on a track. Making bold moves brought his team from behind during a 24 Hours Daytona race. It was exciting stuff, all set to the adrenaline-charged music of Led Zeppelin.

In reality, Brad Pitt can also drive in real life. Cruise made the startling admission while revealing why he was excited to see F1 this summer. While I would have guessed Kosinksi and Bruckheimer might be the reason, it turns out Tom Cruise thinks Pitt is a "hell of a driver," and he knows so because they used to race go karts together during the filming of Interview with the Vampire.

I'm loving this story. I've heard all kinds of stories about actors blowing off steam while filming, but I had never once known Tom Cruise has some firsthand knowledge of Brad Pitt's driving ability. It's even funnier considering this was their bonding activity in between Pitt playing the mopiest vampire of all time.

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt only ever started in the one movie together, but it's clear they at least spend some downtime together. And it's very generous of Cruise to even bring up the old movie given he was at one point involved in a prank over a sequel to the movie when George Clooney sent him a letter pretending to be Brad.

And now this picture of them go kart racing will live rent free in my head forever. What a great week for movies.

It's been just two days since Top Gun and Batman Forever actor Val Kilmer died at the age of 65 years old. Tom Cruise is at CinemaCon to promote the next Mission: Impossible movie at the Paramount Pictures panel. When he took to the stage to talk The Final Reckoning, Cruise took some time to honor Kilmer.

When Cruise addressed CinemaCon, he said something that led to an eruption of cheers from the audience. In his words:

Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer have known each other for 40 years, so it can't be an easy week for the action star. Here's what he told the crowd at the convention, which CinemaBlend was in attendance to hear:

After that, Cruise requested a moment of silence from the The Colosseum crowd just prior to changing the subject to talking about the four-time Mission: Impossible director, Christopher McQuarrie and presenting a new trailer for Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning to follow the first teaser from November. Here he is at the event:

According to Val Kilmer's daughter Mercedes (per The New York Times), the actor died on Tuesday night from pneumonia in Los Angeles surrounded by family and friends. Previously, Kilmer dealt with throat cancer that required two tracheotomies, but recovered from them.

In 2020, he shared that he had been cancer-free for four years, but was still dealing with medical treatments associated with the fallout. As a result of the surgeries he'd been using an electric voice box in his trachea in order to talk and required a feeding tube to eat.

The actor had slowed down working in Hollywood in recent years, but he did notably return as Iceman for Maverick. As director Joseph Kosinski told CinemaBlend's ReelBlend podcast, Cruise and producer Jerry Bruckheimer were "adamant" about bringing him him back.

Kosinski also told us that after they called the actor it was Kilmer who "cracked how he could be in it" and created a scene that saw the previous rivals now as friends and wingmen. The Maverick director said the scene was "very emotional" for Cruise to shoot with Kilmer.

Along with Kilmer's role in Maverick, and releasing a documentary called Val in 2021, he's of course known for being a movie star since the 1980s. His early work had Kilmer starring in Real Genius, playing Jim Morrison in The Doors and starring in classics like Tombstone, Heat and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

This was such a sweet tribute from Tom Cruise. It follows Jim Carrey also taking some time to speak about Val Kilmer after his death this week. We'll be watching all the best Val Kilmer movies now to remember the late actor further.

We're at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas, where movie studios come to show exclusive looks at their biggest releases of the year. This morning's panel is Paramount Pictures! We hope to hear new information on Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, The Naked Gun, Edgar Wright's Running Man, Scream 7, and perhaps Kendrick Lamar's upcoming project with Matt Stone and Trey Parker? Keep it here for by-the-minute breaking news, and refresh this page for updates!

For more from CinemaCon 2025 coverage, check out our live blog of the Sony panel, which features new information on Spider-Man 4, the Lionsgate panel, which features new information on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the Warner Bros. panel, which features new information on Superman!, the Universal Pictures panel, where we got the tea on Wicked: For Good, and the Amazon MGM panel, where we got a sneak peek at Masters Of The Universe.

I've been covering this event for over a decade, and something I've never seen before is four stunt motorcyclists, on stage, literally backflipping off of ramps... not until now, anyway. Of course, because it's Paramount, this was all set to the theme song from the Mission: Impossible franchise. This panel is going to be nuts.

First, an announcement from Chris Aronson from Paramount praising the theatrical experience, as is tradition. He also went down a list that he claims are important, active steps some theaters are taking to ensure that, in these complicated times, where entertainment is everywhere, people still come to the movie theater. This includes: Only 4-5 trailers before screenings with no ads, daily deals on concessions to incentivize guests, longer matinee pricing until 6 pm, and National Popcorn Day, where you bring your own bucket.

Sounds good to me!

Writer and director Edgar Wright has taken the stage alongside Glen Powell to talkThe Running Man! Wright expressed that he's a huge fan of Stephen King's The Running Man, and he believes there's never been a loyal adaptation to that book. Powell called the film "a real cinematic treat," and claims that he "has never worked harder on a movie in my life."

Powell has introduced his co-stars on the film, Colman Domingo and Josh Brolin. After showing an action shot of Glenn's dog Brisket from set, they threw to the very first look at The Running Man...

Ya'll... Edgar Wright's The Running Man looks incredible. It feels like a more brutal, funny and stylized version of The Hunger Games. Glen Powell performs bad ass stunts and survives a grenade blast, Michael Cera uses a water gun and an electrical current as a weapon. It was nuts. The film comes our way November 7!

Next we got an early trailer for Smurfs, guaranteed to be a reimagining of the franchise from director Chris Miller. John Goodman as Papa Smurf and Nick Offerman as his brother are a perfect choice. It doesn't seem groundbreaking, but it's definitely the Smurfs. See it July 18!

Two legends of taken the stage. Tom Kenny, the voice of Spongebob Squarepants, and for the second time this con, Mark Hamill! Why Hamill? He'll be voicing the first-ever big screen appearance of The Flying Dutchman in The Spongebob Movie: Search For Squarepants.

They threw to an early trailer for the film, and it's delightful, of course. I mean, it's Spongebob. It appears more computer animated and detailed, which is fitting for the big screen, and it follows Spongebob on a journey to prove himself by becoming a squash-buckling pirate. It pretty much seems par for the course when it comes to Spongebob, and I'll take it.

We've got The Naked Gun! They threw to an early trailer for the film... and it looks hilarious. Liam Neeson plays the son of Leslie Nielsen's Lt. Frank Drebin. The absurdity, slapstick and classic wordplay is exactly what we needed from that trailer. And don't forget Neeson's strawberry panties.

But don't take my word for it. The trailer has been released online, and you can watch it at the top of this article!

Channing Tatum has taken the stage to talk about Roofman! A synopsis via IMDB reads, "The story of the rooftop robber, Jeffrey Manchester, and his time on the lam evading capture." The film looks very funny, which seems to be a first for director Derek Cianfrance, and it feels similar to 2001's Bandits. Tatum plays a fumbling criminal who is also a notorious gentleman. See it October 3!

Tom Cruise is in the house! The world's last remaining movie star began his time on stage by requesting a moment of silence for his friend Val Kilmer, and it was incredibly touching.

Tom Cruise then became the first person all week to read from flashcards behind a podium, which feels... better? There had been recurring jokes about the teleprompters throughout the convention, and Cruise decided that it wasn't his style. He's talking about writer/director Christopher McQuarrie's storied career, starting from his Oscar-winning work on The Usual Suspects, all the way into his uncredited writing stints on Ghost Protocol and Top Gun: Maverick. The tribute to McQ was rather heartfelt and really did paint an incredible picture of his contributions to the industry.

Tom Cruise then introduced McQuarrie to the stage to honor him with CinemaCon's Director Of The Year award. The first thing McQ did, of course, was thank Cruise, who he claims took a chance on him as a director when no one else would. Again, it was very touching. And now, they're introducing footage from Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.

What can I say? The new trailer is fantastic. It opens on a general, played by Nick Offerman, reading out Ethan Hunt’s rap sheet, which includes reference to a series of bold things the character has done to complete missions throughout the franchise, from the first film through Dead Reckoning. His reaction is so bewildered that it warrants a laugh from the audience. The trailer then featured Tom Cruise hanging from (another) plane, and a series of other quick cuts to stunts that we've already seen referenced in the trailer that was released a few months ago. Tonally, I think this one looks more on point than Dead Reckoning, (and hopefully that means less misplaced Dutch tilt). I think this installment is shaping up to be a fitting end to an iconic franchise.

That's all, folks! Join us later this evening as we live blog from the Disney panel here at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas!

Welcome to one of the most exciting weeks of the year for Hollywood! CinemaCon – the annual convention for movie theater owners held in Las Vegas – has been rolling since Monday, and the event has been a particular treat for me as a Stephen King fan given the extremely packed calendar of adaptations in 2025. Obviously we haven’t heard any updates about the small screen projects IT: Welcome To Derry and The Institute, but I have gotten to witness some very exciting previews for the big screen projects, and I’m excited to discuss them in this week’s The King Beat.

So what has been going on at CinemaCon? I’ll start by highlighting the very special preview of The Long Walk that was debuted by Lionsgate, but that’s only the start of the fun in this week’s column. Let’s dig in!

The Long Walk Trailer Makes The Movie Look Just Like The Book, And It Dropped My Jaw

It is not a mystery to me why Stephen King’s The Long Walk hasn’t been adapted – and I think anyone who has read it probably feels the same way. Part of the issue is the construction of the narrative, as just about the entire book simply follows a collection of characters walking on a road, but more significantly, the story is Brutal (and that capital “B” is not a typo). One would think that any attempt at turning it into a movie would mean a studio/filmmakers trying to soften the material and make it more palatable for mass audiences.

I’ll admit that this has lingered as a concern in the back of my mind as I have followed the development of director Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk over the last year, but thanks to what I got to see from the movie at CinemaCon this week, any and all concerns are now gone. Instead, I’m now girding myself for the film to be one of the most tense and emotionally fraught pieces of cinema that arrives on the big screen in 2025.

The first trailer for The Long Walk was debuted during the Lionsgate presentation at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Tuesday morning, and the exhibitors in the crowd were treated to some harrowing footage. The preview starts off with a light tone – including soft acoustic guitar music, beautiful shots of characters peacefully walking along a country road, and a scene where Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) and the other boys in the titular competition introduce themselves. There is smiling and strolling, talk of inspiring the country, and excitement about winning the prize money. But then things take a dark turn. When one of the teens gets a severe cramp, he can’t keep up with the others. He lags behind. Heard through a bullhorn, he receives a trio of warnings. And when he goes down and can’t get back up, soldiers come out, aim their rifles at him, and shoot him dead. We see Ray, who looks horrified, but he can’t look back.

Played by Mark Hamill, The Major explains both the basic rules of the contest – you maintain a constant three-mile-per-hour walking speed or “you get your ticket” – and notes the dangers that the young contestants will face: they will keeping walking and pushing themselves as hard as they can, but sometimes hearts and minds will break. As the word “Warning” is constantly repeated on the soundtrack and intense music plays, there is footage of attempted escape, bloody feet trudging, exhausted faces, and a kid having a seizure. The Major boldly pronounces that, “There is one winner and no finish line.”

I love that the footage was able to show both the camaraderie between the characters and the intensity of the competition, and I could practically feel everyone in the audience at The Colosseum holding their breath as the tension palpably rose. If The Long Walk ends up being as good as the trailer suggests, it may end up being one of the most gut-wrenching Stephen King adaptations ever.

And we won’t have to wait long to see it! On the schedule of upcoming Stephen King adaptations, the film has a spot on the 2025 movie release calendar between Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck (arriving this June) and Edgar Wright’s The Running Man (set for November). With a cast including David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, and Judy Greer in addition to the aforementioned Cooper Hoffman and Mark Hamill, The Long Walk will be arriving in theaters everywhere on September 12.

