Convention - Cinemacon 2022: what to take away from Warner Bros. presentation

By Mulder, 27 april 2022

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

If there was one presentation that was highly anticipated, it was Warner Bros. almost as much as The Walt Disney Company. For those of us who have covered the Warner Bros. presentations at San Diego Comic-con on several occasions, this means the presence of many world stars and exclusive clips.  It is thus with unreleased extracts of the very awaited The Flash that this presentation began. The numerous applause of the audience testifies of the important expectation for this movie despite the numerous setbacks of its main actor Ezra Miller. For our part, we would have preferred that Grant Gustin from the excellent series The Flash keep his role for the big screen, so much so that he personifies perfectly this character and his numerous shadowy areas. The fact that actor Michael Keaton takes over his role of Bruce Wayne / Batman and is present in the clips presented easily reinforces our support to The Flash.

Among the highlights of this presentation we also learned from the President of Warner Bros. Studios that The Batman will have a sequel with Matt Reeves as director and Robert Pattinson as lead actor. We also learned that the movie Barbie by Greta Gerwig with Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon, Alexandra Shipp, America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Hari Nef and Will Ferrell will be released in the United States on July 21, 2023. A first official photo was unveiled on this occasion.

Director Baz Luhrman also took the stage to present new images from his new film Elvis, which will have its world premiere next month at the Cannes Film Festival. He refused to describe the film as a biopic, instead calling the project a portrait of the United States in the 1950s, 60s and 70s through the prism of the Elvis phenomenon. "I loved The Batman, but man cannot live on Batman alone... We need to bring all audiences into theaters and I'm here with you to meet that challenge," added Baz Luhrman

Warner Bros seems to be betting this year and next on original titles without overshadowing its strike force that is the DC cinematographic universe. Audiences were treated to new trailers for Shazam! Fury of the Gods (December 16 in the US, December 21 in France), Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom (March 15, 2023 in France, March 17, 2023 in the US). The director James Wan came even to present a preview of new images of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and was joined by the actor Jason Momoa. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson also made an appearance and presented new images of DC League of Super-Pets (July 27, 2022 in France, July 29, 2022 in the United States) and Black Adam (October 19, 2022 in France and October 21, 2022).

Among other Warner Bros. titles, the Timothy Chalamet musical Wonka (Christmas 2023), Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry, Darling starring Florence Pugh (Sept. 23 ax US) and the Stephen King adaptation Salem's Lot (Sept. 9) were also discussed. The director Gary Dauberman himself came to present the trailer of his film.