Warner Brothers CinemaCon Presentation: Suicide Squad, Tarzan, & More

To start their panel at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Warner Brothers played a sizzle reel of iconic films from the studio, concluding with a showcase of upcoming blockbusters like Suicide Squad, Central Intelligence, and more.

Kevin Tsujihara took the stage to kick off the presentation following the reel. He made a big promise to the theater owners in attendance, saying he will not let new technology or a middle man come between them. The opening speech focused heavily on the upcoming DC Comics movie slate, which includes at least 10 movies in the next five years, one of which will be a standalone Batman movie with Ben Affleck. Tsujihara eventually introduced Wonder Woman director, Patty Jenkins, to further the panel.

Jenkins thanked the audience for their attendance and the film exhibitors in attendance for the work. She closed her speech by thanking the filmmakers and actors for attending. Finally, she introduces WB President of Worldwide Distribution, Veronika Kwan Vandenberg.

Vandenberg gave many thanks and urged people to continue innovating films because of the competition. She highlighted the global market and domestic expansions with premium seating and other options at movie theaters. After citing Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s box office success and thanking the distribution team for their work, Vandenberg turned the stage over to Mario Lopez.

Lopez hypes the crowd with super hero chatter before introducing Ben Affleck and Amy Adams. Affleck introduces a preview of the upcoming DC comics film slate.

Henry Cavill narrates a sizzle reel which starts with Man of Steel footage. Leto compliments the imagination which is sparked by these movies. Affleck claims the themes are resonant to people. Animated Justice League characters take the screen before Superman flies by. Each cast member and directors and producers compliment the films. A shot of Wonder Woman from her film is shown before clips from Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad. They promise bigger and better films as everything goes on. Wonder Woman wears a hood in the forest and turns around – it’s a new shot. Suicide Squad and BvS footage dominate the screen before turning to the movie’s premiere. Titles cite the biggest worldwide opening for the movie and its $750 million box office and counting. Suicide Squad’s title takes over and Will Smith says it isn’t a movie about good vs. evil. Robbie says it’s bad people doing a good thing. Footage from trailers is shown. Ayer says, “Who better to fight a super villain than a group of super villains?” Wonder Woman’s logo and theme dominate the screen. She rides a horse with others through the forest. Steve Trevor flies a plane. Wonder Woman dodges bullets and deflects them back at shooters with her gauntlets. She attends a party in a beautiful blue dress. In a much more vibrant costume, she attacks enemies on a horse. A Justice League logo takes the screen and producers narrate how we’ll learn about the characters. Momoa says “Aquaman is the only one who is a human and a God.” Miller and Fisher describe their characters, too. Comic panels take the screen as the reel climaxes, mixed with clips from already released movies, as well as Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman. Diana looks awesome using her shield to block bullets. The Justice League cast and Zack Snyder greets the audience from the set of Justice League in London. Everyone but Affleck is in the video. Snyder thanks the fans and the theater owners. Momoa has tattoos on his forearms.

The reel ends and David Ayer is brought to the stage. He brings out the cast of Suicide Squad one by one. Will Smith yells and gets the crowd pumped up. He calms down to describe how spectacular he thinks the movie is and assures the theater owners that it will fill their theaters. Smith introduces a clip. It’s the latest trailer.

Mario Lopez introduces Russell Crowe who is here to talk about the upcoming film, The Nice Guys. After going on about Ryan Gosling with a few good jokes, he introduces a trailer for the new film, which starts with Gosling struggling to get out of a bathroom stall with a gun. The whole trailer gets some good laughs.

After the trailer, Lopez introduces Emilia Clarke to discuss Me Before You. She also introduces a trailer for the film, which also stars The Hunger Games’ Sam Claflin. The dramatic romance film looks like it’s ready to warm us up only to break our hearts.

Mixing up the tone, Lopez introduced James Wan, and two of his actors, whose recent film The Conjuring 2 is on display. Wan thanked fans and theater owners for the first Conjuring’s success before introducing a terrifying trailer for the movie’s sequel.

Next up is Lights Up, a film James Wan didn’t direct but had a hand in producing. Lopez introduced the film’s director, David F. Samberg and its star Teresa Palmer. The trailer features several jump scares and a demon that can only operate in the dark.