Get Ready For Some Updates About The Running Man Later Today At CinemaCon

While the focus of The King Beat is typically on Stephen King-related news/updates that have developed in the past seven days, I want to use this space in this week’s column to give you a heads up about the very near future!

Lionsgate hosted its CinemaCon presentation this past Tuesday, but today, Thursday April 3, will see representatives from Paramount Pictures hit the stage of The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, and it’s guaranteed that we will be getting a special early look at Edgar Wright’s The Running Man.

At the time that I am writing this, I can’t say with any kind of certainty what we are going to be seeing from the new adaptation of the Stephen King thriller, but it has been confirmed that Edgar Wright and stars Glen Powell, Josh Brolin and Colman Domingo are all in Las Vegas. We can assume that they will be all on hand to preview their work on the project, and given that the film has completed production, it feels fair to assume that we are going to be getting at least some footage – be it just a trailer or perhaps a look at a full sequence from the movie.

Like The Long Walk, The Running Man was originally published with Stephen King’s pen name, Richard Bachman, and it’s arguably one of his most underappreciated books. The story is about a man named Ben Richards living in a dystopian United States who is driven to the point of desperation so that he can purchase medicine for his sick child. He agrees to appear on one of the country’s dangerous state-sponsored game shows, and he gets selected for the extremely popular program The Running Man. As a contestant, he essentially becomes the most wanted man in America, and the longer he can survive while having a team of trained killers hunting him around the country, the more money he will earn for his family.

The new film will be a much more faithful adaptation of the source material than the 1987 movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger (one of the least faithful Stephen King adaptations of all time), and in addition to the actors mentioned above, the stacked ensemble cast also includes Katy O’Brian, Daniel Ezra, Karl Glusman, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, William H. Macy, David Zayas, Sean Hayes, and more.

Because The Running Man won’t be arriving in theaters until November 7, it’s unlikely that whatever footage is shown at CinemaCon will be making its way online, but be on the lookout for my coverage of the Paramount Presentation here on CinemaBlend later this afternoon!

A Limited Edition Dead Zone Steelbook Is Available For Pre-Order, And It’s A Thing Of Beauty

Scream Factory has been a good friend to Stephen King fans who are also physical media collectors (like myself). The boutique home video company has released many great 4K UHDs and Blu-rays over the years, from classics like Carrie, Firestarter and Creepshow to more niche titles like Sleepwalkers, Tales From The Darkside: The Movie and Thinner. The company does some great restorations, and the Collector’s Editions have excellent special features, but they also sometimes do some extra great work when it comes to packaging, and the most recent example is the brand new Steelbook for David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone that is now available for pre-order.

A 4K UHD of The Dead Zone was previously released by Scream Factory in December 2023, and the original printing featured both a slipcover with the classic poster and reversible interior artwork, but collectors can now upgrade their copies with the Amazon exclusive Steelbook. I’ll be totally frank and note that it isn’t cheap (it’s currently listed at $44.98), but it looks fantastic – sporting original cover art not on the original version.

You can take a look at it below (unfortunately, there is no image currently available of what the interior art looks like):

Based on the 1979 Stephen King novel of the same name, The Dead Zone stars Christopher Walken as Johnny Smith – a beloved English teacher who falls into a multi-year coma following a devastating car crash. When he finally awakens, he discovers that he suddenly has an incredible new ability: if he touches a person or a meaningful object, he experiences intense psychic visions. More than 40 years after its original release, the film remains regarded as one of the best King adaptations of all time, and if you don’t already have a copy of it in your physical media collection, now is the time to add the best version of the movie that has ever been available on home video.

That wraps up this edition of The King Beat, but because every week is always full of new developments in the world of Stephen King, I’ll be back here on CinemaBlend next Thursday with a fresh column full of brand new headlines. In the meantime, you can learn about the long history of King adaptations via my series Adapting Stephen King.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that Superman is going to be one of the tentpole upcoming movies this summer (though there may be a question of how tentpole), so anticipation was high about what we might learn about the movie ahead of us live-blogging Warner Bros.’ CinemaCon 2025 event. The studio saved its best for last, and brought out James Gunn along with the three leads in the new (potential) franchise: our David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan (who method dressed in a dress nodding to The Daily Planet) and Nicholas Hoult. The latter tends to be very funny and amusingly threw back to his previous failed DC auditions while onstage.

Here’s what happened. While I thought I was more interested in hearing about how Krypto the Superdog got fleshed out in James Gunn’s weird and wonderful brain, it turns out an innocuous question posed to our two heroes (and one villain) really took the cake during the panel for me. When asked what other DC characters they’d love to play, our newest Lex Luthor went right for the jugular and tackled the elephant in the room: his previous failed Batman (and Superman) auditions.

An unexpected answer, for sure, but fitting as well, and the way he delivered the unfortunate reminder was funny, to boot. Back in 2019, Hoult auditioned for Batman alongside Robert Pattinson, who ultimately landed the role. He confirmed the reports himself later, admitting he wouldn’t have “done as good a job” as the other actor did.

He also auditioned for the role that ultimately went to David Corenswet, before ultimately coming to his senses and realizing he really was a better fit for a villain in the upcoming DC movie.

Having said this, it might seem like Hoult is 0 for 2 in the hero game, but he’s actually 1 for 3 if you’re counting Marvel, where he played Beast in the previous X-Men trilogy (after a weird audition involving a Family Guy character).

As for fellow co-stars Corenswet and Brosnahan, both had intriguing ideas for where they’d go in Gunn’s new era of DC. Corenswet said he “loved the animated series when Batman and Superman switched spots” and he’d like to play out that arc. Brosnahan said she, like Hoult, would love to try her hand at playing a female Lex Luthor, and promised she’d “commit to shaving” her head. I'm kind of now wondering what Brosnahan would have been like as Cassandra Nova, but I digress.

The three will make their DC debut as Superman, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor on July 11, 2025.

If you're a science-fiction fan looking for a great book, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is a novel that you should be adding to your "To Be Read" list immediately. Like The Martian (Weir's first novel), it's a story that is thrilling, hilarious, and fascinating in equal measure, and every chapter succeeds in getting you more invested in the plot and characters. Being such a big fan, I have naturally been hotly anticipating the upcoming adaptation from director Phil Lord and Chris Miller starring Ryan Gosling – but after actually getting to see footage from the movie this evening, my excitement has reached extreme levels.

Amazon MGM hosted its first ever presentation at CinemaCon today, and the studio's bullishness about Project Hail Mary showed via the fact that an extended look at the 2026 blockbuster started playing on the big screen at The Colosseum at Caesar's Palace before even a single executive, filmmaker or actor stepped on stage. The reel clearly established what the movie is about and demonstrated its mixed tones, and by the time it was finished, the entire audience erupted in rapturous applause.

Unlike the book, which is constructed non-linearly, the footage spooled out the story in chronological order, starting with the introduction of Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) as an elementary school teacher who gets selected to join a collection of scientists who have been tasked with trying to save the world. Across the universe, suns are being consumed by a mysterious alien microbe dubbed Astrophage, and a solution must be found to stop them before our galaxy's central star dims and causes catastrophe that ends all life on Earth.

Ryland is recruited by a woman named Eva Stratt (Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller), who shows up at his classroom, and though he is in denial about his ability to help what has been dubbed Project Hail Mary, she insists that he be an essential part of the team. He gets taken to a military freighter where he meets everyone else that has signed on, and it's there that he understands why the mission got its name: the plan is to create an interstellar spaceship that can cross the cosmos and travel to what seems to be the only sun in the universe not being affected by Astrophage.

But it's not just Ryland's science skills that are needed. After a montage of science experiments, the protagonist gets the news from Stratt that he is going to be one of the crew members on the ship – a job that he vehemently refuses ("I put the 'not' in 'astronaut'" is one of his registered excuses). His denials are for naught, however, as he ends up waking up aboard a spaceship that has traveled beyond the limits of the Milky Way – his hair long and sporting an out-of-control beard.

As crazy as it is that he finds himself nearing the central star of the Tau Ceti system, things get far crazier when his computer picks up readings of something massive approaching. It turns out to be humanity's first interaction with an alien ship... and when it launches a mysterious cylindrical object toward the Earth vessel, it causes Ryland to freak out as he wonders if it might be a bomb. It gets closer and closer, and the hero curls into a ball expecting his imminent death... but when the object clangs off his hull, he excitedly realizes that it is some kind of message.

A bridge is made between the two ships, and Ryland cautiously moves his way down it to a wall with a small window – and he screams and totally freaks out when an alien claw slaps up against it. The scene then cut to the protagonist recording a video message saying, "I met an alien. He's really growing on me. He's not growing in me, which was a concern for a little while." And that moment concluded the footage.

Simply put, Project Hail Mary looks like it's going to be the exact movie that I had playing in my head as I read the book, and I feel like I need to start working on a time machine or look into cryogenics so that I can reduce the amount of time left to wait before it finally arrives in theaters. The only significant parts of the novel that weren't featured in the footage were A) all of the science Ryland does to survive out in space, and B) the full look of the alien (whose name is Rocky), but I have full faith that the adaptation will ultimately deliver magic.

The wait is going to be long for the film, as Project Hail Mary won't be hitting the big screen until almost a full year from now – specifically on March 20, 2026 – but based on what was shown off today at CinemaCon 2025, I have unflappable faith that it will be a perfect adaptation of the source material.

We're at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas, where movie studios come to show exclusive looks at their biggest releases of the year. This evening's panel is Amazon MGM! We'll hear new information on Masters Of The Universe, The Accountant 2, Project Hail Mary and much, much more. Keep it here for by-the-minute breaking news, and refresh this page for updates!

For more from CinemaCon 2025 coverage, check out our live blog of the Sony panel, which features new information on Spider-Man 4, the Lionsgate panel, which features new information on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the Warner Bros. panel, which features new information on Superman!, and the Universal Pictures panel, where we got the tea on Wicked: For Good!

The Amazon MGM panel has begun with Ryan Gosling taking the stage! Although this is the studio's first appearance at CinemaCon, they know how to kick things off with a bang, grouping Gosling with directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller to introduce Project Hail Mary!

They gave us a glimpse at the trailer, and truthfully... it's fantastic. Ryan Gosling plays a reluctant and inexperienced astronaut whose arm is twisted into saving humanity by going to space. The film is based on a beloved book by Andy Weir. It looks funny and heartfelt, similar to the vibe of The Martian, and given the fact that it's written by Drew Goddard with Lord and Miller's direction, that's entirely fitting. You can see it March 20, 2026!

Next, Michael B. Jordan popped up on the big screen to thank exhibitors for their help making his directorial debut Creed III a success, but the major ball drop was when he said that he would be directing a remake of the MGM classic, The Thomas Crown Affair. The film will be released in 2026.

Coming to us via video were Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hatnett to introduce the first trailer for Verity, based on the bestseller by Colleen Hoover. When Hoover's name was mentioned, there was an audible groan in the audience.

The trailer looked good! Thrilling, odd and twisted. Johnson plays an author who is in the midst of writing her next Verity book, but she may be too close to the story. It comes our way May of 2026.

The heavy hitters keep coming as Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield and Luca Guadagnino take the stage to introduce the first trailer for their upcoming film, After The Hunt.

Andrew Garfield's character is accused of assaulting Ayo Edebiri's, and it becomes major news after Julia Roberts' character, an attorney, takes on his case. It looks haunting and thrilling, and even the trailer is leaving you guessing what really happened on that night. It seems unlike anything Guadagnino has ever done.

We've jumped straight into the trailer for Mercy, featuring Chris Pratt as a man who is confined to a chair in a futuristic world and is tasked with proving his own innocence. It looks like a fun blockbuster!

