‘Wicked’ spectacles, merger gossip and and movie industry woes at CinemaCon 2024
Christi Carras April 12, 2024
Movie theaters need more movies.
Will they ever get enough to truly thrive again? that was the simple, That was the central question overhangingmessage of
CinemaCon 2024,
the annual convention bringing together Hollywood studios and multiplex operators in Las Vegas this week.as
Exhibitors pleaded with the major studios to release more films of varying budgets
year-round
on the big screen, while studios made the case
to exhibitors
that their upcoming slates are robust enough to keep them in business.
Once again,
the annual Las Vegas convention attended this week by theater operators, studio executives, movie stars and myriad ancillary bu siness ownersCinemaCon, where studios trot out executives and movie stars to pitch their upcoming blockbusters,
arrived at a particularly challenging time for the film industry.
After weathering a devastating pandemic that shut down theaters
for months,for more than a year dealing a deadly blow to some and decimating attendance levels for all
two of the most essential parts of the Hollywood machine, writers and actors, went on
striketwin strikes
. The
dual
work stoppages which lasted a combined six months prompted the leading entertainment companies to push a number of titles to 2025 from 2024, disrupting the supply chain and sparking widespread anxiety in the exhibition community.
Box office revenue in the U.S. and Canada is expected to total about $8.5 billion, which is down from $9 billion in 2023 and a far cry from the pre-pandemic yearly tallies that nearly reached $12 billion. Movie theaters make plea for more films, rail against piracy at CinemaCon 2024
Its not enough for us to simply sit back and want more movies, said Michael O’Leary, president of the National Assn. of Theatre Owners, during Tuesday’s state-of-the-industry address at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace. We must work with distribution to get more movies of all sizes to the marketplace.
Though a fuller release schedule is expected for 2025, talk of budget cuts, greater industry consolidation and corporate mergers
have
has forced exhibitors to prepare for the possibility of a near future with fewer studios making fewer movies.
In the extravagant banquet and trade show halls of Caesars Palace, theater operators groaned about 2024 being painted as yet another “lost year” for cinema determined in spite of the grim discourse to remain optimistic
about the months ahead
.
Movies are back? At CinemaCon, theater owners and studios will make the case
“All indications are the rest of the year is going to be a lot better,” said David Fetters, vice president of West Mall Theatres in Minnesota and South Dakota. “The product we’re seeing here is looking outstanding.”
The studios
were more than happy to give tried to give
exhibitors something to hope for during their CinemaCon presentations hyping their movie lineups,
trottin gbringing
out filmmakers and cast members, pulling silly stunts, and playing sizzle reels, sneak peeks, trailers and, in some cases, entire features for their industry audience.
Several companies including Warner Bros., Angel Studios, Lionsgate, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Disney took the stage at the Colosseum throughout the week to give exhibitors a taste of what’s coming soon to theaters and announce some ambitious new projects in the works.Here’s a sampling of takeaways from the event.’Wicked’ brings down the house
While promoting their 2024-
20
25 programming, the studios
got creative and
pulled out plenty of stops.
Distribution executives at Warner Bros. delivered their opening remarks dressed as Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice;
the stars of Universal’s “Twisters” performed a tornado demonstration onstage;
Dwayne Johnson joined a Polynesian dance troupe while introducing Disneys Moana 2; and the head of distribution at Paramount entered the theater in full Gladiator armor on a gold chariot.
But Universals presentation of Wicked director Jon M. Chus film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical
easily
took the cake. Convention attendees arrived at their seats to find a surprise in their cup holders: roses that illuminated for a technicolor light show set to an instrumental medley of Wicked songs.
After the overture, a pre-taped message to all CinemaConians from Jeff Goldblums imposing Wizard of Oz played onscreen, and Goldblum took the stage in real life. Double, double toil and trouble: ‘Wicked’ will be split into two movies
He was later joined by Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible), Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero) producer Marc Platt and Chu, who fought back tears while talking about casting the films leading witches. On cue, Glinda and Elphaba themselves Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo emerged from the wings to thunderous applause.
Like Chu, Grande was overcome with emotion and paused briefly to compose herself while delivering her remarks.(Its a lot! she admitted, turning away from the audience and toward Erivo)
.