After Lights Out, Lopez introduces a message from Dwayne Johnson regarding Central Intelligence. Johnson is in Savannah, Georgia on set and he thanks everyone in the audience for their work in getting movies out there with his “handsome face saving the world.” He goes on to introduce director Rawson Thurber and his co-star Kevin Hart. The two make a few jokes, including Hart claiming he can “take” The Rock. The jokes conclude so a clip from the film can play.

Bob (Dwayne Johnson) and Calvin (Kevin Hart) are surrounded. Bob drops his gun on Calvin’s his had and starts a fight with everyone around, even using a banana to kill a man. They eventually jump out the window and land on a blow up gorilla. Bob handles it well, but Calvin is freaking out. A sequence reveals that he used to be fat in high school but he worked out six hours a day, everyday, for 20 years. Calvin takes out enemies by accident and Bob takes them out with style and ease. Bob talks like a silly teenager. The two are seen flying in a plane with a gas tank on empty. Bob strips naked in front of a party before a scene where he puts on Calvin’s tiny pajamas.

Margot Robbie, Sam Jackson, Alexander Skarsgard and Christoph Waltz take the stage to introduce The Legend of Tarzan footage, teasing the enormity of the film.

The footage starts with a bearded man hoping to protect his child. He’s surrounded by gorillas and one eventually finds the child crying. Other gorillas approach but the first takes him from the shack and raises him. They swing on branches together as other men fight wars and mock him. Captain Rom is hoping to find Tarzan by holding Jane hostage. Instead, a stampede of animals finds him. Massive explosions and impressive animals and action sequences take the screen. Tarzan is last seen battling an army in the forest.

Now, its time for the final film of the summer slate: War Dogs, which comes from the director of The Hangover, Todd Phillips. Phillips and Bradley Cooper take the stage. Cooper starts out by reflecting on his time in Vegas with The Hangover. Phillips gives several thanks before introducing the footage, which is the already released trailer.

Lopez turns the attention to animated films. The animation division takes the stage. Nicholas Stoller, Phil Lord, and Chris Miller make several jokes about their work and working with Warner Brothers before introducing a “fun clip” from upcoming animated films. The clip says that The LEGO Batman Movie will explore the question of “Can Batman be happy?” Also featured are S.C.O.O.B., The LEGO Movie 2 and Storks. S.C.O.O.B. will kick off the Hannah Barbara Universe.

Stoller stayed on stage and introduces his Storks co-director Doug Sweetland and its cast members Andy Samberg and Katie Crown. Stoller offers up the exclusive clip. The trailer looks like a film which will satisfy audiences of all ages, one which parents can take their kids to and enjoy, as well.

Lord and Miller return to the stage to discuss The LEGO Batman Movie. After some big thanks for the success of The LEGO Movie, LEGO Batman himself chimes in from backstage. Will Arnett enters the stage and questions why he wasn’t involved with Storks, talking in his Batman voice all along. After some jokes and riffing, a new trailer for LEGO Batman takes the screen, set in the Batcave, which is “Somewhere in Gotham City.”

Alfred tells Batman he has to raise his son, who he adopted at the gala. Batman didn’t mean to adopt the kid. The kid, wearing glasses and repeating, “Oh my gosh,” on a loop, stumbles into the Batcave. He starts touching things and finds Batman’s arsenal of Batsuits and eventually the Robin suit. The jokes land pretty well and its a cute exchange. The Joker is shown looking very white.

The cast of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them takes the stage. Colin Ferrell introduces the footage.

Newt Scamander admires the world around him. The cast describes how admirable and amazing the world is as various clips of wands being pointed and huge groups of people fighting take the screen. J.K. Rowling says this is what she was always most interested in writing. The costumes are magnificent and the sets look enormous. A trailer begins. Newt sits at a bench with his briefcase. Some hands start to reach out of his vest. Percival Graves questions why Dumbledore is so fond of him. Newt is heading to America with something living in his briefcase but the security guard doesn’t find it. His lock says “Muggle” on it. He has arrived in New York and the set looks even more magnificent. In different settings, plates fly, people are thrown from tables, and magic is very much present. The trailer concludes with Percival Graves saying, “No human can do what this thing is capable of,” and then Newt stepping into his briefcase as if it were a bottomless pit.”

That concludes the Warner Brothers presentation.