As the lights came back on after the trailer, Chris Pratt was on the stage confined to said chair. They've worked out a bit where he's confined until he can say a proper thank you to exhibitors, or he has to Uber home. It was funny! Because Chris Pratt is naturally charming, and let's face it, he's helped make these folks a lot of money.

Next we got a video introduction from Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson for their film Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie. The poster art appeared on screen, which prompted a laugh from the audience, but I don't think it was supposed to be funny. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as there's a sort of self-awareness to the subtitle, and it's an intimate whodunnit that takes place on a farm. The footage is adorable, heartfelt, and passed the vibe check.

Halle Berry and Chris Hemsworth are in the house talking about their upcoming film Crime 101! They introduced a trailer, which looked pretty slick. It's a crime thriller with the cool vibes of Ocean's 11 but the brutality of Heat. It also stars Mark Ruffalo as a withered detective, chasing thieves like Hemsworth, Berry and Barry Keoghan's characters. Oh yeah, did I mention Barry Keoghan is in this one? The cast is completely stacked. The film looks pretty damn good, and if they play their cards right, it could end up in the elite group of legendary Los Angeles heist films.

Vivica A. Fox has taken the stage with her Is God Is costars, Mallory Johnson and Kara Young! They showed us a trailer, and it looks pretty incredible.

Based on the play of the same name, it's about two little girls and their mother who were the victims of an arson attack at the hands of their father (Sterling K. Brown). Their mother's dying wish? That the two girls, now adults, kill their father. It looks pretty incredible, and tonally on point. A little silly, a little hard to watch, and incredibly thrilling. It feels like it's a few scares away from taking place in the Jordan Peele universe. It has no release date as of now, but we'll keep you updated.

We've got Masters Of The Universe! A behind-the-scenes featurette has screened, which included a lot of work-in-progress props, and some sound bites from the powers that be promising a movie that's loyal to the cartoon and the toys. Driector Travis Knight gushed about having wanted to make this movie for his whole life, adding, "I have been a fan of Masters of the Universe pretty much my entire life. It was something I lived and breathed. I had the toys. I even had a He-Man haircut." The visuals seem a little bit cheesy, but perhaps in a fun way.

The film stars Jared Leto, Idris Elba, Morena Baccarin, Alison Brie and many more talented actors. See it June 6 of 2026!

Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai Robinson and director Gavin O'Connor are here to talk about The Accountant 2! They started with some scripted banter that devolved into a bit where they made it incredibly obvious that they were reading from teleprompters. Led by Ben Affleck, they turned the whole event into more of an ironic joke, and it worked with the crowd, who laughed along before an exclusive sneak peek was screened...

There's not a whole lot of new material we're going to see from the film, given that it comes out in a few weeks and already has a few trailers. A highlight was probably the first chunk of the footage, which included Ben Affleck's Christian being over-analytical, trying to flirt, and fumbling to communicate with coworkers. It got a good laugh from the crowd, and fits right in with the tone of this second outing.

See the film on April 25!

Before officially closing up shop, they teased us by screening an old school 007 intro., which consisted simply of the iconic silhouette firing a weapon in the direction of the camera accompanied by that oh-so-familiar music. Earlier in the night they promised that the studio is "committed to honoring the legacy of this iconic character, and they're in London getting started." What a tease!

And that's all, folks! Join us tomorrow for the latest updates from CinemaCon 2025!

In director Rob Reiner's Misery, Kathy Bates' Annie Wilkes famously registers a passionate complaint about cliffhangers. She explains that she would go to the cinema as a kid to watch serials on the big screen, and she would find herself deeply upset when filmmakers would conclude a story with a hero in inescapable peril... but would then cheat and present an easy solution for the character at the start of the next chapter. Today, I found myself reflecting on this great scene while learning about the plot of the upcoming horror movie M3GAN 2.0.

Universal Pictures hosted a presentation this afternoon at CinemaCon – the annual convention for movie theater owners – and one of the big highlights of the show were revelations about the sequel to M3GAN (which is arriving in theaters this summer). A brand new trailer for the film was screened, and it revealed what we can expect from the story: despite the Model 3 Generative Android programming having been destroyed, another autonomous creation has been built with it – named Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno) – and the authorities need help from Gemma Forrester (Allison Williams) to stop it after it goes rogue and starts killing everyone that had a hand in creating it. In order to accomplish this, Gemma not only brings back the original programming, but gives the titular technological marvel some major upgrades, including making her both bigger and stronger.

It's a move that comes straight from the Terminator 2: Judgement Day playbook: when a new and more powerful villain arrives, help is needed from the old villain in order to survive. It's not exactly an original sequel approach, but it's certainly been proven to be an effective one.

In a vacuum, I actually really liked what was shown from M3GAN 2.0, as the footage featured more of the same fun sensibility from the original (like M3GAN's first resurrected body being of the plastic, Teletubby-esque variety) and plenty of gnarly horror (one shot featured Amelia standing behind a dead body in a bathtub using a saw to chop off its arm). What I'm disappointed with, however, is that the 2025 movie seems to have completed ignored the sequel teaser from the end of its predecessor.

For those who don't recall, M3GAN ended with Gemma, Cady (Violet McGraw), Tess (Jen Van Epps) and Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez) happy to be alive following their encounter with the eponymous homicidal robot... but there was a hint that the programming wasn't destroyed; it simply changed forms. The final shot of the film features Elise, the Alexa-esque smart home device Gemma owns, turning itself on, suggesting that M3GAN had hijacked the system and had become a wholly digital terror.

I assumed that she would eventually get back into a body in a sequel (a big part of the whole charm is the "killer doll" aspect), but I at least hoped that M3GAN 2.0 would start with the all-digital approach and move forward from there. Instead, it seems that the follow-up is starting with a different idea, and while it's not a bad idea, I am feeling a touch Annie Wilkes about it.

UPDATE: The morning after the trailer debuted at CinemaCon, Universal let the M3GAN 2.0 promo loose upon the world at large.

Check Out The Official M3GAN 2.0 Trailer!

In addition to the aforementioned Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, and Ivanna Sakhno, M3GAN 2.0 also stars Timm Sharp, Aristotle Athari, and Jemaine Clement, and the film will be arriving in theaters domestically on June 27. It's one of our most anticipated summer releases among the staff at CinemaBlend, so stay tuned in the coming weeks as more about the highly anticipated sequel arrives online.

When it comes to popular video game franchises, Five Nights at Freddy’s has ranked pretty high on that list for over a decade now. In 2023, the property got the film adaptation treatment, and following the Five Night’s at Freddy’s movie’s commercial success, a sequel was greenlit for the 2025 movies schedule. We’re more than half a year away from Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’s arrival, but Jason Blum addressed a big elephant in the room concerning the upcoming video game movie while appearing at CinemaCon’s Universal Pictures and Focus Features panel. This update also came as the first look at the sequel was released.

Let’s get to Blum’s comment first. You may recall that Five Nights at Freddy’s was a day and day release, meaning that on the same day it opening in theaters, it also became available to stream with a Peacock subscription. Well, while appearing on stage dressed as Freddy himself, the Blumhouse Studios head announced that this won’t be happening with this upcoming horror movie, saying:

So for those who want to see Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 as soon as possible, you’ll need to go to your theater starting on December 5. While the sequel will hit Peacock eventually, you won’t be able to access it on the platform right off the bat like last time. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 currently doesn’t have any opening weekend competition on its December 5 date, but it does come out a week after Zootopia 2 and a week ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Like I already mentioned, Five Nights at Freddy’s didn’t struggle at the box office, as it made nearly $300 million worldwide off a reported $20 million budget. But just imagine how much bigger that amount would have been if the movie had started out playing exclusively in theaters. If Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 performs similar to its predecessor, there’s a good chance its box office haul could far surpass $300 million.

As for what Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 has in store this December, get us a taste of what’s to come in the teaser below:

Whereas the first movie showed the possessed animatronics murdering inside Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, the sequel will see these monstrosities going out into the world to wreak havoc. Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio and Matthew Lillard reprise their roles in Five Night’s at Freddy’s 2. Emma Tammi resumed her directorial duties and also re-teamed with Scott Cawthon and Seth Cuddeback to write the script.

Once again, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 opens exclusively in theaters on December 5. Count on CinemaBlend to share how it did on opening weekend. Because who knows, if it exceeds expectations in just a matter of days, Universal and Blumhouse might greenlight Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 quickly.

The CinemaCon festivities have continued in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday with the Universal Pictures and Focus Features Panel. While CinemaBlend was in attendance at the event, Universal started things off by announcing that a second How To Train Your Dragon live-action movie is already in the works ahead this summer's remake being among upcoming 2025 movies hitting theaters this June.

As a longtime fan of the DreamWorks movies, when I heard the news, I couldn't help about the character I'm most excited to see in live-action: Hiccup's mom, Valka. And who voiced the role in the 2014 animated movie? Cate Blanchett.

How To Train Your Dragon 2 Has Already Been Announced

I'll get to Ms. Cate in a moment. First, here's how director Dean DeBlois announced the sequel to CinemaCon attendees:

CinemaCon attendees actually started their days with a premiere screening of the live-action How To Train Your Dragon, which has already earned high praise from audiences. Our site's own Jessica Rawden called it "everything a live-action remake should be: funny, emotional, and sentimental – yet epic in scope." Other first reactions called it "gorgeous," "adorable" and had some even in tears.

I'm Going To Need Cate Blanchett To Join Live-Action Berk

The announcement of the sequel shows a huge vote of confidence from Universal about the success of the summer movie, but now I won't stop thinking about Cate Blanchett being another one of the animated voices from the How To Train Your Dragon movies who should reprise their role in live action.

In the first movie, which is just two months from release, Gerard Butler came back to play Hiccup's dad, Stoick, but in live-action. He called the costume and massive beard "five pieces of hell," and this time he and the cast battled freezing weather while making it, but it sound like it might have been worth it.

As you might recall from the sequel to How To Train Your Dragon, Hiccup and Toothless's second adventures takes place five years after the events of the first movie, at a time where a 20-year-old Hiccup and his Night Fury encounter his long-lost mother and a ruthless dragon hunter named Drago Bludvist, played by Djimon Hounsou.

When Dean DeBlois, who was the writer/director of the original trilogy along with these live-action versions, made the sequel for How To Train Your Dragon, he was inspired by the first sequel to Star Wars. I'm so excited to see what the production is going to do with the second movie, but I need to see this summer's version first!

We're at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas, where movie studios come to show exclusive looks at their biggest releases of the year. This evening's panel is Universal Pictures and Focus Features! We expect to hear new information on Wicked: For Good, Jurassic World: Rebirth, M3gan 2.0 and much, much more. Keep it here for by-the-minute breaking news, and refresh this page for updates!

For more from CinemaCon 2025 coverage, check out our live blog of the Sony panel, which features new information on Spider-Man 4, the Lionsgate panel, which features new information on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, and the Warner Bros. panel, which features new information on Superman!

The panel is about to begin! Earlier today, we caught an exclusive CinemaCon screening of the live-action How To Train Your Dragon. Check out the early reactions, which are calling the film "breathtaking."

In a first for this week, the first folks on the stage made up a full orchestra. From Los Angeles, they are musicians who worked on the scores of "many of the films that we love," and we were told they'd be present throughout the evening. First, a video montage of some Universal classics, set to their live scores from iconic soundtracks, both new and old. That means Psycho, Jurassic Park, Back To The Future, E.T., Shrek, Conclave, Oppenheimer, Wicked and much, much more. If we're in store for more live orchestra, this panel will be incredible.

Donna Langley of Universal Pictures has taken the stage. First, a little boasting, as she states that Universal's films not only have a higher box office take than any other studio, but they have higher overall Rotten Tomatoes scores, thus proving their dedication to delivering quality films that people will show up to see in theaters.

