Phew! CinemaCon last week had us exhausted! It was a brilliant time checking out all the latest advancements coming to the theatrical industry, from the newest formats to the newest snacks, and even popcorn buckets coming to your theaters soon. The goal: to keep the theatrical experience alive! The major studios come to the convention to share their latest slates with theater owners and exhibitors, showcasing the biggest releases expected to bring the audiences back for more! We had the opportunity to check out many of these showcases, and we’ll be breaking down everything we saw last week here on The Nerds of Color! First up: Warner Bros. Pictures.
2025 was a historic year for both Warner Bros. and, consequently, the film industry. As studio heads Pam Abdy and Michael DeLuca stated several times, no other studio in history has achieved seven consecutive $40 million opening weekends in a row. Sinners broke the record for most Academy Award nominations for any film in history, and the studio’s films garnered 11 Oscar wins, including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan’s performance as Smoke and Stack in Sinners, and Best Picture for One Battle After Another. As such, the duo took a victory lap at CinemaCon, not to coast and gloat, but to up the stakes for 2026 and beyond!
The presentation, which Warner Bros. affectionately called “The Big Picture,” featured no mention of the potential Paramount merger, nor what the plans would look like on a corporate level should the merger go through. They kept the focus on their upcoming slate of films, assuring theater owners and exhibitors that they remain committed to the theatrical experience with high performing franchise films and filmmaker-driven originals like Sinners, Weapons, and One Battle After Another.
Abdy and DeLuca kicked things off with a look at their slate in 2027, starting with video from Minecraft star Jack Black, teasing the sequel to the hit video game adaptation for 2027. There were teases from M. Night Shyamalan (teaming up with Nicholas Sparks for a ghost story); Margot Robbie revealing that she will star in an Ocean’s Eleven prequel set in the 1960s, written and directed by co-star Bradley Cooper; the next Monsterverse movie, Godzilla x Kong: Supernova; the Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, which begins filming next week; two animated features – one with Cynthia Erivo titled Bad Fairies, and one with Melissa McCarthy titled Margie Claus; the next Evil Dead movie, Evil Dead Wrath; and a currently-untitled film from Nancy Meyers (The Parent Trap, The Intern, Something’s Gotta Give), and of course, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum on December 17, 2027. No footage was ready for any of these, but it was a promise of things to come, with the duo hoping they can put 18 films in theaters in 2027.
The presentation then shifted to the immediate future and the impressive slate of Warner Bros. films coming in 2026.
Digger
The first film covered for the 2026 slate started things off with a bang, as moderator Patton Oswalt brought out the legendary Tom Cruise and visionary filmmaker Alejandro Iñárritu. Together, the duo teamed up to create a surreal, apocalyptic comedy called Digger. They showed the first teaser trailer from the film, which looked visually stunning, with an impressive and transformative performance by Cruise.
“[Cruise’s performance as Digger Rockwell] is another kind of fearless,” Iñárritu said, “A highwire act.”
“It took me 40 years just to put on the boots of Digger Rockwell,” declared Cruise.
The footage they showed was a highly stylized satirical teaser, reminiscent of Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up, blending a political-apocalyptic comedy with environmental disaster, set to an epic mix of Talking Heads’ “Burning Down The House.” Cruise is unrecognizable, wearing layers of makeup to make him look like an old oil tycoon with a beer belly. His acting in this seems absolutely transformative, and I definitely can’t wait to see more. The themes it seems to be touching on include the responsibility people with power and wealth have to the world, and how if unchecked, could lead to disastrous results (a theme it has in common with another film that we’ll be touching on in a little bit).
The End of Oak Street and Evil Dead Burn
While the next two titles didn’t feature special guests dropping in, we still got a glimpse of two highly anticipated summer releases which should be incredibly popular with genre fans: It Follows director David Robert Mitchell’s The End of Oak Street, and the next chapter in the Evil Dead franchise, Evil Dead Burn.
