{"id":96214,"date":"2022-04-25T19:28:57","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T13:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/5-things-to-watch-at-cinemacon-as-movie-theaters-hit-a-crossroads\/"},"modified":"2022-04-25T19:28:57","modified_gmt":"2022-04-25T13:58:57","slug":"5-things-to-watch-at-cinemacon-as-movie-theaters-hit-a-crossroads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/5-things-to-watch-at-cinemacon-as-movie-theaters-hit-a-crossroads\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Things to Watch at CinemaCon as Movie Theaters Hit a Crossroads"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sony will take a \u201dSpider-Man\u201c victory lap, Warner Bros. Discovery will make its debut, and fingers are crossed for \u201dAvatar 2\u201c <\/p>\n

\n

But with more competition than ever from streaming services and the film production pipeline still being rebuilt after pandemic shutdowns, the next year will see theaters make a push to reach pre-pandemic revenues despite 2022 ticket sales that still amount to roughly half of what was seen in 2017-19. What unfolds over the next two years will determine the new normal for moviegoing. <\/p>\n

Here are some of the things to watch at CinemaCon as it unfolds: <\/p>\n

\"Josh
Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tom Rothman (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Sony takes a victory lap<\/h2>\n

Sony isn\u2019t done singing the praises of \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home\u201d and its $1.89 billion box office haul, and CinemaCon will be the perfect place for Sony Pictures chair Tom Rothman to take a victory lap in front of cinema owners eager to hear why movie theaters are still so vital in a post-COVID world.<\/p>\n

Because Sony doesn\u2019t have a streaming service of its own (unless you count selling movies like \u201cCinderella\u201d and \u201cHotel Transylvania: Transformania\u201d to Amazon Prime and other streamers), they\u2019re the perfect people to headline CinemaCon\u2019s opening night and tout how much they value theaters. In fact, Sony\u2019s execs last year did just that when they pointed to the success of 20th Century\u2019s \u201cFree Guy\u201d as an example of why theatrical exclusivity still matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat film has done great business because, No. 1, it\u2019s terrific; and No. 2, you can\u2019t watch it at home on television! Go f\u2014ing figure!\u201d Sony\u2019s Tom Rothman said at Caesar\u2019s Palace last August. \u201cYou remember Bill Clinton and \u2018It\u2019s the economy, stupid?\u2019 It\u2019s the window, stupid!\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, now Sony can tow the same line but with its own films, not just \u201cSpider-Man\u201d but also Tom Holland\u2019s \u201cUncharted,\u201d which has made $389.5 million worldwide and is likely to get a sequel, as well as \u201cVenom: Let There Be Carnage,\u201d which cracked the $500 million global mark. And the studio will proudly stand behind theatrical exclusives like \u201cBullet Train,\u201d TriStar\u2019s \u201cThe Woman King\u201d and even more web slinging with \u201cSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: Part One,\u201d which may still get a sneak preview even as it has been moved to summer 2023. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\u2018Spider-Man:<\/p><\/div>\n

2. The Discovery era begins at Warner Bros.<\/h2>\n

CinemaCon will be the first public appearance of Warner Bros.\u2019 theatrical execs since the completion of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger this month and the arrival of new CEO David Zaslav. It will also come as Warner moves on from its 2021 day-and-date experiment with releasing films simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. While the former may be noted in the execs\u2019 speeches, don\u2019t expect any mention of the latter.<\/p>\n

Instead, Warner\u2019s team will likely point to the success of \u201cThe Batman\u201d \u2014 just the fifth film in the past year to crack $750 million worldwide<\/a> \u2014 as an example of the studio\u2019s commitment to boosting theaters with the biggest blockbusters. <\/p>\n

To that end, expect a DC-heavy presentation with sneak peeks of Dwayne Johnson\u2019s \u201cBlack Adam\u201d and \u201cDC League of Super-Pets,\u201d as well as this holiday season\u2019s \u201cShazam: Fury of the Gods,\u201d which Warner insiders say is pretty much in the can. Among the non-superhero fare will be Baz Luhrmann\u2019s \u201cElvis\u201d biopic and Olivia Wilde\u2019s New Line thriller \u201cDon\u2019t Worry Darling.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"
\u201cAvatar\u201d (20th Century Fox)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3. What big surprises are in store?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Will CinemaCon finally give us the first look at \u201cAvatar 2,\u201d which James Cameron has been working on for over a decade at 20th Century? That one could be the white whale for just how long we\u2019ve been hearing about the sequels and how much hangs on their success. <\/p>\n