As the co-stars held hands and locked eyes, it appeared for a moment as if they might sing live onstage.Alas, they simply rolled magical new footage of Glinda and Elphaba becoming frenemies at college and embarking together on a journey to meet the Wizard. The extended clip featured snippets of Grandes Popular and Erivos Defying Gravity.
Other pictures teased during the studio presentations included Universals Despicable Me 4, Warner Bros. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Joker: Folie Deux, Paramounts A Quiet Place: Day One and Transformers One, and Disneys Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.
Paramount deal loomsThough the studios strove to maintain a facade of corporate harmony and creative prosperity, Amid the displays of corporate harmony,
it was hard to ignore the elephant in the convention center: a
potentialrumored
merger between Paramount Global and David Ellison’s production company, Skydance.
Shares of Paramount Global home of Paramount Pictures, CBS and several other legacy brands and franchises took a nosedive Wednesday after news that a group of of the companys directors are stepping down amid merger discussions.
Paramount, Shari Redstone face investor angst over possible Skydance deal Investors have also expressed concerns about controlling Paramount shareholder Shari Redstone’s
, afraid that a deal could be made at their expense.
This would be only the latest Hollywood merger in a string of
like
deals, including Disney’s acquisition of Fox in 2019 and Warner Bros.’ union with Discovery in 2022.
When asked
Tuesday
about the theatrical implications of another studio sale in an already rapidly consolidating industry, National Assn. of Theatre Owners President Michael O’Leary and Motion Picture Assn. Chairman Charles Rivkin largely waved it off.
David Ellison’s Skydance explores possible merger with Paramount through National Amusements”When Disney bought Fox … I immediately brought Netflix” into the MPA, Rivkin said during a CinemaCon news conference.
“There’s always other things that we can do as an industry association to strengthen our industry, and I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,”
Rivkin said during a CinemaCon news conference.
Rather than avoiding the topic during the studio’s CinemaCon presentation on Thursday, Paramount Pictures
chiefpresident
Brian Robbins handled the situation with humor.
“There’s been a lot of speculation around our parent company around [mergers and acquisitions],” Robbins said before joking that Paramount’s head of domestic distribution, Chris Aronson, “has now thrown his hat into the ring as a bidder.”
“He’s starting a Kickstarter campaign,” Robbins continued as the crowd chuckled.
“So if you guys want to help Chris out, feel free. I’m not sure how the corporate people are gonna feel about it, but we’ll see how that goes.” Japanese cinema and faith-based content reign As the domestic film business has been thrown into turmoil in recent years, exhibitors agree that Japanese cinema and faith-based content have been two of movie theaters’ saving graces. Industry leaders kicked off CinemaCon on Tuesday by singing the praises of Sony-owned anime distributor Crunchyroll’s anime hits including the latest “Demon Slayer” installment.
and Toho Co.s Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One.
Mitchel Berger, senior vice president of global commerce at Crunchyroll, said Tuesday that the global anime business generated $14 billion a decade ago and is projected to generate $37 billion next year. Japan’s ‘Godzilla’ studio Toho broke box office records. Now its Hollywood footprint is expanding Anime is red hot right now, Berger said. Fans have known about it for years, but now everyone else is catching up and recognizing that its a cultural, economic force to be reckoned with. Last year, event-cinema company Fathom Events decided to expand its annual Studio Ghibli series, screening “Spirited Away,” “Princess Mononoke” and other
for five nights each instead of just one or two. Fathom Events Chief Executive Ray Nutt said that the extended runs allowed those titles to gross 142% more than they had in the past. “Anime was one that did very well for us,” Nutt said. “The team is really good at sourcing content and then figuring out where the audiences drive tickets.” ‘The Boy and the Heron’ and ‘Godzilla Minus One’ break box office records During its presentation on Tuesday, Warner Bros. plugged its anime “Lord of the Rings” film, “The War of the Rohirrim,” coming to theaters this holiday season. “We’re … thrilled to be revisiting Middle Earth in a whole new way,” said Andrew Cripps, president of international theatrical distribution at Warner Bros. Another type of product buoying the exhibition industry right now is faith-based programming, shepherded in large part
by “Sound of Freedom” distributor
Angel Studios. How summer blockbuster ‘Sound of Freedom’ became a battlefield in the culture war During its presentation on Wednesday, Angel Studios unveiled its lineup of “stories that amplify light,” including an animated feature telling the biblical tale of David and a live-action drama about a German pastor who conspires against the Nazis during World War. II. “Some of the faith-based things, especially in our part of the country the Midwest have had a lot of good traction,” Fetters said. , citing Angel Studios’ “His Only Son” and “Sound of Freedom.” Nutt added that Fathom Events has also had “huge success” connecting with faith-based audiences by screening content such as episodes of “The Chosen,” a drama series chronicling the life of Jesus Christ. The latest season of the show generated $32 million at the box office, according to Nutt. “It used to be if you were an actor or an actress, and you starred or participated in a faith-based film, you were shunned from Hollywood,” Nutt said. “Not anymore.”Exhibitors make plea for more movies … and flexible windows The consensus among exhibitors is that T
he greatest challenge facing theaters right now is a dearth of theatrical releases,
exhibitors say
.
