Warner Bros. took a big victory lap at CinemaCon this year, well-deserved after making $4 billion at the global box office with nine straight No. 1 hits. To keep that energy going, the studio brought out the big guns with Tom Cruise for “Digger,” J.J. Abrams for “The Great Beyond,” and Denis Villeneuve for “Dune: Part Three.” Also on Day 2, Neon showcased some of its films.
In these Daily Dispatches from CinemaCon, we’re sharing the highlights of what we saw, what was announced, what we didn’t, and what was the overall vibe.
The BEST Thing We Saw
We thought Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg would be the wildest thing we saw this week, but Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell was something else. Cruise in Alejandro Inarritu’s film “Digger” plays an aging oil tycoon with gray hair, wrinkles, a big paunch belly, a firebrand Foghorn Leghorn accent, and no patience for the cataclysmic environmental event that his project has caused. The extended look at the film, which was only for the CinemaCon audience, gave a full look at one of the early scenes of the film as they explore the $18 trillion damage that could be caused around the world, as well as a trailer sizzle, but Inarritu said he’s still working on the film.
Cruise said the movie is “wild, it’s funny,” and it’s the kind of movie that “is why I wanted to make movies.” Inarritu also added that the film is about “an uncontrollable, delusional need to control things, even when we know it will fail.” “It’s about a powerful man who did not change the world but changed how people see the world… he makes the worst decision in the world, and that is very funny to see,” he said.
We also have to take you back briefly to this morning when Neon held its own mini presentation. While we got some good first looks at the Sundance horror film “Leviticus” and Chloe Domont’s “A Place In Hell,” which is a campy thriller of two rival women competing for power at a law firm, the real surprise was “Hope.” The Korean film from director Na Hong-Jin is making its premiere in competition at Cannes, and you would think it’s a means for Neon to scoop up viable Palme D’Or contenders in advance (the distributor bought it just this week). But the first teaser trailer for the film revealed a massive, effects-driven, post-apocalyptic, action epic more on par with “A Quiet Place” than, say, “Sentimental Value.” An art house film, this is not, but perhaps the style of the film will surprise us. Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender also star in the otherwise Korean-language film (and they didn’t appear in the trailer), and it will launch in theaters later this year after its Cannes bow.
’The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection
The BIG News in the Room
Warner Bros. kicked off their presentation with some major indie news, announcing that Sean Baker’s next film is called “Ti Amo!” and would be released in 2027 by WB’s new specialized label, now titled Clockwork. Read more about it here.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum” opens in theaters December 17, 2027, and Gollum did a brief sizzle announcing the full cast and their roles on Instagram. The clip came as part of a big sizzle of WB’s entire 2027 slate that also included M. Night Shyamalan’s “Remain,” Sam Esmail’s “Panic Carefully,” the animated musical “Bad Fairies,” “A Minecraft Movie 2,” Margot Robbie’s “Ocean’s” prequel, the “Superman” sequel “Man of Tomorrow,” another “Evil Dead” film called “Evil Dead Wrath,” and a shark movie with Keanu Reeves and Tim Miller called “Shiver.”
The DC film “Clayface,” which had a brief teaser set to a chilling version of “Do You Realize?,” certainly did not look anything like “Superman” or “Supergirl” and instead showed legit jump scares featuring the shapeshifting character. James Watkins directs what looks to be marketed like more of a body horror film than a superhero movie.
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman got some huge applause from the crowd in support of “Practical Magic 2,” and even bigger when Kidman said the line: “We come to this place for magic.” The two of them, along with host Patton Oswalt, had one of the more awkwardly charming banter moments of the presentation, in which the two constantly were stepping on each other’s toes and Oswalt couldn’t help but chime in about how short he felt standing next to the two of them. Kidman said the film picks up “where we have the iconic house, we have the midnight margaritas, we have the jumping off the roof, but we also have the past catching up with us.” Basically, they’re still messes, as Oswalt said. The film, from director Susanne Bier, opens September 11, and the first teaser showed the old house that was rebuilt meticulously, as well as the two Owens sisters getting up to a whole lot of witchy stuff and some sly winks.
J.J. Abrams’ “The Great Beyond” is another original idea and big swing with an Amblin-esque feel, not unlike his “Super 8” film, but on a much bigger scale. He said of stepping back into the director’s chair, the film is about “reconnecting with that sense of wonder and possibility we had when we were kids.” The teaser trailer didn’t reveal too much about the plot, but itshowed a retro computer slowly typing out a famous H.G. Wells quote before cutting to Glen Powell and a blonde Jenna Ortega looking at a lot of glowing orbs, some flickering lights, and running from some spotlights in the sky.
Zach Cregger is officially back at Warner Bros., first with an original sci-fi idea called “The Flood” that he will write and direct and set for release on August 11, 2028, and he’s also working on a “Weapons” prequel called “Gladys” dated for September 8, 2028.
Finally, we saw the first seven minutes of “Dune: Part Three,” which we wrote was “staggeringly epic” as we enter into a massive war sequence. Read about it and everything Denis Villeneuve had to say about it here.
What We EXPECTED to See but Didn’t
Nothing just yet on “The Batman Part II,” which is filming this spring and is slated for a release date in October 2027. This year’s presentation had teases for its 2027 slate as part of a montage, but it focused heavily on what was coming out this year. The same could be said about “Gremlins 3,” which is further off but also has a November 2027 release date.
‘Supergirl’Warner Bros.
What We LEARNED
Abrams shouted out Mike and Pam from Warner Bros. for being part of this “era” of the studio embracing original films, and it’s clear they’re doubling down on originality while leaning into its IP. “Digger,” “The End of Oak Street,” and “The Great Beyond” seem like massive swings, while it should have no trouble with films like “Evil Dead Burn” (the trailer was pretty gruesome), “Dune: Part Three, “Supergirl,” and “Practical Magic 2.” The studio said it would 14 movies in 2026, up from the 11 it had in 2025, and as many as 18 in 2027. We expect to see a lot more from that indie label they finally gave a name to, Clockwork.
“What you see behind us isn’t just a slate, it’s a promise,” Pam Abdy said in front of a massive slate of movies from 2027 and beyond, which also confirmed the news of other new projects from Zach Cregger, another Baz Luhrmann Film, Taylor Sheridan’s untitled “F.A.S.T.” film, and much much more.
Other Bullets
- As broke earlier in the day, Adria Arjona will star in James Gunn’s “Superman” sequel “Man of Tomorrow” as the alien conquerer Maxima.
- Boots Riley while promoting “I Love Boosters” made a reference back to Martin Scorsese’s infamous “amusement park” dig at Marvel, saying “that’s where he disagrees” with Marty, that he believes a movie “can push cinema AND make an amusement park ride,” and that’s what he hopes to do with “I Love Boosters.”
- Patton Oswalt, who introduced the WB presentation, wants to be Mister Mxyzptlk in a new Superman movie. “James Gunn, I know you’re getting my texts.” He also said he saw 117 movies in theaters last year. “I have a problem.”
- Nancy Meyers’ next movie still doesn’t have a title.
- New Line showed a scene from “Mortal Kombat II” in which Johnny Cage has to fight Baraka after calling him a “pussy” and defeated him by punching him in the crotch.
- Warner Bros. Animation gave everyone in the Colosseum bright blue “Thing” wigs in honor of “The Cat in the Hat.” The one we got was probably a size small.
