CinemaCon 2023: Universal and Focus Features Presentation (Live Recap)

By Brandon Davis

On Wednesday afternoon, Universal Studios and Focus Features took over the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace for a presentation of their upcoming films. The presentation followed one earlier in the day from Disney, which succeeded the Warner Bros. presentation and the Sony Pictures presentation. The remaining presentations at 2023's CinemaCon event are those of Paramount and Lionsgate. Universal's presentation kicked off shortly after 4pm PT, following an intro from B&B Theaters and Fandango. 

The presentation starts with a video from Steven Spielberg, Jordan Peele, Jason Blum, David Leitch, Kelly McCormick, Louis Letterier, Jon M. Chu, Elizabeth Banks, Judd Apator, Chris Meledandri, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Christopher Nolan, and other filmmakers discussing the "wonders of movie magic." The video is followed by Donna Langley taking the stage. Langley reflects on Universal's successes, focusing on The Super Mario Bros. Movie being on its way to being the first billion dollar movie of the year. Langley ultimately introduces Nolan to the stage for a discussion of Oppenheimer. 

"I am so pleased to be back here on this stage with all of you," Nolan said before reflecting on debuting Inception footage here. "I know of no more dramatic tale," Nolan says of Oppenheimer. "Picture the finest minds in the country in a desperate race against the nazis to harness the ppower of the atom," he explains. Those developing the technology have a slight chance to completely end the world with the push of a button and ultimately decide to push the button anyway. He jokes there's "not too much black and white, don't worry." 

"J. Robert Oppenheimer is the most important person who ever lived," Nolan says. "He made the world we live in, for better or for worse. His story has to be seen to believed.' He teases there may be a full trailer out to be attached to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 screenings. The 5-minute sizzle shown in the room is stunning, loaded with star power and tension. Nolan's beloved cinematography is on display and the film looks relentlessly intense and dramatic. 

Jim Orr takes the stage, thanking Langley's vision and leadership. "At Universal, we never questioned whether theatrical can survive but, rather, how theatrical can thrive," he declares. "Our goal together, is to meet our audiences where there are and create incredible cinematic experiences." Orr ultimately introduces Veronika Kwan Vandenberg to the stage. Vandenberg points out some of Universal's wins from 2022 and 2023 before teeing up the coming preview of upcoming films,. 

Illumination's Meledandri takes the stage to the tune of Mario music. He thanks everyone in the exhibition community for their support on The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The first movie Illumination will preview is Migration. It star Kumail Nanjiiana, Elizabeth Banks, and more. Meledandri labels Migration as "a thrilling journey with a message that is relevant and timeless." Footage plays. In it, ducks are seen migrating with a family of ducks looking on from a lake. The father is afraid to leave the pond and happily stays there. The mother is ready to see the rest of the world. Together, they head out and fly to the rest of the world. It looks to be an uplifting comedy until they fly into a city whee the looming skyline startles the family and leaves them confused and lost. 

To talk about Strays, Will Ferrell takes the stage with a dog in his arms. The dog is named Sophie and Sophie plays Reggie in the movie. He jokes back and forth about the camera cutting to a close up on the dog for the big screen and debating who the real star is. Footage from Strays sees Reggie bucking Will Forte's Doug, a guy who is ungrateful for his dog and tries to lose her but Reggie keeps coming home. Joining other strays, Reggie realizes Doug doesn't love him and starts acting out with other dogs. At one point. Reggie and several other dogs starting humping garden gnomes before a plot to bite Doug's dick off is hatched. A joke about a postman on a billboard being a "son of a b-tch," according to the dogs gets a solid pop from the audience. The dogs on to do a bunch of mushrooms and trip out in the woods. Thinking they were toys, the dogs chew up and kill a bunch of bunnies. It ends with a dog getting snatched up by a vulture, seen from a distance by Dennis Quaid who plays himself in disbelief. 

Blumhouse takes the stage and screen. Blum proudly touts the success of M3gan and The Black Phone, being originials which can create franchises, "like hopefully the man M3gan's and Black Phone's to come. Discussing The Exorcist: Believer, Blum says it well, "extend and update it many ways, like he did in Halloween." Director David Gordon Green reveals the film is the first to explore the idea of evil taking over the body of not one child, but two. It is the first movie in a new trilogy, Blum reveals. The first footage looks haunting. 