That is, of course, until someone says that "life finds a way," and as the iconic soundtrack from Jurassic Park swells up, played by this incredible live orchestra, some major players take the stage.

Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and director Gareth Edwards have taken the stage. Johansson reiterates that she's been attempting to join the cast of a Jurassic film, and Edwards claims to suffer from a rare condition where he "has to watch Jurassic Park at least ten times per year." After some scripted (but still rather funny) banter, we're told that we're going to be the first people in the world (other than Mahershala Ali, ha ha), to see the trailer they're about to screen.

We got an exclusive look at Jurassic World: Rebirth. The new footage featured: a brutal death scene, a cute dinosaur in a little girl's backpack, and of course, a massive, mutated predator creature that we have never seen before. The crowd was undoubtedly impressed, and I think this could be the best installment in the franchise since the 1993 original.

Awkwafina and Craig Robinson are here to talk about The Bad Guys 2. More scripted banter that is surprisingly funny, as they talk smack on their costars Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron and Anthony Ramos for being too busy to show up. The two of them promise us “Interspecies snogging, rocket hijackings, and nervous farts in the upper atmosphere" before throwing to an exclusive sneak peak...

The trailer is hilarious, very much in the same vein as the first film. It's nothing groundbreaking but if my niece is free, I'll gladly take her to see it.

Gerard Butler and Nico Parker, stars of the live-action How To Train Your Dragon, graced the stage to announce that a sequel is already in development! That's right, the first-ever screening was this morning, but they're already so confident in the project's success that they're going to keep on trucking. A beautiful overture of the film's soundtrack played by the live orchestra ended the segment.

Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers are on stage introducing the Jordan Peele-produced Him. After Marlon Wayans joked about being the "only Wayans brother in the room for once," and Withers promised we've "never seen Marlon Wayans like this," we got an early look at the film.

We certainly haven't seen Wayans like this. The film looks like a sports movie set in the Jordan Peele universe, and I dig it.

We got an early look at the trailer for Nobody 2 starring Bob Odenkirk, and dare I say, it looks better than the first. Odenkirk is on vacation with his family, and Lindsey Buckingham's Holiday Road sets the pace for the whimsical violence as Odenkirk's Hutch fails at controlling his temper. His son is starting to have similar issues with the way he handles conflict, and the whole thing seems incredibly silly and incredibly fun.

Now we're on to Focus Features, who showed us three trailers in rapid succession.

Yorgos Lanthinos’ Begonia gave us a quick teaser that didn't reveal much other than some bizarre imagery involving Emma Stone and Jesse Plemmons, which is what we've come to expect from the man.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is sure to be a tear-jerker.

But the real show-stealer was the trailer for Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme. Benicio Del Toro and Michael Cera are hilarious in the footage. The tone and size of the cast in general remind me of The Grand Budapest Hotel, which I believe to be Anderson’s best film in a long time. It also seems to be sticking to a single, linear three-act story, and not going the way of The French Dispatch. The trailer is truly great.

Freddy Fazbear from Five Nights At Freddy's has taken the stage! Only, the head was removed to reveal that it was Jason Blum himself! He began by boasting that Five Nights At Freddy's was Blumhouse's biggest box office success of all time. Who'd have thought?

He then promised that the sequel would be released exclusively in theaters, and showed a quick teaser that is sure to get fans pumped. You know, because of the screaming, blood, and animatronics.

They've now thrown to a teaser for Black Phone 2! It featured Ethan Hawke's The Grabber stating, "Vengeance will be mine," and teased a solid, horrifying sequel that feels much bigger than the original in scope.

How would you like to see a trailer for M3gan 2.0 introduced? Hopefully your answer is "30 M3gans dancing to Brit Brit's Oops I Did It Again," because that's what we got. Shockingly, the live orchestra did not play this one.

The trailer reveals that, in the sequel, M3gan becomes something of a super spy anti-hero after being previously imprisoned in a small computerized stuffed animal. Does this sound like a joke? It's not. And the crowd loved it. This film is going to be ridiculous, perhaps in the best of ways.

Following the M3gan 2.0 trailer, James Wan came out to introduce the trailer for Soulm8te, which seems to take place in the same universe. A 30-somethings man gets his own robot girlfriend, but things get complicated... and violent. The film comes our way in January of 2026.

Starting to close out the panel, they hyped the release of Shrek 5 starring Zendaya, which comes our way in December of 2026, an upcoming Universal release from Steven Spielberg, and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, which Jim Orr says is so good it would have the approval "of Homer himself."

But wait, one more thing. The live orchestra has started a tribute to the music from Wicked...

It's time for Wicked: For Good! The orchestra is playing music from that iconic soundtrack, and the audience can't wait to hear who they will be introducing to the stage...

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are in the building! They're both in black, looking elegant as hell, and take time to thank the conductor by name before introducing Jon M. Chu to take the stage with them. Chu exclaims that this is the third year in a row they have closed this panel, and "thank God it worked out!"

We found out that after the success of the film, Wicked has become the hottest show on Broadway, again, and the highest-grossing Broadway musical of all time. John M. Chu jokingly complains about not receiving any back end, and says he must "get the hell back to LA to finish the film." However, they can't leave without showing us something new...

We just saw "the first look anywhere in the world" at Wicked: For Good! It opens on Elphaba visiting Glinda discretely on her balcony, with the good witch saying, "Elphaba Thropp, just come in before the monkeys spot you."

Largely set to the track For Good, the trailer featured Prince Fiyero hunting Elphaba, but also an intimate moment between them where he spoke of how much he'd changed. He also turns his gun on The Wizard, and throws Elphaba her broom in support. I got goosebumps, the crowd cheered... what else can I say? Wicked: For Good will be released on November 21 of this year.

As the panel ends, the orchestra begins breaking down their set up and congratulating one another on the show. It really was one for the books. Stay tuned for more live coverage from CinemaCon 2025, and tune in later this evening for a special presentation from Amazon MGM!

A lot of fans, myself included, got very excited when Lionsgate confirmed that John Wick: Chapter 5 was officially in development. The movie had been talked about almost as soon as John Wick: Chapter 4 stopped filming, but this week, the studio confirmed at Cinemacon that the fifth film is on the way.

Of course, there is one issue that the new sequel will need to overcome. There’s the small, insignificant issue of the title character being dead. Even Kanye West, who frequently uses social media to cause all sorts of choas, used it to ask how the next movie will overcome Wick’s apparent demise. West said on X:

Exactly how John Wick will come back from the dead is a perfectly reasonable question to ask. The last movie ended in a way that gave the story of John Wick a perfect ending. Having said that, it’s not like that ending didn’t, very intentionally, leave itself open for a potential return.

At the end of John Wick: Chapter 4, Keanu Reeves’ character appears to have been fatally wounded, and the movie cuts from watching him bleed to death to his grave. However, there was clearly a lot that would have needed to transpire between those two moments. Even Winston and the Bowry King, standing over John’s grave, talk around the man, indicating he may not actually be buried there.

John Wick is supposed to have freed himself from the vengeance of the High Table, but for a man who had once tried to simply get out of the life of a professional assassin, perhaps he thought faking his death was the only way to be truly free. John Wick: Chapter 5 won’t need to do anything particularly incredible with its story to explain that John Wick is actually still alive.

If nothing else, I think Kanye West can relax as I don’t see the new movie making John Wick a “mystical character.” He’s already a nearly invincible killing machine. He doesn’t need to be The Crow too.

There were no details given regarding John Wick 5, so while there is reportedly a story in place, there likely isn’t yet a polished script,. Thus, filming is likely still a long way off. Fans of the franchise won’t need to worry too much however, as there are three separate spin-off projects in development as well.

We’ll see the Ana de Armas-led Ballerina spin-off, complete with Keanu Reeves's appearance, later this year. A spinoff movie starring Donnie Yen’s Caine, which will also be directed by him, is also in development. Finally, we have an animated movie that will tell the story of John Wick’s “Impossible Task” that freed him from the life the first time around.

It’s been a weird pre-release for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! The eccentric and buzzy musical reimagining of Bride Of Frankenstein was considered a strong awards contender when it was first announced, but a studio swap, rumors about the budget, a release date change and even speculation about possible reshoots have made it fodder for a lot of industry gossip, especially over the past few weeks. Amidst all the talk, however, Maggie Gyllenhaal took to the CinemaCon stage to present some footage and talk about her “radical vision,” and for the record, I’m still ready to escort this movie down the aisle.

Gyllenhaal made the appearance as part of Warner Bros’ larger presentation at CinemaCon (which we live blogged). She was joined by star Jessie Buckley, and it was quite obvious they’re both very excited about the project. Buckley referred to it as the “punkest love that’s ever existed” and talked about how all the film’s complicated camera angles and extensive pre-production got her really excited about IMAX. Gyllenhaal gushed about how the original Bride has this “wild disobedience” to her and said after watching the original Frankenstein, she couldn’t stop obsessing over this idea of the Bride coming back and not fitting into any of the boxes imagined for her.

They also showed off footage, and while I wasn’t there, several of my colleagues were and said it was among the most memorable they’ve seen the entire week. One told me it’s “campy, violent and bizarre.” Another told me they’re “intrigued” because it could be “fantastic or terrible.” They both said they want to see the entire movie as soon as possible because it looks so creatively different from the bigger budget stuff we normally get from the major studios.

Unfortunately, as I said in the intro, we’re in for a much longer wait than was originally planned. In fact, a lot of plans seem to have gone sideways with this movie. The original one was to make it with Netflix providing the financing, but at some point, that deal fell through. Warner Bros stepped in and allegedly gave Gyllenhaal somewhere between $80 and $100M to execute her unusual vision. That’s what she did, and those involved with the actual movie seem very excited by the end result, but then the rumors started to spread. Maybe it cost more money than expected? Maybe it’s not commercially viable because it’s too weird?

Ultimately, we don’t really know what’s going on, except that the movie moved its release date from September of this year to March of next year. That could mean there’s going to be some reshoots or an additional cut produced and test screened. That could mean Warner Bros no longer sees The Bride! as an awards contender (probably because it’s too out there) and instead thinks there’s more money to be made in March. It could mean a lot of things.

I’m sure Warner Bros probably has feelings about all the rumors and all this talk about The Bride!, but to be honest, it just makes me more excited to see the whole movie. I like things that are artsy. I like big swings, and I like people trying to do something new and original. That’s more interesting to me than watching a slightly different version of the same movie I’ve already seen a thousand times. So, bring on The Bride!

I love the Final Destination franchise. Not all of the movies are winners (*cough*The Final Destination *cough*), but they all have a particular creativity and grim sensibility that I find consistently fun. Because of this, I have been sold on the upcoming Final Destination: Bloodlines from the beginning, and its May release date can't get here soon enough – but after watching the special preview of the film that just played this afternoon at CinemaCon, I now get the feeling that the fifth sequel in the horror series could potentially be the best one yet.

An extended look at Final Destination: Bloodlines was a prominent part of the Warner Bros. slate presentation today at the annual Las Vegas convention for movie theater owners, and it had members of the audience in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace squirming and having fits (meanwhile, I watched the whole thing with a giant, goofy grin on my face). I won't tell you everything that went down in the footage as a means of avoiding spoilers, but it accomplished two things in particular that I deeply appreciate as a fan of the franchise.

The Build Up To The Two Kills In The Final Destination: Bloodlines CinemaCon Footage Was Agonizing And Brilliant

Everyone knows that the hallmark of the Final Destination movies are the complicated, Rube Goldberg-esque sequences that see minor, every day occurrences snowball into horrific deaths – but the best examples of this don't just create obvious paths that lead to obvious conclusions. Instead, they let the imaginations of the audience go wild thinking about everything that could go wrong with specific elements that have been introduced, and then they snap like a mouse trap with conclusions you never see coming.