For The End of Oak Street, the studio showed essentially an expanded version of the trailer that was released a few weeks ago (which you can see here):
Being a Bad Robot production, the details for the film are shrouded in mystery. We did get the gist of it, with a huge “Amblin” feel to the movie, which sees a family struggling for survival when their entire street is supernaturally transported to a prehistoric setting with roaming hungry dinosaur-ish beasts. Anne Hathaway looks like she’s giving a terrific performance, and Ewan McGregor looks hilarious in shorts.
As for Evil Dead Burn, we were able to see footage from the film, which follows a different family from the one we saw in Evil Dead Rise. The footage teased a story which sees this new family reading from the Necronomicon to resurrect a loved one after suffering a tragic loss. Unfortunately only bad things can come from that, and we were treated to some gut-churning visuals including a character losing fingers in a car door, and removing an impaled car seat from her face. As an Evil Dead fan inside and out, I can’t wait to see more blood, carnage, and terror from this next installment.
Mortal Kombat II
Another highly-anticipated summer film is New Line’s Mortal Kombat II. While I wasn’t a huge fan of the first movie, I know many others are looking forward to this one. We got a first look at an extended scene which shows a familiar group of characters – Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, Jax, and of course, Johnny Cage (in other words, a mini-reboot of the main characters from the 1995 and 1997 films) – attempting to recruit Baraka’s aid in fighting the forces of Shang Tsung. Baraka wants nothing to do with this. Johnny Cage (a charismatic Karl Urban) succeeds in goading Baraka into a fight, although Johnny admits that he is not a true martial artist, he just plays them in movies. We see Baraka kicking Johnny’s ass for a while before Johnny finds the acting chops to fight back effectively. Presumably, this scene does not end in fatality.
The Cat in the Hat
Following Mortal Kombat II, Oswalt came back out on stage, accompanied by two costumed characters dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss’s immortal classic The Cat in the Hat. Prior to the start of the presentation, attendees was given a package in their seats. At that point, Oswald asked us to open the packages to find our very own Cat in the Hat Thing 1/Thing 2 blue wigs. It was a silly and fun way to kick off the first film from the new feature division of Warner Animation, debuting this November.
We were shown clips from the film, including The Cat (Bill Hader) being assigned to two siblings who just moved into a foster home. While The Cat tries to show both of them a good time, they appear pretty despondent. A series of unfortunate events leads to all of them, plus the fish (voiced by Matt Berry), getting transported into some sort of fantasy dimension formed by the kids’ memories. There, they must stop a terrifying beast called “a Something.”
I wasn’t a huge fan of the first teaser trailer for the movie, but the second one provided much more emotion and depth to what I initially assumed was a more simplistic narrative. It appears this iteration of The Cat in the Hat is going to resemble something closer to Netflix’s In Your Dreams than other Seuss adaptations or the source material. Let’s just hope the film doesn’t conclude with this scene from an SNL sketch where Hader portrayed the cat, because that would be less kid-friendly.
Clayface
At this point, DC Studios made its grand entrance. Studio co-head Peter Safran took to the stage to celebrate the successful launch of last year’s Superman. Safran noted that the goal of DC Studios is to focus on character-driven projects, regardless of genre. This was the perfect segue into DC Studios’ ambitious project for this coming October, Clayface.
We were treated to the first footage/teaser trailer from the movie, which looks scary, bizarre, and thrilling all at once. While not much dialogue is heard, you could tell from what we saw that this was intended to be a nightmarish adventure centered on Tom Rhys Harries’ character, and the horrifying transformation he undergoes. Written by Mike Flanagan and directed by James Watkins, the film feels like a true body horror movie. And I’m very curious to see if this version of the character will eventually evolve into the giant muck monster we’ve seen in animated iterations of the DC Universe, including Season 1 of Creature Commandos.