Dreamworks is up next. The studio's first film of 2023 is Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken. "Ruby Gillman is an ordinary teenager gifted with unexpected powers and the ability to turn into a giant kraken." An almost-finished look at the film plays for CinemaCon. In it, a blue girl jumps into a body of water where she is sucked down deep into the seaweeds before her body starts to illuminate and she essentially unleashes her kraken. Suddenly, the whole place is looking up to Ruby (literally and figuratively).  She thinks she wants to just be a normal teenager while others suggest she is destined for more than that. 

Later this year, Tolls Band Together will be the third film in the franchise with a holiday release date. The film will feature five new original songs. Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake take the stage to discuss the film. Timberlake says a big difference is that Poppy and Branch are a couple this time around. Kendrick makes a few jokes about Timberlake's history as a member of NSYNC. In the film, Poppy and Branch have to go on a journey with old friends and new ones to save one of Branch's brothers who has been taken hostages. The two banter really well together before a trailer for the film plays.

Next is Kung Fu Panda's next film, Kung Fu Panda 4. Over the course of 3 movies, Po has defeated one villain after another," the story is described as. "Now, he will face perhaps the most dastardly villain of them all." Jack Black takes the stage, singing to the audience with tunes of "Immigrant Song." He discusses his "iconic" role as Po, the Kung Fu Panda. He tries to introduce a trailer but a production member tells Black there is no trailer for the film. "Po's getting promoted to become the spiritual leader in the Valley of Pace. To do that, he's gotta replace himself as the dragon warrior," Black says, dramatically narrating the plot of the film. In the story, Po starts training someone he believes could replace him. He eventually has to leave and confront the Chameleon, a bad-ass sorceress. It all leads to a showdown with this villain, one who can also summon villains from the past. Po has to defeat every single one of them, all according to Black's dramatic telling of the story.

Focus Features takes the stage. Peter Kujawski opens this portion. After running through the many titles Focus has coming, Kujawski turns it over to Lisa Bunnell. Bunnell tells a story about the Lincoln Square theater, which has a special place in her heart, and she went to see the Mario movie. It was full of kids, teenagers, and adults. Kids were screaming for the characters showing up on screen. Her 21-year-old son was enjoying himself, which gave her a huge wave of joy and happiness. "I said to myself, 'This is the magic of the movies and this is why we do what we do,'" she declares before thanking the theater staffs for the work. 

Wes Anderson's Asteroid City is screening footage. Bunnell promises, "a really great emotional kick," from the film. The footage plays. In it, groups of vacationers ranging from couples to families and other individuals witness an alien encounter and are forced to stay in Asteroid City. It's got the classic Anderson look and feel, with beautiful color and style. Focus goes on to showcase three titles: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, The Holdovers, and Drive-Away Dolls. 

Finally, the presentation wraps up with its main event: Fast X. Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, and Tyrese Gibson take the stage. Brewster reflects on the original film from more than 20 years ago. "From very fumble beginnings, the Fast Saga was born," she says. Gibson recalls joining the franchise with 2 Fast 2 Furious. Kang recalls joining in 2006's Tokyo Drift. Rodriguez reflects on 2009 revamping the franchise. "We all shared an ambition to reach for something bigger," Rodriguez says. Gibson recalls Fast Five taking the franchise to Rio and adding Dwayne Johnson. Brewster recalls 2015's Furious 7 giving the world an opportunity to say goodbye to Paul Walker. Gibson points out that Fate of the Furious became the second film to make a billion dollars at the box office. Rodriguez concludes the lookback, discussing F9 and how it added John Cena to the franchise while also helping drive moviegoers back to theaters. Brewster notes that the franchise has recruited four Oscar-winning women. All of this leads to an introduction Vin Diesel onto the stage.

"I like this room better than the Oscars," Diesel said. "You know I really mean that. I like this room better than the Oscars because all those people who are sitting in the audience in the Oscars are only there because of you. "Fast is now the longest franchise in motion picture history with the same actors playing the characters," he says. "This is our family. The audience is our family. As we were building toward this achievement, we were attracting directors who each brought their own magic to the saga. I'm proud to say that for exactly two decades, the Fast films has been the most successful film of every one of our directors' careers." 

Vin Diesel wraps up the presentation with a speech to the theater owners and how much value there is in people experiencing films together, seeing each other at the theaters, and acknowledges that he is going way off the teleprompter script. "This Fast X is going to light up this summer," he promises. "This summer is only the beginning of Fast X. With all of your effort and with all of your love and the fact that you are a part of our family, Fast X will continue. After this explosive summer, I will have the privilege to stand before you again for Part 2 in 2025."

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