The Final Destination: Bloodlines CinemaCon footage unleashed a perfect example of this.

In the scene, two characters (who I will not identify) go to a hospital with the intention of finding a way to cheat death (which they know is coming after them). They are aware that one way to accomplish this is to flatline and then be revived, so they devise a plan to do just that via a peanut allergy and anaphylactic shock. The sequence scatters in ingredients of potential horror – a malfunctioning vending machine, a pack of peanut butter cups, an Epi Pen, an activated MRI, and more – and I found myself in a state of pure horror fan glee wondering how all of it would mix together as bloody mayhem. My guesses all turned out to be wrong, and I was absolutely wowed by the conclusion.

There's An Awareness Of How Characters Can Try And Cheat Death

In addition to being bowled over by the footage's carnage, I was also very pleased to notice something else about Final Destination: Bloodlines: there is a recognition of franchise history. If the idea of people cheating death by purposefully dying and being revived sounds familiar, it's because it was a key part of Final Destination 2 – but that's not all! The characters in the scene also know that they can kill somebody else and steal the time they have left alive, which was a major plot element in Final Destination 5.

I don't know exactly how this info is learned in the upcoming horror film (perhaps it's shared by Tony Todd's William Bludworth?) , but I'm excited by the idea of characters who have the same awareness as the audience of the "rules" that govern the franchise, and it tells me that the filmmakers have a deep understanding of this canon. The idea of mixing old approaches with new ideas gives off a certain "capstone movie" vibe, and I'm stoked to see what the horror sequel does with it.

Fans have been waiting nearly a decade-and-a-half for a new Final Destination entry, but at long last, it's almost here. Final Destination: Bloodlines will be in theaters everywhere domestically on May 16, and it's one of my most anticipated titles on the entirety of the 2025 Movie Release Calendar. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend in the coming weeks for more about the film, and be on the lookout for more of our coverage from CinemaCon 2025.

There is a certain logic to the idea of Superman having a well-behaved dog as a pet. After all, the Man of Steel is the embodiment of good and righteousness, and you'd expect that any canine he keeps by his side would have the same kind of nobility. It's a direction that's been taken with many versions of Krypto in the past... but audiences should get ready for the atypical in writer/director James Gunn's Superman. Instead of being a faithful and helpful companion, the superdog is going to be featured as a hilarious and untrained agent of chaos.

This afternoon, Warner Bros. hosted a special presentation of their upcoming slate at CinemaCon – the annual Las Vegas-based convention for theater owners – and the showcase concluded with a special extended preview of Superman (which is set to arrive in theaters this summer). Some of the footage was familiar from the first trailer for the film that dropped online a few months ago, but the extra material made a special point of revealing Krypto's very specific personality, and it's hilarious.

Like the aforementioned trailer, the Superman CinemaCon footage began with the titular hero crashing into a tundra sporting some serious injuries. Spitting out blood on to the ice, he makes the only move he can: he whistles for Krypto. Like a loyal pet, the white dog comes running, kicking up a big dust clouds of snow behind him... but he isn't immediately helpful. Not recognizing that his owner is badly hurt, he dashes around, bites his foot, and occasionally makes a point of jumping on the injured Kryptonian's body – causing him to wince in pain.

With all of his strength, Superman asks, "Take me home," but Krypto doesn't quite understand initially. Eventually, Supes sweeps his cape across his body and holds out a bunch of it for the dog to bite and drag. The canine finally figures it out, and as the alien and his pet move across the ground, the Fortress of Solitude emerges from beneath the ground. They approach a big metal door with a glowing "S" logo, and when the entrance opens, the Man of Tomorrow is greeted by a collection of four robots.

The automatons pick Kal-El up to help him, and he thanks them for their effort – but they bluntly dismiss the gratitude because their lack of consciousness doesn't allow them to to process it. The bots bring Superman to a medical table in front of a window, determining that what is needed is a full blast of Earth's yellow sun. Large magnifying glasses are lined up automatically that blast a beam right into Supes' chest, and as the glow grows, he screams with rejuvenation.

A montage of familiar moments from the trailer followed this moment, but the extended look continued with a final funny moment. Back to full health, Superman prepares to leave the Fortress of Solitude, but before he goes out, he recognizes that Krypto has unleashed some hefty destruction. The hero ponders why the robots weren't able to stop the chaos, but they explain that the dog is unruly. Following his owner, Krypto starts running around and biting at Superman's feet, and he is told in a frustrated tone to sit and stay. As Supes reaches the door, the pet begins to whimper, and regardless of how much damage he does and pain he causes, you can't help but love him.

The Superman CinemaCon footage didn't provide any specific insight to the plot of the upcoming film (we don't even know at this point how the titular hero got so injured that he crash landed in the snow), but it did provide a great sense of the characters and was enriched by James Gunn's wonderful sensibilities (both his sense of humor and love of comics).

With the calendar turning over to April, we are now just a little over three months away from the release of Superman in theaters worldwide, and after this latest preview, I'm more excited than ever to see it. The blockbuster is set to arrive on the big screen everywhere on July 11 – and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend not only for more about the upcoming DC movie but also more of our on-the-ground coverage of CinemaCon 2025.

We're at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas, where movie studios come to show exclusive looks at their biggest releases of the year. This evening's panel is Warner Bros.! We expect to hear new information on Superman, The Conjuring: Last Rites, and perhaps Mortal Kombat 2? Keep it here for by-the-minute breaking news, and refresh this page for updates!

For more from CinemaCon 2025 coverage, check out our live blog of the Sony panel, which features new information on Spider-Man 4, and the Lionsgate panel, which features new information on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

A little bit of film exhibitor pageantry currently, with suits making speeches about the industry. But the Warner Bros. panel will begin shortly!

Here we go! Jeff Goldstein from Warner Bros. takes the stage, and behind him are four logos: Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Animation, New Line Cinema, and of course, DC Studios!

A quick montage of Warner Bros. 2025 slate has me pretty giddy. It heavily featured Superman, Minecraft, One Battle After Another, The Conjuring: Last Rites, Sinners, and much more. There were even a couple of Mortal Kombat shots in there. Was there anything new? Perhaps, it moved very fast. Anything groundbreaking or worth reporting on? No, not yet, but there's a lot more panel to come!

Leonardo DiCaprio is in the house! The cast of Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another has taken the stage, and Leo is joined by his costars Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor. DiCaprio explained that he's been "wanting to work with Paul Thomas Anderson for over 20 years," and praised the writer/director's ability to work with his actors. Now they're screening an exclusive look at a scene from the film...

It began with a full scene featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio Del Toro. It's an extension of the clip seen in the trailer where DiCaprio is attempting to remember a password on the phone. Specifically, the answer to the question, "What time is it?" He explains that his character is a "drug and alcohol lover," and thus cannot remember. It looks uncomfortably hilarious, slightly absurd, and kind of thrilling.

We've moved on to The Bride! On the stage to support her film is none other than writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Frankenstein's bride herself, Jessie Buckley. While Buckley explained that she was excited to work within this world of "classic archetypes," Gyllenhaal described the way she wanted to tell a "punk, monstrous love story in a classic cinematic way that respected these characters." She also promised us something unlike anything we've ever seen. And now, the first look at a trailer...

This film looks absolutely nuts. Where do I begin? It's campy, violent, bizarre... and seeing Christian Bale with that classic Frankenstein forehead prosthetic really is something else. I have to process this one for a while.

The conversation is shifting to New Line with Final Destination: Bloodlines. They jumped right into a full clip from the film, and it's definitely in the whimsical tone that we're used to from the nostalgic beginning of the franchise. Despite the fact that our characters are facing death, there were a ton of laughs.

The clip even ended in two big, violent deaths that are reminiscent of the franchise. What happens when you put a guy covered in piercings in front of a super magnet? A lot of blood happens. It was glorious.

Zach Cregger, writer and director of Barbarian, is here to talk about his upcoming film Weapons with Josh Brolin and Julia Garner. The "multistory horror epic" is about the disappearance of high school students in a small town. Cregger is promising more twists and turns. They showed us a brief teaser, and while it didn't reveal a lot of plot points, it looks terrifying, and it certainly seems Cregger will deliver on that promise.

Legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer is here to promote F1! He told exhibitors, "The last time we were here we showed you Top Gun: Maverick, and then filled your theaters all Summer long. And we're ready to do it again." He then threw to an exclusive chunk of footage from F1...

In the clip, Brad Pitt's Sonny Hayes wins a race by any means necessary and makes an enemy in the process. The character seemingly lives out of his van and only races when necessary, refusing to join a team or commit to anything consistent. Until the end of the footage, where he encounters his old friend, Javier Bardem's Reuben, who is looking for a driver.

It's fitting that Bruckheimer spoke of Maverick, as F1 also feels like classic American cinema. The race was a visual spectacle, and it will definitely be a worthy theatrical experience.

Bill Hader is on stage, folks! The man got laughs from the audience by saying "hello," it's unexplainable. He will be voicing The Cat in The Cat In The Hat. He claimed to have shot an audition for this dream role, and then they threw to an old Saturday Night Live sketch where he played The Cat. Hader can't stop with the bits, and the crowd is in stitches. Now, a "work in progress trailer" for the film...

That looks like The Cat In The Hat, all right!

Here we go, folks! James Gunn and Peter Safran are on the stage! First, Gunn thanked exhibitors for helping to make Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 a success. He then expressed his desire to keep the theater-going experience "strong and vital for future generations."

Now the cast has taken the stage! Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, and David Corenswet have joined Gunn and Safran. Gunn is explaining that he was offered Superman before The Suicide Squad, and went with what he deemed to be the easier path. The idea of doing a Superman film haunted him for years, until he was suddenly struck with a "way in."

He retells the story of adopting a dog who was ill-behaved with Jennifer Holland. Apparently, the dog would leap through the air to ruin their dinner, bite at his ankles, and cause overall havoc. He recalled thinking, "If this dog had superpowers, I would be f***ed... I think I know what to do with Superman."

Corenswet spoke of Gunn's mission to make sure the set was one of "kindness and respect," Hoult explained seeing Superman fly in person reminded him of "the magic of cinema," and Brosnahan recalls being on set with Corenswet when it hit her, "Dude, you're f***ing Superman!" These three sure are great at selling a movie... but it really does appear that they mean what they say.

Now, James Gunn has introduced a "world exclusive sneak peek" ...

An exclusive new clip from Superman has been screened!

It opened on an extension of the scene from the trailer where Krypto rescues Superman. It involved a lot of laughs at Krypto's rambunctiousness, and they eventually made their way to the Fortress Of Solitude, where a group of robots revive Superman with a "healthy dose of yellow sun." We then hear him refer to them as the "Superman robots," and a humorous exchange ensues about their inability to feel anything when being thanked. They also cannot feel anything for Krypto, which causes some dog-sitting problems.

All in all, it wasn't a ton of new stuff and it wasn't groundbreaking, but it was funny and heartfelt in classic James Gunn fashion.

And that's it for Warner Bros.! Join us tomorrow for more updates from CinemaCon 2025.

I think most people who are casually familiar with Ballerina hitting the movie release schedule on June 6, 2025 are probably already John Wick fans. While we’ve known for a while Keanu Reeves would factor into the plot, I really couldn’t tell from Ballerina’s trailers if this movie would stack up with what we’ve seen from the franchise before. I can now only humbly apologize to Lionsgate and say that thought was probably out of line. At CinemaCon 2025 today during the studio's panel (which we covered live), audiences were treated to a scene of Ana De Armas literally breaking a slew of plates in another woman’s face.

