Paramount Brings Mission: Impossible, Top Gun: Maverick, and More to CinemaCon

On Thursday morning, Paramount kicked off the final day of 2021’s CinemaCon event with a presentation of its upcoming slate in the Coloseum at Caesar’s Palace. The presentation began at 10am PT, featuring a look at titles like Mission: Impossible 7, Top Gun: Maverick, and Clifford the Big Red Dog.Paramount has been a part of the onslaught of movie posters taking over the halls of Caesar’s Palace all week long, boasting imagery for titles like Jackass Forever, Top Gun: Maverick, and Clifford the Big Red Dog up and down the hotel.

CinemaCon is not an event with tickets made available to the public. Attendees either work for or with movie studios, work in or around a movie theater business, or are a credentialed member of the press. Since the event is not open to the public, we wanted to do our best to bring the best of CinemaCon to you (like this thorough recap of the Warner Bros. panel, for example).

Below is a recap of the Paramount Pictures slate preview captured live from CinemaCon in Las Vegas. It was being written and updated in real time! The presentation began with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in comical a video climbing a rock wall on a set together, sending a greeting to theater owners. It’s the first look at The Lost City which comes to theaters in April of 2022. Chris Aaronson, president of domestic distribution, boasts the success of A Quiet Place Part II and Paramount’s decision to release it only in theaters.

Mission: Impossibe

Tom Cruise sends a video from the set of Mission: Impossible. He is in a car with Hayley Atwell and Chris McQuarrie rolls up next to him. They drive down a street with McQuarrie ultimately pulling a stunt himself to turn the car around.

“This is far and away the most dangerous thing we’ve ever attempted,” Cruise said. “It’ll be a motorcycle jump off a cliff, into a base jump. I’ve been wanting to do it since I was a little kid. It all comes down to one thing: the audience.” Clips of flying through air. McQuarrie details just how many disciplines went into this stunt. “Don’t be careful, be confident,” Cruise declares. Crew members compliment Cruise’s spacial awareness. They are filming a skydiving stunt with a camera man swerving and interlocking with Cruise through the air. Cruise has been getting better and better at skydiving, ultimately landing right in front of his director. Another location sees a motorcross that has been built. Cruise is jumping 70 foot table top jumps, declaring that he has to land exactly on his mark. The crew masters getting drones to follow Cruise, attaching cameras to him. and the training takes palce over and over again. Cruise was jumping out of the sky 30 times a day. More than 500 jumps and 13000 motorcross jumps. They built a model of the ramp that launches into a put of cardboard to catch the back, as Cruise lets it fall and it held up by a wire. They have to calculate head wind, crosswind, and use the data from multiple jumps to figure out exactly where everyone has to be to get the shot and be safe. Shot after shot plays of Cruise learning how to release himself from the bike to get maximum and correct around of air.

Cut to… a massive ramp over a massive cliff in Norway. A massive crew built the gigantic structures. It has a roll in to gain speed, a long straight away, and a jump. It is comparable to a Mega Ramp from the X-Games, but with nothing to land on. Cruise inspects the area from a helicopter, ultimately rehearsing his skydive portion of the stunt by leaping from the chopper. He opens his own shoot and lands, on repeat. The clouds, the weather, the light, everything has to be just right. Cruise is essentially jumping into fog off the cliff. 

The crew is ready. The stakes are thoroughly known. Cruise lines up the jump and takes off on a motorcycle down the runway. He rides the center of it and launches. Cameras follow overhead and from every angle. The crew watches from their tents. Cruise descends, stiff in the air, using his body to glide. He opens his shoot and everyone claps. After landing, he declares that he can hold the bike longer in the air… so, he does it five more times. It’s one of the most remarkable things an actor has ever done on camera… well, since the last time Tom Cruise showed a reel at CinemaCon.  A sizzle reel shows the entire Mission team together, lots of action, and insane stunts of all kinds. “The only thing that scares me more is what we have planned for Mission 8,” McQuarrie declares. 

Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick showed off the first 13 minutes to the crowd at CinemaCon. It started with the brilliant tune of Top Gun’s theme song over the credits and earned an applause when its title took the screen. A golden sea set saw pilots launching their aircrafts from a carrier, as “Danger Zone,” took over. Maverick, in the present day, is caring for a plane. He has photos of himself and others from the time of the original film, along with a shot of Miles Teller’s new character. He puts on his classic jacket, grabs his Kawasaki bike, and rides out into the desert. Top Gun’s music brings back every bit of nostalgic appreciation for the original film.

In a hangar, Maverick is informed that his program is being shutdown. The conversation is set beside a black stealth plane. The higher ups want Mach 10. Maverick believes he can “give them Mach 10” before the team arrives to shut them down. He quickly trains his body, suits up, and gets ready to fly in a black suit that borders that of an astronaut. He loads into the lane after being reminded he does not need to push it beyond Mach 10. “Not 10.1, Mach 10.” The plane starts up. The speakers and bass roar through Caesar’s Palace’s Coloseum with its jets. Maverick preps for take off as Admiral Chester Kane arrives. Ed Harris wants to kill the program, Maverick wants “one last ride,” and he feels the responsibility to others to achieve the task. Harris’ Admiral enters the control room after Maverick takes off right over his head, leaving angel wings of dust surrounding him. Maverick pretends that his comms are cutting out and soars above the clouds. He is at 7.3 Pushing 8. Beautiful shots from above show the plane rip across the screen to the backdrop of clouds and earth. Mach 9. “He’s the fastest man alive,” he friend declares. Maverick sees the sun rise and utters, “Talkl to me goose.” He is at Mach 9.3. The lane is heating up. 9.4. 9.5. 9.6. 9.7. The windshield is getting too hot. The surface temperature of the craft is rising. 9.8. “Just a little more,” Maverick begs. 9.9. “Come on! Come on!” Still at 9.9 until… Mach 10!

The control room cheers. Maverick wants more though. “Just a little push,” he says. Throttle forward. 10.1. 10.2. The plane is beeping. Master Caution lights up. 10.4 and the jets cut out. Damage to the craft. The control room loses contact with him. From the ground, the exploding ship looks like a meteor bursting colorful into the atmosphere at sunrise. Maverick stumbles into a diner in his jump suit. He is covered in ash and dust and accepts water from a waitress and asks, “Where am I?” 

“Earth,” a little boy tells him.

Clifford the Big Red Dog

The presentation concludes with a screening of Clifford the Big Red Dog. Aarson explains that the film is testing tremendously well and the studio is very proud of it.