Supergirl
Clayface was a wonderful appetizer to the main course for DC Studios: Supergirl. The arena went black, then multicolored spotlights filled the stage illuminating the first floor. as the sounds of Blondie’s “Call Me” echoed all over. Over on the left side of the stage, blasting the immortal song through his speakers, was DJ Screecher (an actor in a realistic alien costume with prosthetics). It set the amazing, chaotic, and epic vibe throughout Caesar’s Colosseum.
Safran brought out director Craig Gillespie and stars Milly Alcock and Jason Momoa, who entered the stage on Lobo’s chopper! Alcock discussed having to learn 5 different fictional languages. including (obviously) Kryptonian, to help convey the planet-hopping scope of Tom King’s original comics story.
Momoa spoke about what a dream come true it was to be able to play Lobo, the DC comic he actually collected in his youth. Safran asked him who would win in a fight: Aquaman or Lobo. Momoa dodged the question faster than a speeding bullet, saying the two would just get drunk together and beat up a bar. Safran jokingly pitched an Aquaman x Lobo movie “coming (not really) 2031.”
The team wrapped by showing an extended clip from the movie, which looks terrific! The scene, inspired by one of the issues from the graphic novel, follows Kara waiting for an intergalactic bus. She boards it as it arrives, filled with several different species of aliens with some impressive practical makeup effects (reminiscent of Guardians of the Galaxy). Much like the scene from the comic book, a large alien keeps falling asleep on Kara’s shoulder (though in the book it’s Ruthye’s shoulder). Despite Kara telling her not to go, Ruthye is actually on the bus, and is able to squeeze in next to Kara and the large alien. The bus is then hijacked by a band of tech pirates, who threaten to take Kara’s watch and Ruthye’s sword. Kara attempts to fight them, but the bus is too far from a yellow sun, and without that enhancement, she’s outmatched. She sees through the bus windshield that they are in view of a planet with a yellow sun. She’s thrown off the bus without a suit, and is on the verge of dying in space when a conveniently-rising yellow sun’s rays reach her just in time, enabling her to go full “super” and take out the tech pirates.
It was a fun scene that paid homage to the comic. It also establishes the consistent rule we saw in Superman, which is that Kryptonians truly need to absorb and store solar energy from a yellow sun in their cells to heal and become invulnerable. This is incredibly interesting for the DCU because it does up the risk for these characters when they’re far from our beloved Earth.
Practical Magic 2
The clip ended and the arena went black once more. Then a flood of yellow candles appeared all over the screens in front of us. With a gust of wind, all the candles lit up, as legendary superstars Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman entered the stage to introduce Practical Magic 2, the legacy sequel to their 1998 cult classic. After some really fun banter amongst themselves and host Patton Oswalt (including Bullock making a crack to Kidman about what audiences should expect when they go into movie theaters, riffing on Kidman’s familiar AMC Theaters promo), they spoke about how the crew rebuilt the house featured in the original film, but as a practical set this time (with a full interior and exterior). Bullock emphasized that the detailed craftsmanship in the house made both of the actors nostalgic, and more present.
The movie catches up with the Owens sisters in the present: Sally (Bullock) has two kids, and is single. Gillian (Kidman) has a cat. They showed a trailer for the upcoming sequel, which had many nods to the original, from a self stirring tea cup, midnight margaritas, looks at Sally’s kids played by Maisie Williams and Joey King, a new love interest for Sally (played by Lee Pace) and some fairly exciting supernatural scenes with Bullock and Kidman fighting unseen forces. All of this set to Harry Nilsson’s “Lime in the Coconut” which is a nice callback to the original. Fans of Practical Magic will likely be pleased with the affection the cast and crew are putting into this.
The Great Beyond
Writer/director JJ Abrams will be bringing his first original movie in almost 15 years to the big screen, with a mysterious new film called The Great Beyond. We were lucky enough to see Abrams come out and discuss his latest feature.