The Ballerina Scene That Debuted At CinemaCon 2025 Was Wild (And Involved Plates)

In Ballerina Ana De Armas plays Eve, a woman looking for revenge. During the sequences we saw today – and spoilers on what will probably be one of the most spectacular action sequences in the movie (and if it’s not, holy smokes what are we in for?)-- a man shows up at a restaurant intent on killing and shooting Eve. They attempt to gun one another down in the restaurant, but both seemingly run out of ammo. Quick thinking Even starts grabbing glasses and launching them at the man trying to kill her.

Next, she jumps on his back and claws at his eyes (it’s visceral) before he shoves her off and throws her onto a table. She wraps her legs around his neck and he picks her up and slams her into the table over and over again. The sound effects are intense, but she manages to annihilate his hand and then finds her gun and kills him. People were very pleased by this sequence watching it in the theater. They reacted loudly, but it turned out there was more.

She unexpectedly encounters a woman in the kitchen who has a large knife in her hand and tries to tell her she’s safe, but it turns out the woman is also there to kill her. She throws a meat pulverizer at her head and a tray of plates falls over. The two women scramble to grab plates and slam each other in the face repetitively with the serving ware before Ana de Armas nabs a gun and shoves the kitchen worker into the walk-in fridge, securing the door with a frying pan before muttering, “What the fuck.”

Director Len Wiseman said this off-kilter sequence is exactly the world he wanted De Armas’ Eve to inhabit. He told the room full of exhibitors and journalists that he wants moments the audiences will never “expect.” He likes waiting for those little pockets where the audience is breathing and thinks everything is safe and then going for the jugular, which is exactly what we saw with the plate scene. Or as he put it:

It’s a strategy that seems like it’s going to work, too.

But It Didn’t Come Without A Ton Of Intensity From Ana De Armas

Ana De Armas was at CinemCon for the clip premiere, and spoke about the intense work she went through in order to play the character. First and foremost it was “winter in Prague” when the movie was filming and there was ice everywhere. They ended up putting spikes in her shoes in order to ground her for some of the movie’s outdoor sequences. However, this isn’t 1923; and the weather wasn’t the real challenge. Instead the stunts were. She told the crowd:

She also said during the panel she spent months doing these mad dash hours with the stunt team and then when she was done she’d ‘jump in a car’ and go to the shooting range and practice her form with that too. De Armas previously teased while filming “how much pain” she was in, and now that I’ve seen the scene I have, I totally get it. It sounds like she dug deep and used an inner mastery of pain to connect with the idea of being a ballerina.

She’d keep in mind “her own pain” from holding the guns and all the training, calling it “really good” to help her to get into the right mindset and embody the character in the film. All in all, the new footage really sucked me in in ways the early trailers hadn’t.

We still have a while to wait on Ballerina, but Lionsgate also released some cool chatter about the new Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping movie, as well as new information on another Stephen King film (The Long Walk). This was peppered in between Now You See Me sequel footage and some info about the remake of American Psycho. More on the slate to come.

We're at the Lionsgate Panel at CinemaCon Las Vegas, and we just got a first look at the new Hunger Games movie, Sunrise on the Reaping. During the event, director Francis Lawrence, who has also directed every movie out of the franchise (except for the first one) shared with the audience what's going on with one of the most exciting upcoming book adaptations.

Suzanne Collins' Sunrise On The Reaping novel has only been out in the world for (exactly) two weeks, but since the movie and book were announced at the same time over summer, the production has a head start. Take a look at the official animated logo for the 2026 release:

Along with this awesome reveal of the novel's logo come to life, Francis Lawrence also got excited by sharing how the movie is more inspired by the original trilogy. While he loved working on the last prequel Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, he called this upcoming movie a "return to form," especially because it's "much later in the timeline" where the arena is "spectacular" and "visual". Lawrence also called it his "favorite book of the series."

Sunrise On The Reaping takes place during Haymitch's games, which is the 50th Hunger Games, aka the 2nd Quarter Quell. Considering Katniss and Peeta were part of the 74th and 75th games, and the events of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 10th Hunger Games, it makes a lot of sense that Lawrence will be jumping into the grander visual feast from the original trilogy. It sounds like he's really excited to get out of the early days of Panem and make another huge blockbuster. We'll be seeing a 40-year jump from President Snow's origin story.

In addition to Sunrise on the Reaping being a "return" to the vibe of the first movies starring Jennifer Lawrence, it's also the Quarter Quell, which is the games where twice as many tributes were plucked from the districts to fight to the death. Haymitch Abernathy is a District 12 tribute who must fight for his life and along the way he meets all sorts of names that fans of the original will recognize from the trilogy and prequel.

As someone who's in the middle of the novel, Haymitch's backstory is definitely not what I was expecting and revealed to be much more tragic and different than how we hear about his games during Katniss and Peeta's games. Of course, we're curious about who will be cast as Haymitch, especially after both Cobra Kai's Tanner Buchanan was fancast along with House of the Dragon's Tom Glynn-Carney.

There's also been some past rumors that Chalengers' Mike Faist could have been secretly cast to play Plutarch Heavensbee. We expect casting to be the next step we'll hear about so stay tuned!

Keanu Reeves’ John Wick seemingly died at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4, with the final scene featuring Ian McShane's Winston Scott and Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King standing over the character’s grave… but the assassin’s journey on the big screen isn’t over. In fact, things are significantly heating up in the future of the franchise, as today we got news of three new John Wick projects that are officially in development, including John Wick: Chapter 5.

CinemaCon, the annual convention for movie theater owners, is playing out in Las Vegas this week, and during this morning’s studio presentation from Lionsgate, the studio announced that the John Wick franchise is expanding in a major way. While director Len Wiseman’s Ballerina starring Ana de Armas isn’t set to arrive on the big screen until the summer, there are now three other features on the way as well, the titles including John Wick: Chapter 5, the spinoff Caine starring Donnie Yen, and an animated prequel film.

John Wick: Chapter 5 Is Officially A Go

Despite the death of the titular character in John Wick: Chapter 4, it took very little time after the release of the film for chatter to begin about a John Wick: Chapter 5, with a studio executive confirming development of the project in May 2023. Director Chad Stahelski has shared some doubt about the sequel, but now it has been announced that both he and Keanu Reeves are officially attached to make another film.

Specific plans for production have not been revealed, and the official announcement included neither a release date not the name of a screenwriter who will pen the script. Apparently, however, Keanu Reeves, Chad Stahelski and producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee have found a story that they want to tell.

When one considers the box office performance of John Wick: Chapter 4, this isn’t the most shocking development – even with acknowledging the death of the eponymous hero. The 2023 sequel was the biggest hit yet for the series, as it finished its run at the box office earning over $440 million worldwide (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum previously set the franchise high water mark making $326.7 million in 2019.

Needless to say, John Wick: Chapter 5 is a project that we here at CinemaBlend will be keeping a close eye on as it continues to move through development.

Caine Is Getting His Own Movie, And Donnie Yen Will Both Star And Direct

One of the key reasons why John Wick: Chapter 4 was such a massive success with both critics and audiences was the exciting franchise addition of Donnie Yen as the blind, hyper-skilled assassin Caine, and it was announced today that the hype has been translated into a spinoff film. A new spinoff simply titled Caine is now in the works, and it is coming together very fast.

Donnie Yen will not only be back to star in the upcoming action movie set in the world of John Wick, but he is also going to direct it as well. Yen last provided an update about the film earlier this year, but the project now has the greenlight, and production is going to start in Hong Kong in 2025.

Mattson Tomlin, best known for creating the Netflix animated series Terminator Zero, has been tapped to write the screenplay for the film. The filmmaker’s other upcoming projects include The Batman Part II, which is being written in collaboration with director Matt Reeves, and BRZRKR, which is based on the comic of the same name and has Keanu Reeves attached to star.

Details about the story are being kept a secret for now, but it has been confirmed that Caine will be taking place after the events of John Wick: Chapter 4 and the titular protagonist earning his freedom from the sinister assassin organization known as the High Table. The character was originally going to be killed by Rina Sawayama’s Akira in the end credits of the last John Wick movie, but an audible was called to spare the character’s life, and that has opened the door for the spinoff.

A John Wick Animated Prequel Is Going To Tell The Story Of John’s Impossible Task

While both John Wick: Chapter 5 and Caine will both be expanding the John Wick canon beyond the events of John Wick: Chapter 4, Lionsgate also announced a new film that will be exploring the past. While the project seemingly doesn’t have an official title just yet, an animated prequel movie has been given the green light, and it will tell the story of the legendary Impossible Task that Keanu Reeves’ character completed so that he could leave the assassin life behind and live a life of peace with his wife.

Shannon Tindle, who most recently co-wrote and directed the Netflix animated film Ultraman: Rising, is taking the helm of the developing film and collaborating with screenwriter Vanessa Taylor, who was a co-executive producer on the second and third seasons of Game Of Thrones and co-wrote Guillermo del Toro’s Best Picture-winning 2017 film The Shape Of Water.

In an official statement, Chad Stahelski (who is a producer on the project) described the developing prequel feature as a “John Wick anime” – which informs us about the animation style that will be employed – and Keanu Reeves will be back to voice the movie’s lead character.

A release date for the animated John Wick prequel has not been announced.

Clearly the future of the action franchise is quite bright, and we will continue to follow all of the big developments with these three movies in the weeks, months and years ahead. Audiences will be able to see the next story in the canon, Ballerina, when it arrives in theaters everywhere on June 6, and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend in the coming days for more exciting news out of CinemaCon.

We are in the midst of one of the biggest years of all time for new Stephen King adaptations. In February, audiences were delighted to experience the madness of Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey; Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck and Edgar Wright’s The Running Man are both set to hit theaters in the coming months; and on the small screen, both HBO’s IT: Welcome To Derry and MGM+’s The Institute are set to premiere before December. That’s a hell of a lot, but now the slate has gotten even more exciting with the addition of Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk.

Lionsgate hosted its presentation this morning at CinemaCon – the annual Las Vegas-based convention for theater owners – and among the awesome news shared is that The Long Walk, based on the book of the same name, is going to arrive in theaters everywhere on September 12. The film completed production last year and Stephen King fans have spent months waiting for release date news, so this is a terrifically exciting development. It should be one hell of a hardcore cinematic experience.

Originally published under Stephen King’s pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Long Walk is a dystopian novel that centers on a grueling, deadly competition. Teenagers from around the country gather as participants in the contest – which is essentially a death march. Walking along a long stretch of highway, they have to spend days walking at a constant pace. If they slow down or stop, they get a warning, and if they get three warnings within an hour (or try to escape), they are shot dead by soldiers. The last kid standing wins the prize of their dreams.

JT Mollner, who wrote and directed the critically acclaimed horror film Strange Darling in 2024, wrote the screenplay, and the impressive ensemble cast of The Long Walk includes Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, with Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill.

The new release date for the thriller puts it on the release calendar between The Life Of Chuck (which will be released by Neon in the summer) and The Running Man, which will be in theaters on November 7.

The Long Walk should be one hell of a thing to witness on the big screen, as this is an adaptation that many filmmakers have tried and failed to make – including legends George A. Romero and Frank Darabont. When Stephen King read the script, his reaction was. “This is great, but they’ll never fucking make this,” but Lionsgate gave it the green light. JT Mollner has promised that the film won’t be pulling any punches from the horrifying source material and has described it as a “disturbing and somewhat controversial movie.” I’m beyond excited to see it.

This is just one of the exciting bits of news to come out of the Lionsgate presentation at CinemaCon, and CinemaBlend is on the ground covering the event all week. Be on the lookout for more news and updates about the 2025 movie release schedule, and for all of the latest developments in the world of Stephen King, be sure to check out my weekly column The King Beat, which goes live here on the site every Thursday.

