‘The Running Man’, ‘The Naked Gun’ footage impress at Paramount CinemaCon session

Edgar Wright impressed CinemaCon with a high-octane trailed for The Running Man in one of the highlights of the Paramount Pictures presentation in Las Vegas on Thursday.

The British filmmaker was joined on stage at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace by the film’s lead and CinemaCon Star Of The Year Glen Powell alongside Colman Domingo and Josh Brolin, after production wrapped less than a week ago.

Based on the 1982 novel by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman that happens to be set in 2025 in a dystopian society amid economic collapse and rising violence, the film follows a man in a reality game show where contestants can go anywhere in the world and are pursued by deadly “hunters”.

Channing Tatum unveiled first footage from Derek Cianfrance’s film Roofman, which is in post and is based on the true story of Jeffrey Manchester, the polite bandit known as the Rooftop Robber who drilled into dozens of McDonald’s restaurants and stole cash until he was arrested in 2000. It opens on October 3.

As already reported, Tom Cruise appeared on stage to deliver heartfelt tributes to the late Val Kilmer, ongoing collaborator Christopher McQuarrie, and show the first trailer to May 23 tentpole Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning.

Brian Robbins, the co-CEO of Paramount Global and president and CEO of Paramount Pictures, made what is likely to be his final outing in the role, should the US Federal Communications Commission clear the way for the Skydance Media merger to proceed and potentially usher in a new structure and executive suite at the studio.

Robbins spoke about the history of Hollywood and emphasised the value of theatrical as a driver through the revenue waterfall. Chris Aronson, president of domestic theatrical distribution entered the stage with his customary flair, this time in a helmet as part of a dirt bike stunt display, although he did not perform any aerial manoeuvres.

“2025 is something of a transition year and an inflection point,” Aronson said, “but one thing is unwavering: people love movies. He called for fewer film trailers and ads in pre-shows, “meaningful” data-sharing between distributors and exhibitors, grass-roots marketing to “potential movie-goers, not just movie-goers”, and discount Wednesdays. “The time is now to turn your businesses upside-down,” he said, “We have the power to make this great institution even greater.”

Robbins referenced several films in production. Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King) is shooting Children Of Blood And Bone in South Africa; David Ayer is in New Zealand shooting man and dog action-adventure Heart Of The Beast starring Brad Pitt; and Trey Parker and Matt Stone are shooting their Kendrick Lamar film, which has been rescheduled to March 2026. A fourth Sonic The Hedgehog and Scream 7 are also in the works.

Ramsey Naito, president of Paramount Animation, announced the official title of The Legend Of Aang: The Last Airbender (January 30, 2026), and name-checked 2025 releases release Smurfs (July 18) and The Spongebob Movie: Search For Squarepants (December 19), as well as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (October 9, 2026).

Aronson cued up extended first-look of The Naked Gun, which will open on August 1 this year. The marketplace needs more comedies and the trailer got plenty of laughs in The Colosseum.

The Paramount pipeline is below. Credits are subject to change

2025

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Dir. Christopher McQuarrie
Paramount Pictures, Skydance
Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Mariela Garriga, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Mark Gatiss, Rolf Saxon, Lucy Tulugarjuk, Katy O’Brian, Stephen Oyoung and Angela Bassett
May 23, 2025

Smurfs
Dir. Chris Miller
Paramount Animation; In Association with Domain Entertainment
Rihanna, James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Billie Lourd, Xolo Maridueña, with Kurt Russell and John Goodman
July 18, 2025

The Naked Gun
Dir. Akiva Schaffer
Paramount Pictures; In Association with Domain Entertainment
Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes,
Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu with Danny Huston
August 1, 2025

Roofman
Dir. Derek Cianfrance
Paramount Pictures; In Association with Miramax, FilmNation Entertainment, Von Waaden Entertainment, LLC
Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Melonie Diaz,
Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias, Jimmy O. Yang and Peter Dinklage
October 3, 2025

Regretting You
Dir. Josh Boone
Paramount Pictures; In Association with Constantin Film and Domain Entertainment
Allison Williams, Mckenna Grace, Dave Franco, Mason Thames, Sam Morelos, Ethan Samuel Costanilla, with Scott
Eastwood, with Willa Fitzgerald and Clancy Brown
October 24, 2025

The Running Man
Dir. Edgar Wright
Paramount Pictures; In Association with Domain Entertainment
Glen Powell, William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Emilia Jones, Michael Cera, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson with Colman Domingo and Josh Brolin
November 7, 2025

The Spongebob Movie: Search For Squarepants
Dir. Derek Drymon
Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies; In Association with Domain Entertainment and MRC
Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy), Mr. Lawrence (Plankton) and Mark Hamill (Flying Dutchman)
December 19, 2025 

2026

The Legend Of Aang: The Last Airbender
Dirs. Lauren Montgomery; co-dir. William Mata
Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies; In Association with Domain Entertainment
Dave Bautista, Dionne Quan, Jessica Matten, Román Zaragoza, introducing Eric Nam, Steven Yeun.
January 30, 2026

Scream 7
Dir. Kevin Williamson
Paramount Pictures, Spyglass Media Group
Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner, Anna Camp, Joel McHale, Mark Consuelos, Scott Foley, Matthew Lillard, Ethan Embry
February 27, 2026

Untitled Trey Parker/Matt Stone/Kendrick Lamar/Dave Free
Paramount Pictures
March 20, 2026

Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie
Dir. Cal Brunker
Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Spin Master Entertainment
Mckenna Grace, Jennifer Hudson, Fortune Feimster
July 31, 2026

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2
Dirs. Jeff Rowe; co-dirs. Kyler Spears, Yashar Kassai
Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies; In Association with Domain Entertainment
October 9, 2026 

2027

Children Of Blood And Bone
Dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood
Paramount Pictures; In Association with Domain Entertainment
Thuso Mbedu, Damson Idris, Amandla Stenberg, Tosin Cole, featuring Cynthia Erivo, Lashana Lynch, Zackary Momoh, Saniyya Sidney, Chiwetel Ejiofor as King Saran, Regina King as Queen Nehanda, with Idris Elba and Viola Davis.
January 15, 2027

Sonic The Hedgehog 4
Paramount Pictures; In Association with Sega Sammy Group
March 19, 2027

TBD

Heart Of The Beast
Dir. David Ayer
Paramount Pictures; In Association with Domain Entertainment
Brad Pitt, J.K. Simmons, Anna Lambe
TBD.

• Uncertainty reigns as international film and TV sector digests impact of US tariffs