What about Marvel\u2019s \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever,\u201d Lionsgate\u2019s \u201cJohn Wick: Chapter 4,\u201d Steven Spielberg\u2019s \u201cThe Fabelmans\u201d for Universal or Damien Chazelle\u2019s \u201cBabylon\u201d for Paramount? Any could be fairly Earth-shattering trailer debuts should their respective studios keep them as CinemaCon exclusives or decide to subsequently drop them online.<\/p>\n

Previous years have yielded some other surprises too, with star-studded appearances during presentations or other industry news, such as when the Erwin Brothers announced their own Kingdom Story Company during Lionsgate\u2019s presentation. Warner Bros. in the past leaned on early looks at \u201cThe Matrix: Resurrections,\u201d and we may get some clarity on release strategies for various studios. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Why<\/p><\/div>\n

4. The streaming elephant in the room<\/h2>\n

Streaming has always been a touchy issue at CinemaCon, with Netflix as the big boogeyman. But even as a good number of moviegoers have come back since theaters reopened, many wonder if COVID quarantines have led others to kick the theater-going habit and if studios will make long-term shifts in their distribution plans to meet the drop in demand. <\/p>\n

While Disney may be about to pack theaters yet again with Marvel\u2019s \u201cDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,\u201d theater execs are still smarting about the company\u2019s decision to pull the Pixar animated film \u201cTurning Red\u201d from theaters for an exclusive streaming launch on Disney+. <\/p>\n

Expect Disney\u2019s execs to reaffirm their commitment to exhibition on the Caesars Palace stage, but how many attendees will be thinking about CEO Bob Chapek\u2019s comments on an investor call about how the success of \u201cEncanto\u201d on streaming proved that theaters aren\u2019t the only way to start a franchise?<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\u2018Encanto\u2019<\/p><\/div>\n

5. Are blockbusters the only game in town?<\/h2>\n

The biggest question that\u2019s hanging over the industry is whether anything outside of the biggest franchise tentpoles can make any serious cash in this post-shutdown theatrical market. Exhibitors\u2019 hopes of return to pre-pandemic revenue levels depend on that answer.<\/p>\n

In the past 13 months, though, theaters have found the box office charts languish for weeks with poor revenue until a big blockbuster spiked ticket sales again. Such was the case in Q1, as the $134 million opening of \u201cThe Batman\u201d bailed out a box office that had grossed less than $800 million in North America through January and February. <\/p>\n

Even now, the $1.71 billion domestic box office to date for 2022 is roughly half the total grossed in 2017. A summer filled with films like \u201cDoctor Strange 2\u201d and \u201cJurassic World: Dominion\u201d should help bridge that gap somewhat, but the sheer number of theatrical releases this year is still well below pre-pandemic levels. <\/p>\n

While that\u2019s partly due to ongoing COVID delays and bottlenecks in film production, some studios like Warner Bros. and Searchlight have pivoted to releasing fewer films theatrically, with some mid-budget mature titles and indie acquisitions going directly to services like HBO Max or Hulu instead. That puts more pressure on theatrical releases like \u201cElvis\u201d and \u201cDownton Abbey: A New Era\u201d to bring back older moviegoers. And if they don\u2019t come back, next year\u2019s CinemaCon may arrive with a recognition that the business has been permanently diminished.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Why<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sony will take a \u201dSpider-Man\u201c victory lap, Warner Bros. Discovery will make its debut, and fingers are crossed for \u201dAvatar 2\u201c But with more competition than ever from streaming services and the film production pipeline still being rebuilt after pandemic shutdowns, the next year will see theaters make a push to reach pre-pandemic revenues despite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":96215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,3,105,106],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/1650895138_5-Things-to-Watch-at-CinemaCon-as-Movie-Theaters-Hit.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96214"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}