We're at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas, where movie studios come to show exclusive looks at their biggest releases of the year. This morning's panel is Lionsgate! We expect to hear new information on Ballerina, Michael, and perhaps The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping? Keep it here for by-the-minute breaking news, and refresh this page for updates!

For more from CinemaCon 2025, check out our live coverage of the Sony panel, which features new information on Spider-Man 4, 28 Years Later and much more!

The presentation started with CinemaCon's State Of The Industry address. Sean Baker's Academy Awards acceptance speech appeared on the big screen, calling for exhibitors to save the theater-going experience. NEON then provided numbers that prove low-budget films can be a box office success, and the one and only Tom Cruise joined us via video to gush about his love for cinema and the theater experience.

Stay tuned! Lionsgate's presentation is coming...

The Lionsgate panel has kicked off with a new trailer for Ballerina! Some of it we've seen before, like Ana De Armas' exchange with John Wick himself, but it included an intensely badass and brutal fight sequence. Armas' Eve is at a small-town restaurant where things go haywire. Butcher knives, dish carts, dinner plates and an axe are among the weapons used.

Ana De Armas has taken the stage with Len Wiseman to talk about the insane action. Wiseman addresses the aforementioned scene with the dinner plates, and explains the complications of working with breakaway plates.

Armas, however, exclaims that it's not by any means the most difficult action scene to shoot. She says that she had screws in her shoes to keep her steady in the heavy, snowy Winters shooting outdoors. She trained for almost four months, and can't wait for us to see how ballet is incorporated into the action.

Mark Hamill is in the house! He's taken the stage with director Francis Lawrence and David Jonsson, his costar in The Long Walk. Jonsson talked about how difficult it was to work alongside Hamill as the film's antagonist, because they must resist liking him, despite his blatant likability.

Now Hamill is on the microphone, explaining that he had a desire to work with Francis Lawrence, but joked that didn't see himself in The Hunger Games franchise, so he seized this opportunity. He's wearing sunglasses as a tribute to his character, and not, as he says, "Pulling a Jack Nicholson."

The trailer is fantastic, heartfelt, disturbing, and hard to watch. The participants must keep walking, and if they don't, they're killed. The intimate and simplistic nature of it makes it all the more thrilling.

Francis Lawrence has stayed on stage to talk about directing The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping! He says that it's his "favorite book in the series," that they've been in pre-production for a long time, and that he's thrilled to be able to announce the film officially.

They don't have any footage to show, as it's very early in the process, but they did provide us with an animated logo! You can see it in the video at the top of this article, and you can hear a familiar voice towards the end.

After having showed footage from the Michael Jackson biopic Michael last year, they told us that they were not bringing any new updates, but that they'd have something to show the public soon.

Lionsgate has officially announced John Wick 5! As well as an animated prequel from Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski. More information to come!

Luca Guadagnino, the famed director of Call Me By Your Name and Challengers, came to us via video to announce a brand new adaptation of American Psycho. There's very little information on the project now, but there's more to come!

A full-length trailer for Aziz Ansari's Good Fortune screened, giving us more Keanu Reeves as the "budget guardian angel" and more Seth Rogen as the selfish and privileged Jeff. The film looks smart and hilarious. More information to come.

We were treated to a brand new trailer for Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd's Power Ballad, a feel-good dramedy about two song writers from different generations.

A graphic reading "Now You See Me: Now You Don't" graced the screen, and the crowd went wild. Director Ruben Fleischer has taken the stage, gushing about his love of magic and their use of practical magic effects for the film series. He has announced a first look trailer...

Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco are on stage in the trailer as Eisenberg's J. Daniel Atlas says, "It's good to be back." Joining them for this trick is Dominic Sessa, and of course, Morgan Freeman.

Director Paul Feig and stars/executive producers Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried are on stage talking about their upcoming book adaptation, The Housemaid. Seyfried is gushing about the experience, saying that they had the privilege of creating some "wacky shit." She called it "bananas," and said that the film was "coming to movie theaters. Thank f***ing God." This prompted an applause from the audience, and for Paul Feig to extend a profound thanks to exhibitors.

Now, a first-look trailer has started screening...

The teaser showed us a ton of imagery, without really revealing any plot details. It seems thrilling and intense, but one thing is for sure: this movie is going to be "bananas."

Director Trey Edward Shults is on stage with star and executive producer of Hurry Up Tomorrow, Jenna Ortega. After charming the audience with some stories from set, they set up an exclusive first look at the film.

Barry Keoghan and The Weeknd look fantastic in this twisted, artsy thriller.

Now, the panel's big finale is being announced with a warning for folks who have epilepsy, as a guitarist and drummer set up on stage.

Jenna Ortega has announced her "incredibly talented friend and collaborator..."

THE WEEKND!

The bass can be felt through the whole Coliseum as The Weeknd plays a fantastic 10-minute set while beautifully cinematic scenes from Hurry Up Tomorrow play in the background. At one point, he exclaimed, in the middle of Blinding Lights, "I can't believe I'm looking at Mark Hamill right now, that's f***ing crazy."

And that's it, folks. What a finale! Join us later this evening for the Warner Brothers panel, as we'll be live blogging the whole event!

Of course, the big news running around CinemaCon 2025 is that Spider-Man 4 has a title now, which CinemaBlend’s own Jeff McCobb discussed in our Sony 2025 live blog. Yes, knowing it will be called Spider-Man: Brand New Day is certainly infinitely better than going around calling it the Untitled Spider-Man sequel, but that wasn’t the part of the announcement that I enjoyed the most. Instead, it was Tom Holland joking about not giving away spoilers anymore while giving away a (studio approved) spoiler.

Popping up on camera during the event, Holland said he knows Spider-Man: Nowhere Home really left the audience with a “massive cliffhanger” (don’t even get me started on that ending), but that at least he was happy to give away the new Brand New Day title even if he can’t talk about most of the movie. He then joked he’s “over the hump” of giving away spoilers, which really amused me.

There was a point where Tom Holland was giving away quite a few Marvel spoilers. There was also a point when his fellow MCU stars and even directors like the Russo Brothers would tease him about giving away said top secret information. Now, we’re at the point where the whole thing has become a running joke, and Holland has even been tasked with “spoiling” a title on purpose. It all feels pretty meta, but it still made me laugh out loud.

Holland has clearly come a long way. There was a point in time where he could not be trusted, as he'd accidentally do things like share a photo of his latest Spidey script and reveal the title. (That one was presumably not approved.) The studios took to doing things like having Benedict Cumberbatch chaperone him in interviews. (It worked, mostly, by the way.)

Tom Holland's currently away filming another movie (which he didn’t name in the pre-taped segment because it is rival studio Universal’s epic Nolan film The Odyssey, a movie that Holland has done an admirable job acting like he knows nothing about). Even a taped appearance was a hue bonus, however, as I wasn’t really expecting to get much Spider-Man 4 news today. Director Destin Daniel Cretton confirmed they are still pretty much in the ideation stage, but I'd guess they have to at least have the major bullet points down to have a title and to "spoil" it for fans so early.

The upcoming Marvel and Sony collaboration will hit theaters on July 31, 2026.

In early 2024, I was over the moon when the news was announced that filmmakers Danny Boyle and Alex Garland were not only developing a new follow-up to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, but they were developing a full trilogy. The plans for continuing the franchise found a home at Sony, and not only did Boyle quickly start work directing 28 Years Later (set to hit theaters this summer), but Nia Da Costa was hired to take the helm of a second installment: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (currently scheduled for January 2026).

I remain thrilled to learn what is going on in the fictional world that has been overrun by the Rage virus... but I'll also admit to being a touch distressed today after learning at CinemaCon that the third 28 Years Later feature has apparently not yet gotten the green light to move forward.

CinemaCon, the annual Las Vegas-based convention for movie theater owners, kicked off this evening with a presentation by Sony Pictures, and two of the earliest projects previewed were 28 Years Later and its sequel, with both Danny Boyle and Nia Da Costa taking the stage to take about their work on the respective movies. An epic and scary new trailer for the 2025 feature was premiered (it will surely be online in the coming days/weeks), and Da Costa showed off a still of The Bone Temple star Ralph Fiennes shirtless, covered in war paint, and wildly smiling, but the standout thing that caught my attention was the commentary about the trilogy-capper written by Alex Garland not being guaranteed. Said Boyle,

It's not exactly difficult to read between the lines to understand what Danny Boyle is saying here. While Sony Pictures was excited enough about plans to continue the zombie apocalypse from 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, the studio wasn't gung-ho enough about it in the dealmaking to immediately promise a budget for a full trilogy. In order for Boyle and Alex Garland to complete their vision, 28 Years Later and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple will have to hit an unspecified number at the box office. If audiences show up, the sequel will be made; if they don't, then it won't.

This development should make any fan of the franchise nervous, as the prospect of any great artistic vision being halted before completion totally sucks, but I also still have confidence, because 28 Years Later looks phenomenal. While the first trailer for the upcoming horror movie was principally focused on showcasing a tone (it looks utterly terrifying), the preview that was showcased today at CinemaCon offered more insight into the plot. The film will center on a father and son (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alfie Williams) who live in a community on an isolated island but must venture to the mainland, which is overrun with infected people.

In addition to previewing 28 Years Later, the Sony Presentation also provided massive updates about Sam Mendes' Beatles films and an early look at 2025's I Know What You Did Last Summer... and the fun is only starting here at CinemaCon. Be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend all week for more of our on-the-ground coverage of the event.

We’ve known for a while that franchise OGs Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr would be returning to the I Know What You Did Last Summer set more than 25 years after the original film hit theaters. But it’s one thing to know something is coming and quite another to see it play out on-screen. Even if you don’t care about the former teen heartthrobs specifically, Sony just dropped the first-look footage at the upcoming horror movie I Know What You Did Last Summer 2025, and one more word I need to throw out there is: harpoon.

We’ve been hearing about I Know What You Did Last Summer for some time now, and while news has been coming down the pipeline steadily, all we’ve really gotten in terms of a “look” at the movie so far is one measly poster for the upcoming sequel. Audiences at CinemaCon 2025 were in for a treat, however, and luckily CinemaBlend was on hand to live blog the entire Sony event!

The Murder Sequence Shown In The First Footage Is Intense

Obviously, I'm about to get into some first look spoilers, so I hope that's what you came here for. If not, now would be a great time to check out one of our other awesome articles.

The new footage opens up at night with a couple in a lit kitchen. There are lots of open windows to the outside, which feels very dark and ominous. He encourages her to take a bath and put on some headphones while she does a meditation. He stays in the kitchen to clean up when he notices a light flicker on and off outside. He goes to investigate, and a harpoon plows through the glass and into his body.

He turns to try and get away and the harpoon gets ripped back and sent flying. Meanwhile, the woman (Glass Onion's Madelyn Cline) is still in the tub doing her guided meditation with headphones on. She can't hear a thing. The audience can see and hear, however, and what we see are a pair of sturdy rubber boots and a large hook. The young folk in Southport are about to start dying… again.

The good news? Some folks have been there before.

Freddie Prinze Jr. And Jennifer Love Hewitt Show Up And Did Not Disappoint

We get flashes of the beautiful Southport in the daylight juxtaposed with some more chilling footage. Then, of course Freddie Prince Jr.’s Ray Bronson pops up onscreen, though he has so much more grey hair than the last time we’ve seen him in the role! He gets one line and it’s a doozy, noting, “this isn’t the first time there’s been violence like this in Southport."

But, of course, the violence will only end when the killer is caught, and to catch that killer the young residents of Southport are going to need the help of Julie James (Hewitt)! The best moment in this entire trailer obviously has to do with Hewitt’s character, who is asked for help as part of the Sony footage. Julie James responds, “I just have one question: What did you do last summer?"