Members of the exhibition community Theater owners
urged studio executives at CinemaCon to put more films in theaters and not just big-budget tent poles timed for summer movie season and holiday weekends.
“There’s been a bit of a shortage of good content because of the strikes and that sort of thing,” said Mark Shaw, owner of Shaw Theatres in Singapore. “And also, during the pandemic, we lost some of the audience. Trying to get that audience back into theaters is a bit of a challenge.”
“Whenever we have a [blockbuster] film whether it be ‘Barbie’ or ‘Super Mario’ … records are set,” added Bill Barstow, co-founder of ACX Cinemas in Nebraska. “But we just don’t have enough of them.”
Margot Robbie boards Lionsgate and Hasbro’s ‘Monopoly’ movie as producer
During an industry think-tank panel on Wednesday, Disney distribution executive Cathleen Taff defended the company’s decision to delay certain movies including the animated film “Elio” and a live-action remake of “Snow White” to 2025, explaining that at least some of those titles were not finished in time for a 2024 release.
“From a studio perspective … we need to walk in tandem together,” Taff said.
“We have to pick some good dates and we had to do those shifts. And of course we thought about the theaters, but the reality is we’re not going to release an unfinished film.
So working through the slate is a challenge.
“
Another studio executive who was not authorized to comment said that theater operators need to meet them halfway by providing a positive experience for moviegoers.”You want them to want to go to the movies,” the exec said. “When the floors are sticky, and it smells, people aren’t gonna want to do that.” ‘Joker 2’ trailer: Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga lead twisted, musical fever dream An additional issue affecting owners of independent theaters and smaller chains is studio-imposed three-week minimum runs for major movies. Multiple exhibitors told The Times that these businesses can’t afford to let one movie to take up a screen for three weeks because there simply isn’t enough population where they operate to fill seats for that long. “If you run it for two weeks, the community has already seen it,” said Colleen Barstow, vice president of ACX Cinemas. “There is no need to require three-week or longer commitments,” said Chris Johnson, chief executive of Classic Cinemas in Illinois. “If you have a hit, we will hold it.”The next frontier: ‘alternative content’
One
innovative
way that exhibitors are trying to fill the void of studio releases is by showing “alternative content” from reissues of beloved films
and screenings of TV showsepisodes of “The Chosen”
to musical performances and sporting events.
The best example of this phenomenon is AMC Theatres’ distribution of Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” and Beyonce’s “Renaissance.”
Even
Fathom Events, which has been in the business of alternative content for decades,
is going further bygoing above and beyond by
attaching live and pre-recorded Q&As to their screenings, as well as handing out collectible merchandise as an extra incentive
for audiencescome to theaters
.
‘Dune 2’ spices up the box office after a months-long dry spell
“You go to go to a regular movie, you buy the ticket, you watch the movie I don’t mean to demean the movie experience by any stretch of imagination but that’s pretty much it,” Nutt said. “With us, you are going to … get something special.”
Larger companies such as AMC have been partnering with studios to level up their merchandise game as well. See: the infamous “Dune 2” popcorn bucket, which inspired Disney to promise at CinemaCon to deliver a must-have “Deadpool 3” popcorn bucket.
“There are some studios that inadvertently make crude and rude popcorn buckets,” joked Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige during Disney’s presentation. “And then there are popcorn buckets designed by Deadpool.”
