On Tuesday morning, Warner Bros. Pictures took over the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas on the second day of CinemaCon for a presentation showcasing its upcoming slate of films. The presentation is the second of the week, following only that of Sony Pictures which kicked off CinemaCon on Monday night. Warner Bros. Pictures has a vast number of films it can showcase at CinemaCon, an event centered exclusively around theatrical releases. From DC Comics films to Barbie and Dune, the content of the presentation is due to be a surprise with the panel kicking off after CinemaCon looks back at the successes at the box office from the previous year. Below, you can find a live recap of the Warner Bros. Pictures presentation from CinemaCon as it takes place!
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The panel kicked off just after 10:00am PT with Warner Bros. executives taking the stage to the tune of “Barbie Girl,” with pink suits on. They promise Warner Bros. will remain the home for the best actors and filmmakers with a strong commitment to theatrical releases. A sizzle reel looks back at 100 years of films from Warner Bros. before looking to the future, with footage from films like Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, The Flash, Blue Beetle, Barbie, Furiosa, and more. Logos for Superman: Legacy, The Batman Part II, and Beetlejuice are among many to wrap up the montage.
David Zaslav takes the stage. He shares his love of DC Comics and says, “there is no better way,” to use the DC Characters than with James Gunn and Peter Safran at the helm. “[James Gunn] was telling us about the script and what the DC characters meant to him and how when he grew up, what those characters were his family,” Zaslav said. He promises, more details from the 10 year plan are coming today with Peter Safran on hand and messages from James Gunn coming. Zaslav ultiimately discusses his passion and commitment to theatrical releases and says, “We believe in the full windowing of motion pictures. We don’t want to do direct-to-streaming movies.” He says films “perform substantially better” on Max after theatrical runs. “We have an obligation,” he declares. “This industry has brought people together.” He points out they have 16 movies this year and they will show several of them today. “We want to do more than 20,” he reveals.
The first film featured will be The Color Purple. Director Blitz Bazawule and Oprah Winfrey take the stage. “The Color Purple, in 1985, was the most important thing that ever happened to me and today continues to be,” Winfrey said. “When I was cast iin the film, it was my very first acting rol.e Now, we’re doing a brand new version of The Color Purple that could only come because we found the most perfect director who envisioned the remake…It;s a great film.” Winfrey compliments Bazawule’s work as a director, writer, and artist. Bazawule introduces the first ever footage from The Color Purple and it is followed by a short panel with the cast, Tarajii P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, and Fantasia.
Pam Abdy and Mike de Luca take the stage. They discuss their pride toward their new roles at Warner Bros. and their commitment to sharing great stories through theatrical movies. They introduce Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrara, and Greta Gerwig to the stage for a Barbie panel.
“It was just such a huge and exciting opportunity and a rare one because it’s a character that is already globally recognized. Everybody knows Barbie and she’s never been on the big screen before.”
“Margot is the person who invited me on this journey,” Gerwig said. “It was such an incredibly joyful experience, writing and making this movie…When I was writing it with Noah, there was just a point where we’re just making each other laugh all the time and then we got to the end and we started making each other cry.” Gerwig recognized he might’ve wanted to direct iti and she demanded she get the opportunity because of how much she loved the story. She eventually started writing Gosling into the script, having never met him.
“I doubt my Ken-ergy.” Gosling said. He only knew the Ken character “from afar” before this movie. Before he knew it, he was bleaching his hair and shaving his legs and roller blading down Venice Beach. “It just came on like a fever really,” he joked. “Like a pink fever.” The panel discusses the sets which were so impressive that it prompted tears from Gerwig, seeing life-size Barbie houses and more. Robbie notes that crew members who didn’t need to be on set and people from other films like Fast & Furious which was filming near by would come to the Barbie set just to see it. “I think I finally knew what Dorothy felt like,” Gosling declares.”Ken has no sense of humor,” Gosling says, “So, there was no way to hide the laugh.” The set was loaded with laughs while Gosling had to play the most serious character.
A trailer for Barbie plays with a great and fun tone, bringing Barbie out of her perfect little world and into the real world where people are not quite as wonderful. Barbie and Ken are struggling to fit in!
Wonka footage plays next. Wonka, in a side profile shot, asks, “Is everybody ready?” He travels to a tropical island, calling himself a magician, inventor, and chocolate maker. He has gadgets and ingredients and a relentless desire to sell chocolate, despite people discouraging him. “The Chocolate Cartel,” crush all chocolate manufacturers, Wonka cooks up an idea, going on to present his chocolate to people who judge it harshly. He takes solace in waiting to watch the men float way as an effect of the chocolate – and they do. His confidence grows, as does the chaos which includes a tiger and a giraffe, at times. It has a magical and fantastical tone as Wonka seems to be growing into the Willy Wonka became the legend. It concludes with Willy meeting an Oompa Loompa captured in a large jar played by Hugh Grant.
On stage, Chalamet explains how this version of the character is much more optimistic in his early days than the version of the character we saw played by Gene Wilder.
The next film, The Meg 2, debuts its new trailer. It is followed by a terrifying look at The Nun 2.
Dune Part Two is up next. Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, and Denis Villenueve take the stage. Chalamet promises his Atreides characters is more of “a leader” in this next story.