We saw a lot of great stuff during the Sony Panel. The new Beyond The Spider-verse footage wasn’t even fully animated yet and still looked flipping cool. The Karate Kid: Legends trailer (which everyone will be getting tomorrow) looked awesome. Tom Holland announced the title of Spider-Man 4! The Beatles are getting four movies in one day from Sam Mendes! But it’s Jennifer Love Hewitt iconically asking “What did you do last summer?" that is sticking with me tonight. And when the studio officially unleashes the official trailer on fans, both OG and new alike, I hope everyone gets as pumped as I did.

The first look felt to me like a solid nod to the past while still being its own thing, and I'm excited to see what else the public gets tot see coming up. I Know What You Did Last Summer is hitting the 2025 movie release schedule on July 18, 2025.

In March 2024, an exceptionally ambitious project was announced. It was revealed that Sam Mendes was going to tell the story of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison a.k.a. The Beatles, but rather than just making a single film, the filmmaker's plan is to make four separate feature that will each have a unique perspective from one of the bandmates. That's a hell of a lot for any director to take on – but a little over one year later, we have new updates about the movies, and the idea is even crazier than originally thought.

CinemaCon, the annual Las Vegas-based convention for movie theater owners, kicked off this evening at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace with a slate presentation from Sony Pictures, and the big capstone was a massive update about the upcoming Beatles movies. Sam Mendes took to the stage with Sony Pictures chairman/CEO Tom Rothman, and they not only announced the actors who will be playing the Fab Four, but they also unveiled plans to have all of the films in theaters in the same month.

You can check out the first official look at the movie's ensemble above, but for those of you who don't recognize the faces...

• Paul Mescal is playing Paul McCartney
• Joseph Quinn is playing George Harrison
• Barry Keoghan is playing Ringo Starr
• Harris Dickinson is playing John Lennon

It was previously announced that all of the Beatles movies would get a theatrical rollout at some point in 2027, but the dates were pushed back so that Sony could release what they are dubbing the "first bingable theatrical experience." Rather than coming out months apart, all four of the films will be arriving on the big screen in April 2028. It should go without saying that while we've seen plenty of productions begin with multi-picture plans, from Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings to Avengers: Infinity War/Avengers: Endgame, we've never seen a distribution strategy like this before. It's unclear at this point if they will all be coming out the same day or will debut one week apart (and in the latter case, we don't know in what order they will premiere).

That cast is also ripe with extreme talent and buzz, as all four actors have been earning great acclaim for their work in recent years and are considered prime up-and-comers. Paul Mescal is coming off of his first blockbuster in Gladiator II; Joseph Quinn, following standout work on Stranger Things, is playing Johnny Storm a.k.a. The Human Torch in Fantastic Four: First Steps; Barry Keoghan earned an Academy Award nomination for The Banshees Of Inisherin (not to mention that he's playing The Joker in Matt Reeves' The Batman films); and Harris Dickinson has earned high marks for titles like Babygirl and Triangle Of Sadness.

Per Sam Mendes, all four of the movies about Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison will feature specific points of view and will crossover at certain moments in their stories. That's a special and tremendously exciting idea, and I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

We'll surely hear a lot more about these movies very soon as principal photography starts (it's totally wild that Sam Mendes is planning to make four distinct features in about three years). Be on the look out for more news about The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event in the coming weeks and months, but also be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for all of our exciting reporting from on the ground at CinemaCon.

We're at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas, where movie studios come to dish on their biggest releases of the year. Tonight the festivities officially kick off with Sony Pictures’ presentation from Caesar’s Palace! We expect to hear new information on Karate Kid: Legends, 28 Years Later, and perhaps Spider-Man 4? Keep it here for by-the-minute breaking news, and refresh this page for updates!

We're in our seats, waiting for the presentation to begin! Everyone is speculating as to what we'll see, and a journalist within earshot just floated the word Zelda... we'll see!

A montage showed off 2024’s offerings, including Deadpool & Wolverine, Bad Boys, Wicked Little Letters, Dune 2, It Ends With Us, A Quiet Place: Day One, The Substance, A Complete Unknown, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Wicked, and more! Afterward, CinemaCon's Managing Director reminded us that we are about to see exclusive, never-before-seen footage.

And we're off! An introduction video featured Paul Rudd and Jack Black on the set of Anaconda. They hilariously introduced Tom Rothman, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Tom Rothman teased a film folks have wanted for years, specifically, "28 years." Academy Award winner Danny Boyle has now taken the stage, and is humorously explaining how he hasn't learned anything new in the last 28 years, but regardless, he's going to show us the next trailer for 28 Years Later.

The trailer was more of a teaser, but was fantastic nonetheless. The big standout was Ralph Fiennes, whose haunting and disheveled presence was enough to keep us stoked on 28 Years Later. Danny Boyle also joked that Aaron Taylor-Johnson "might" be the next Bond... more on that later.

The folks behind the Spider-Verse films, including Phil Lord, presented the first teaser trailer for Beyond The Spider-Verse. They promised more groundbreaking animation, which was present in the trailer, but the audio was mostly a compilation of the previous two films. However, we got an official release date...

June 4 2027!

Now we have Darren Aronofsky on stage, introducing his next film Caught Stealing! It looks unlike anything he's ever done. The pacing feels closer to Requiem For A Dream, and the tone feels similar to Edgar Wright's Baby Driver. Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz look fantastic, and the whole cast is stacked.

Zach Cregger came out to briefly hype his upcoming film, Resident Evil, and expressed how much the game and the franchise means to him.

We saw exclusive new footage from A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell look fantastic in this whimsical yet dramatic sci-fi film. It has the feel of a lighthearted episode of Black Mirror, and reminds one of Her given the romantic element.

Stephen Curry was announced to the stage, and the crowd roared!... only to realize that it was just a video presentation. He, as the G.O.A.T., was present via video to hype his upcoming animated film, Goat. He'll be voicing a baller, who is also a literal goat. A little on the nose? You be the judge.

We got a first look at I Know What You Did Last Summer! It contained: brutal murder, lots of blood, threatening messages written on steamed glass, and Jennifer Love Hewitt literally saying, "What did you do last Summer?"

Zelda! We've got Zelda! Wes Ball of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is directing. We did not get any footage, obviously, but they hyped it up by playing the original Nintendo game's theme song, and the crowd went wild. They also provided us with a release date of March 26, 2027!

Ralph Macchio has taken the stage alongside his new costar Ben Wang to give us an exclusive look at their new film, Karate Kid: Legends! After gushing about Jackie Chan, they introduced what they told us were their "favorite scenes."

One had Jackie Chan surprising Wang's character in his apartment with a nighttime sneak attack. It was obviously a training segment, and was charming as hell.

The next scene featured Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio's first encounter, with Chan paying tribute at a shrine of Mr. Miyagi. Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso refuses to follow Jackie Chan to New York, and Chan's Mr. Han says, "I will see you at the Big Apple."

Finally, we got an exclusive new trailer, which they told us will be online for everyone to see tomorrow!

It's happening, folks... Destin Daniel Cretton has taken the stage to talk about Spider-Man 4! Stay tuned.

Destin Daniel Cretton is gushing about his history with Spider-Man, being so bold as to tell us that "Spider-Man" was his son’s first word! He exclaims that he’s going to tell us something about the film that no one else knows, as is CinemaCon tradition, and throws it to a video of Tom Holland. Holland thanks the exhibitors for their support, and addresses that massive cliffhanger at the end of No Way Home. He then reveals something major…

Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released July 31 2026!

Sam Mendes has taken the stage after Sony promised "one more thing," throwing back to the catchphrase of the late Steve Jobs. One more thing indeed, or perhaps, FOUR more things? Mendes announced that four Beatles films will be coming to theaters, all in April of 2028!

To finish out the show, they announced the cast, who all took the stage to give a quick Beatles bow.

Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney.

Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.

Barry Keoghan as Ringo Star.

Harris Dickinson as John Lennon.

And that's all, folks! Tune in tomorrow as Lionsgate and Warner Brothers show us their slate for 2025!

When the Twisters trailer dropped during the Super Bowl this year, fans were in for a treat. The new movie has an exciting young cast and a new filming location, and it really looks like it will be catnip for people who enjoy the original movie. However, looking pretty solid on the big screen isn’t quite the same as filming said adventure film, and Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar Jones and Anthony Ramos were really clear about what they went through to bring Twisters to the big screen. 

There was hot weather. There was cold weather. There was crap being pelted at them by a jet engine again and again and again as the flick focused on practical effects over CGI whenever it was able. In fact, speaking during the Universal 2024 CinemaCon panel, Ramos mentioned he was “very grateful to have survived” filming of the movie given all they went through. 

Glen Powell: "We all signed on for this movie thinking we were going to be on a soundstage covered in dots. Maybe a delicate spritz on our face, but… no."

Anthony Ramos: "Instead we were on location in 120 degree heat, racing, for real, through the plains of the Midwest." 

Powell: "We had an actual jet engine hit us with everything: Hit us with hay."

Ramos: "We had a massive water tank dunked on us." 

Powell: "They pelted us with ice, they covered us in trash." 

Ramos: "…and left us in cars for hours on end without a pee break." 

But the trials and tribulations of this ragged band of actors did not end there. The movie was getting close to wrapping in the summer, in the midwest, when the strike happened. The movie then had to shut down production for a time before the cast was tasked with returning to set after the strike was over to finish filming. The only problem? Anthony Ramos says at that point they had to get ‘pelted’ in the cold weather. 

If there’s one thing that’s true of the Midwest it’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter, so Ramos’ story checks out. If there’s one thing that’s true about Twisters, though,  it’s that the film really tries to be as entertaining as possible while getting the details right. Director Lee Isaac Chung also said efforts were made to make sure the film was “immersive” and “real.”

It really seems to have paid off. There’s a lot of great, big budget fare coming later this year –and a lot of it is coming from Universal between this movie, the upcoming adaptation of Wicked, and the finally-coming Gladiator 2 sequel. We saw an actual rhino make it into the footage for that latter movie, and I’m not sure if they had “experts” on hand when they cooked up that scene like Twisters, but I’m pumped regardless for what's coming up.

The new tornado thriller will hit the 2024 movie release schedule on July 19. 

By now you’ve seen the footage of Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy looking both badass and a bit unusual in George Miller’s upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road prequel film. It’s Hemsworth who’s completely unrecognizable in the Furiosa trailer, and it’s not just that he’s completely different-looking for fans either. Even people who worked closely with the two leads on set have trouble reconciling the characters with the real-life people inhabiting them. 

Recently, George Miller popped onstage with Taylor Joy and Hemsworth, who were both very clean and very well-dressed onstage. He told the audience during the Warner Bros. 2024 CinemaCon panel that he’d “spent a year in the cutting room” looking at the two actors as their characters. Now seeing them all fresh-faced, and in Hemsworth’s case well-shaven, he was having trouble even equating them as the same people, joking: 

The Furiosa cast may look very different onscreen than they do in their regular lives, but Miller also told the audience that it was hard to find the right cast for the film. After all, he had to find someone who resembled Charlize Theron and could take on the characteristics of Charlize whilst still making the role her own. 

Believe it or not, finding Hemsworth was even harder, as Miller was looking for a funny guy (noting “that’s kind of key”) but also someone who could play a character with a lot of depth and who could do different things. The director said finding the right person was what held up this movie for years, noting the team “had the script for a long time and we really couldn’t think of an actor to do it.” Then they honed in on the Aussie star.

He had the charisma in spades, but Miller said it was really the "dimensions" the actor presented when they met in person that landed him the role. Once that was settled, they gave him the Mad Max look with prosthetics and more. And that look is the look that Miller saw over and over again for well over a year. The real Chris may as well not have existed. 

It's too early to tell if Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will make the list of best action movies of all time, but we don't have too much longer to wait to find out. The movie will hit the 2024 release schedule on May 24th.