Genuine enthusiasm coursed through the Caesar’s Palace conference centre and Colosseum at 2023 CinemaCon. Footage from Wicked Part 1, Oppenheimer and Next Goal Wins were the talk of the show, Oprah Winfrey made her Con appearance to talk up The Color Purple, and Vin Diesel talked… and talked.
Screen takes a look at six take-aways from this year’s exhibitors convention in Las Vegas.
Theatrical is ba-ack (but terms and conditions apply)
The raison d’etre of an exhibitor convention is to promote cinema-going and while it’s fair to say CinemaCon ran on little else but blind faith in the last two pandemic years, the just-finished 2023 iteration seemed to offer real reasons to be cheerful. Powered by The Super Mario Bros. Movie which will cross $1bn worldwide this weekend, box office stood at $2.55bn through April 27, up 35.4% on 2022 (and down 21.9% on 2019) and there are forecast to be 100 wide releases (on more than 2,000 screens) this year compared to 71 in 2022.
Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav made a rare appearance for a head of a media giant and confirmed his commitment to “full windowing” (AKA not straight-to-streaming) as Amazon Studios and Apple commit to exclusive theatrical releases for select films and have reportedly pledged to spend $1bn a year on theatrical. While that is not a huge amount for companies with trillion dollar market caps, it is nonetheless an encouraging first step by streamers. As has been widely reported, Netflix has chosen a different path.
The optimism is real – Blumhouse founder Jason Blum whooped excitedly during his segment of the Universal presentation – however the industry is not out of the woods yet. Attendees agree there needs to be a wide range of films offering something for everyone, each week. Family and older audiences have demonstrated they are willing to come out for the right films and Movio issued an illuminating report of the most popular 2022 theatrical releases among the Gen Z and over-55 crowd. And let’s not forget that ticket price inflation masks a decades-long gradual admissions decline. But still, reasons to be cheerful.
Theatres need to support independent and specialty cinema
Martin Scorsese said it during the Legend of Cinema award lunch when he sat down for a surprisingly stiff conversation with Leonardo DiCaprio. “I would love you [exhibitors] to find a way to help smaller independent films find their way back into the multiplexes,” said Scorsese, hours after unveiling a first look from his 3.5-hour Apple/Paramount tentpole Killers Of The Flower Moon, which reportedly cost more than $200m. The Legend of Cinema reminded a packed ballroom that independent filmmakers just might go on to make blockbusters. “You’ll be investing in the future of the movie business.”
His words echoed those of Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski the day before. “Christopher Nolan, Rian Johnson, Ryan Coogler, Taika Waititi, Patty Jenkins, Chloe Zhao and countless others all got their start making films for the specialty audience,” said Kujawski, before delivering the best line of the show: “In this sense, the specialty sector are the honeybees of the entire movie business, quietly pollinating by developing frequent audiences, new voices, and bold aesthetics that build a more sustainable model for the industry and create a more vibrant cinematic landscape along the way.”
Which titles popped?
Let’s get the obvious ones out of the way, the franchise juggernauts based on renowned IP relying on in-built fanbases which will most likely make a lot of money. John Chu’s musical tentpole Wicked Part 1 at Universal was arguably the hit of the entire show. Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Michelle Yeoh star in the November 27 2024 release.
Also anticipated: Disney/Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5); Universal’s Fast X (May 19); Sony Animation’s Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (June 2); Disney/Pixar’s Elemental (June 12); DC/Warner Bros’ The Flash (June 16); Disney/Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (June 30); Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 (July 12); Warner Bros’ Barbie (July 21); Legendary/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part 2 (November 3); Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballard Of Songbirds & Snakes (November 17); Apple/Sony’s Napoleon from Ridley Scott (November 22); and Warner Bros’ The Color Purple (December 25).
But what of the original stories and left-field choices?
A handful of previews genuinely impressed the crowd at the Colosseum in Caesar’s Palace. Watch out for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (July 21) starring Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt et al at Universal, oozing gravitas and prestige; Searchlight Pictures’ delightful-looking underdog story Next Goal Wins (November 17) from Taika Waititi starring Michael Fassbender; and New Regency/20th Century Studios’ sumptuous, timely humans vs. A.I. sci-fi The Creator (September 29) from Gareth Edwards starring John David Washington and Gemma Chan.
Exhibitors: experiment with pricing and tidy up your lobbies
Paramount’s head of domestic distribution Chris Aronson cited the $8 ticket promotion on the studio’s 80 For Brady comedy with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin and urged cinema owners to experiment with pricing. It makes sense: why should a ticket to a huge tentpole on opening night cost the same as a drama on Wednesday afternoon? Maybe a rethink will actually get audiences into cinemas on a Wednesday afternoon. One fairly common gripe from non-exhibitors during the show was messy lobby and auditorium floors strewn with popcorn. David Zaslav touched on it too, when he urged exhibitors to “innovate” and focus on getting audiences into cinemas.
Don’t go off script
Vin Diesel’s rambling speech about his Fast ”family” and his repeated, effusive thanks to exhibitors went on a little too long. Teleprompters are there for a reason and straying from a carefully crafted script can be the difference between exhilarating the crowd and exhausting them. That said, Universal’s Fast X looks odds-on to become a big hit when it opens on May 19.
Farewells to old friends
The industry paid its respects and bid sweet adieu to two beloved figures, albeit in very different contexts. Erik Lomis, the industry veteran who headed distribution of MGM films until his sudden demise last month at the age of 64, came up in almost every conversation.
Also held in high regard and great affection is John Fithian, the outgoing president and CEO of National Association of Theatre Owners, who has just lowered the curtain his tenure after two decades in the job, three including his role as outside counsel. Exhibition’s top Washington lobbyist guided his constituents through just about as turbulent a last few years as it is possible to imagine – a global pandemic and aggressive and rapid proliferation of streaming – and acquitted himself admirably, ensuring the vast majority of members continue to screen another day.
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