“She’s not just in dreams this time. It was such an incredible experience…I only got such a small time to get to know who she was and now I really feel like she’s a part of myself.” She explains there is a love story but also so much pain in the story.
Flornee Pugh is a “key player in the political chjss game of Dune. He highlights the excitement to have Austin Butler and more join the film. “Part One was more of a contemplative movie. Part Two is an action-packed, epic, war movie…It’s all new sets. Everything is new in the film.”
Villeneuve brought the first look at the film for CinemaCon. In the footage, Paul and Chani sit together on sand. He explains how you can dive into it. Pugh’s Princess wants the end of House Atreides. She wonders if Paul is still alive. Beats of action and tension flash by. Paul calls a worm was Javier Bardem’s character tries to reason with him, encouraging him not to try and impress anyone but rather be simple and direct. Paul ends up falling into the sand dunes and trying to hold himself up with his hooks, wrestling against the wind and the impending worm which he ultimately mounts and rides. The onlookers cheer for him. Black and white footage of fights in a colosseum, colored footage of hostages and war. It is loaded with action and rising emotion. Paul is rallying all of his people and clearly the person everyone is looking to and getting behind.
James Gunn and Peter Safran will close out the panel, starting with a message from Gunn. He explains he is currently supporting Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. He runs through the slate. The Flash, Blue Beetle, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom are all on the way. Gunn shares excitement for each. “They’ll lead perfectly into the DCU slate that we have coming up starting in 2024.”
Safran takes the stage. Safran said this year’s movies “blaze a thrilling trail into the new DC Universe.” “Vast, interconnected, and filled with promise and opportunity.” He calls back to the excitement for Michael Keaton returning as Batman in The Flash trailer. The first film focused on is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, featuring a message from James Wan.
“This sequel has everything we love about the first film and more. WE dive back into Atlantis but we also get to visit beautiful strange new worlds which means we get to expand on the Aquaman universe…We use cutting edge technology to capture and contruct this movie which basically means this movie looks awesome on the big screen….It’s an action adventure story with a really fun bromance story at its heart, between Arthur and Orm…This time around, Arthur needs him to stop a vengeful Black Manta from unleashing a powerful ancient evil.”
Footage plays, seeing Arthur rraising a baby and talking to his father about it. In the full Aquaman suit, he fights under water. He wrestles with giant anchors. He can “feel the tidew shifting,” despite having supposed to be a king. A dark entity is destroying the surface world and attacking humans. It has long black tendrils. On Earth, a black plague is attacking people in town squares. Black Manta is trying to push it forward. Arthur talks to Orm and has to team up with him. Orm refuses to be called brother. Together, still, they fight Manta. Manta has the Black Trident with a power that :”comes from a great evil.” The lighthouse home is destroyed .Manta wreaks havoc. Arthur and Orm exlporer land and knock down statues to build bridges. They are reluctant in their work together. Nicole Kidman is back and involved directly in the action scenes. Ultimately, Orm encourages Arthur to lead. Mera is shown momentarily. Armies are going to war.
Blue Beetle is up next. Safran is excited to introduce Palmera City and the characters within it. Angel Manuel Soto, Xolo Mariduence, and Bruna Marquezine take the stage. “It’s a pretty unique origin story,” Soto said. “One of the things we were talking about was, ‘Good luck hiding it from your Latino mother.’” The family around Jamie is a major factor in the story of Blue Beetle, helping elevate him to the next level as a super hero. “Right off the bat, the family is complicit in his journey,” Soto reveals. “We’re not just putting them there to be placeholders. The family have heroic arcs.”
“We all know kids or young adults like Jamie and although in this movie we’re not tackling an alien invasion,” Mariduena says. “he gravity of Jamie and his family situation really resonates with who I am, as just a kid growing up in Los Angeles!” He adds, “I think he’s the only person to ever get super powers and not want them…Getting to step into the role of Jamie, I think one of the things that I enjoyed so much in terms of character and relatability, as Angel was saying, all of it is surrounding the family…although the name is Blue Beetle…the family is what saves him, at the end of the day, and I think that sets it apart.”
“They meet at work,” Marquezine explains. She works for Kord Industries. “I think the main reason they connect, it’s the family. Jenny, she doesn’t have any family that she’s close to or she wants to be. The Reyes family, they remind her what a family truly is.”
They ultimately introduce an extended version of the film’s trailer, featuring new looks at how there will be world-building on display. The family is quite literally more hands on in the extended footage.
Andy Muschietti, director of The Flash, takes the stage. Safran tees up a photo of Muschietti as a kid with his sister where they’re both wearing Superman shirts. “They are an incredible actor,” Muschietti says of Ezra Miller. “He has everything. He has every tool iin the tool kit…They are an incredible comedian..They wanted to do all the stunts and I let them.”
When it comes to getting Keaton back, Muschietti says they had lunch and went from there. “He was very initrigued about the script. He read it and he was thrilled about it. We had these amazing conversations about where we’d be finding Bruce Wayne, 30 years after we saw him for the last time in Batman Returns.” All of the Batman lore from the original films is coming with Keaton’s return. “It was a movie full of challenges because of the nature of the things we see,” he said. “Luckily we had the support of the studio…and we could build things like the entire Batcave which is something that could never have been done before.”
The presentation concludes with a trailer for The Flash trailer playing.
