Among the first major events to be cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic was this year’s CinemaCon. The annual convention is facilitated by The National Association of Theatre Owners and offers film studios a chance to showcase their upcoming products for NATO, and cancelled its 2020 event which was scheduled to take place from March 30 to April 2. Having already set its 2021 event for April of next year, CinemaCon has now announced that its convention has been delayed slightly. Instead of taking place on April 26 to 29, CinemaCon 2021 will now take place from August 23 through 26 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
“With all the travel, logistical, and capacity concerns for the convention, our 7,500 attendees, vendors, and studio distribution partners, we couldn’t guarantee we could present the kind of show the industry expects in April,” CinemaCon managing director Mitch Neuhauser said in a statement (H/T The Wrap). “In close consultation with our studio and industry partners, we are rescheduling CinemaCon for August, when we think we can put on the kind of showcase we do best, and celebrate the moviegoing experience with the entire industry.”
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On their official website, CinemaCon will feature “exclusive Hollywood product presentations debuting a slate of upcoming films, to must-see premiere feature screenings, to the biggest stars, producers and directors, CinemaCon will jumpstart the excitement and buzz that surrounds the summer season (and beyond) at the box office.”
It continues, “The CinemaCon schedule will be broad, diverse, educational and fun, and will feature the largest cinema trade show in the world. It will appeal to and attract all facets of the international motion picture theater industry—exhibition, distribution, marketing, publicity and advertising, internet and social media and of course, the theater equipment and concessions manufacturers and dealers who will showcase the latest technological advances and innovative concession offerings at the trade show.”
The biggest question for what a new CinemaCon will be like is how studios and equipment manufacturers will handle their presentations. Movie theater companies are in dire straights after mostly being shuttered for much of the calendar year, and it frankly remains to be seen how healthy of a business it will even be through the first part of 2021, let alone by the ending of the summer. Considering the frequent delays by film studios also makes participating in CinemaCon a potentially fruitless endeavor as they might have to delay shown off films yet again.
(Cover photo Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