Abrams talked about his desire to do something that was not a franchise movie. This is completely understandable, since his last two films were both Star Wars movies. Abrams stated that he wanted to tell a story about reconnecting with the sense of wonder we had when we were kids.
For his film, Abrams collected a veritable who’s who of A-list talent, including Glen Powell, Jenna Ortega, Samuel L. Jackson, and Emma Mackey. Abrams wanted to tell a movie with extensive world building. And while he didn’t get into the specific story of the film (as is expected with his projects), he did show a teaser trailer with a montage of brief glimpses of Powell, Ortega and Mackey. There were a lot of sci-fi visuals, glimpses of comic book stores, and various tech. It looked intriguing but I really want to know more about what the story will be before I commit to saying it looks incredible.
Dune Part Three
What did look incredible was the finale for the Warner Bros. presentation. The lights went out. The sounds of the familiar chanting of Arrakis filled the air. From all sides of the arena Fremen warriors came out and surrounded the stage. Two of the fully-costumed warriors were lifted up on silent wires, simulating the Sardaukar’s suspensor boosts. It was an incredible, immersive spectacle overall.
Denis Villeneuve walked out. The visionary director of the franchise, as well as Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and Sicario discussed how Dune Part Three, unlike previous films, will be more of a thriller. He brought out stars Jason Mamoa, Zendaya, and Timothée Chalamet to great fanfare.
The whole crew discussed how the film takes place 17 years after Dune Part Two, and deals with the consequences of Paul’s rise to power over the past several years. Chalamet detailed how this film sees Paul becoming the worst version of himself, and how this film is, at its core, a redemption story for him. Villeneuve stated that deep down, the film is also a story about broken love. Zendaya stated that Chani has had an ungentle and tough number of years, which has ultimately destroyed her youthful outlook on life. And Momoa stated that, per the book Dune: Messiah, he’s returning as Hayt – a clone of Duncan Idaho – who returns at a time when Paul needs him the most.
We were then treated to the first seven minutes of the movie with a sequence that was thrilling, action-packed, and as epic as we’ve come to know about this franchise. The scene chronicled the landing of a war cruiser on an undisclosed planet drenched in rain. The soldiers inside the ship are led by a much older Stilgar (Javier Bardem). They depart the ship and get off into the wet desert. Some of the soldiers who have never seen rain call it a miracle, but Stilgar, looking much more jaded and disillusioned after years of war, looks apathetic. They are suddenly ambushed by a powerful turret, turning their ship to Swiss cheese. Stilgar and the soldiers take cover. The source of the turret is revealed as a massive ship rises from beneath the sand, ascending high above the soldiers. Stilgar and the army try to take it down with bombs and shield piercers, but their efforts are futile as we see the troops getting further decimated. As with the previous Dune films, it all looked insanely epic!
2027 and Beyond
The presentation ended with Abdy and DeLuca coming out to reveal their plans following 2026, with announcements about the glut of cinematic experiences coming in the next two years. Among them were some really surprising projects in the works including:
Animal Friends
Panic Carefully (from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail)
A Joan of Arc epic from director Baz Luhrmann
A theatrical Game of Thrones film called Game of Thrones: Aegon’s Conquest
Final Destination 7
Hello Kitty
DC Studios’ Dynamic Duo
Flood (an original film from Zach Cregger)
Gladys (Cregger’s Weapons prequel)
The Lunar Chronicles
Gremlins
The Conjuring: First Communion
The Batman Part II
Oh The Places You’ll Go
Warner Bros. was the only studio to reveal their plans for future movies into 2028, which was refreshing. Hopefully future studios take note about this going forward, as it gave theatrical exhibitors a sense of good faith that their venues will have projects for audiences to get excited about for the next few years. It was an incredibly rewarding and impressive experience and really set the bar high for the rest of CinemaCon.
We’ll be revealing more coverage on the other studio presentations at CinemaCon all throughout this week!
