Convention - Cinemacon 2022: What to take away from Sony Pictures' presentation

By Mulder, 26 april 2022

CinemaCon attracts more than 6,000 film professionals from all facets of the industry, from exhibition to distribution to equipment to concessions, all in attendance to celebrate the film experience and the film industry.  CinemaCon has the International Cinema Technology Association (ICTA) and the National Association of Concessionaires (NAC) as exhibit partners. CinemaCon is also pleased to have The Coca-Cola Company, one of the industry's largest and most respected partners in the film industry, as an official sponsor.

Sony opened the studio presentations at CinemaCon 2022 this year. Tom Rothman, president and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment kicked off the studio's 2021 exhibitor presentation with a strong commitment to theatrical exclusivity. Since its last CinemaCon appearance just eight months ago, Sony has raked in $3.3 billion at the global box office.  That success has earned the studio high regard from the exhibition community, even as it continues to cede some titles to streaming companies like Amazon, Apple and Netflix. The films Sony releases under its own banner, however, are subject to longer exclusivity windows - it's one of the few studios that prioritizes extending the theatrical run of its films. 

The studio's 2022 presentation began with a look at the upcoming action-comedy film Bullet Train (July 29). Director David Leitch (Atomic Blonde (2017), Deadppol2 (2018), Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw (2019)) was on hand for the occasion to showcase new footage from the new film and gave viewers a chance to learn more about the title's comedic sensibilities and discover some intricate new action sequences. Bullet train is scheduled to be released on July 27 in France and July 29 in the United States.

Actress Reese Witherspoon then took the stage to present the first images of the film Where The Crawdads Sing, which she produced but is not a cast member. This is the second film of director Olivia Newman after My First Fight (First Match) (2018). The cast includes Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer Jr. and David Strathairn. The film will be released in theaters on July 15 in the United States and on August 10 in France.

The actress Viola Davis went on stage to present an exclusive preview of the film The Woman King by director Gina Prince-Bythewood. The film is an epic action drama inspired by real-life events and will be released on September 16 in the United States and October 26 in France. 

Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment has been very transparent in acknowledging the lack of original films in the industry over the past year, pledging to bring more original and diverse stories to the screen in the years to come. This pledge will not come at the expense of their current strategy to capture market share.  

Sony Pictures Studios has once again affirmed its desire to develop the Spider-man universe in the cinema. A sequel to Venom has been confirmed following the worldwide success of the first two films. In this desire to show new characters from the Marvel universe, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as the rapper Bad Bunny, took the stage and announced that he will play the Marvel character El Muerto on screen, becoming the first Latin American character in a Marvel movie. El Muerto will be released in theaters in the United States on January 12, 2024.

The powers and mask of the super-powered wrestler El Muerto have been passed down from generation to generation. Each wrestler had to prove himself to his oppressor, El Dorado, in order to stay alive and retain his powers. When Marcus Estrada presented his son Juan Carlos to el Dorado, Juan Carlos cowered in terror, unwilling to fight him. Marcus Estrada sacrificed his life to try to save Juan Carlos. Out of respect for his father's courage, el Dorado gave Juan Carlos ten years to travel and become brave, then to duel a masked wrestler and unmask him. Ten years later, el Muerto travels to New York and approaches J. Jonah Jameson to organize a charity event: a wrestling match, in which el Muerto would fight Spider-Man. Jonah organizes the match, hoping that el Muerto will defeat and unmask Spider-Man. El Muerto and Spider-Man both attend the match, and Spider-Man is confident that he can easily beat el Muerto. The tide turns, and El Muerto nearly unmasks Spider-Man. Out of reflex, Spider-Man stabs el Muerto with his stingers, injecting him with a paralyzing poison. Spider-Man saved El Muerto in the hospital when El Dorado came to claim his life. El Muerto came to and helped Spider-Man defeat El Dorado. El Dorado still managed to escape before they managed to defeat him.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller then took the stage to show about 15 minutes of early footage from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (June 2, 2023 in the US). This is the first of two animated sequels that will be released in theaters in the coming years. The projected images were still in the early stages of animation. However, viewers reacted enthusiastically to the sight of several new characters from the multiverse and to comical sequences in the film. The second sequel slated for release received its official title at the event, Beyond the Spider-Verse, and will be in theaters on Easter weekend 2024. Phil Lord and Chris Miller announced that this second installment is much more substantial than the previous one, with the largest cast ever assembled for an animated film, over 240 characters in the film, and taking place in 6 universes (so far). Dynamic producer duo @philiplord and @chrizmillrint have introduced the very first image from the @spiderverse Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.

S.J. Clarkson's Madame Web starring Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney is announced for its part in July 2023. Madame Web (Cassandra Webb) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #210, published in November 1980, and was created by writer Denny O'Neil and artist John Romita Jr. She is usually portrayed as a secondary character in the Spider-Man comic book series, where she appears as an elderly woman with myasthenia, connected to a web-like life support system. Madame Web was a clairvoyant, precognitive mutant who first appeared to help Spider-Man find a kidnapping victim. She was not one of the mutants who lost their power during the Decimation storyline. She was attacked by Sarah and Ana Kravinoff, who killed her, but not before she was able to pass on her precognition powers as well as her blindness to Julia Carpenter, who became the next Mrs. Web. Mrs. Webb is the grandmother of the fourth Spider-Woman, Charlotte Witter.

The film Kraven directed by J. C. Chandor will be released in 2023 and will feature Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Russell Crowe, Christopher Abbott, Ariana DeBose and Fred Hechinger. Kraven the hunter is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August 1964) as an adversary of the superhero Spider-Man, and has since been one of Spider-Man's most formidable foes and part of the collective of adversaries that make up Spider-Man's rogues gallery. Kraven has also come into conflict with other heroes, such as Black Panther and Tigra. He is the half-brother of the Chameleon and a founding member of the Sinister Six. Kraven is typically portrayed as a famous big game hunter whose goal in life is to beat Spider-Man to prove he is the greatest hunter in the world. Although he is often overconfident in his own abilities, which he boasts about, he has a strong sense of honor and treats his opponents as equals until proven otherwise. For this reason, in The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015-2019), Kraven was also portrayed as an anti-hero and ally to Squirrel Girl and sometimes Spider-Man himself, whom he came to deeply respect for the many times he defeated Kraven. The character is widely regarded as one of Spider-Man's most formidable foes among his rogues' gallery, and has gained considerable attention through storylines such as 1987's "Fearful Symmetry: Kraven's Last Hunt," 2010's "Grim Hunt," 2015-2019's "The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl's Friend Kraven," and 2019's "Hunted." 

It should also be noted that a new film in the Ghostbusters universe has been confirmed and despite the fact that its working title is Ghostbusters 5 it is rather the fourth installment of the cinematographic saga, leaving aside the disappointing female spin-off. The end of Ghostbusters: Afterlife suggesting a probable sequel is therefore confirmed. 

Finally the presentation of Sony Pictures ended with the revelation of a surprise sequence of the next biographical movie about George Foreman, scheduled for April 7, 2023. This sports drama has a real potential with sports fans. The real George Foreman could not be present and left a video message to tell the audience about his upcoming biopic.

Certainly this presentation reinforces our support for the line-up of Sony Pictures studios who do not only rely on the Spider-man universe to fill their coffers but on a wide range of films and budgets more or less important to tell universal stories that we will enjoy discovering in the years to come.