Co-Panelist15:15
So, Barbie, we didn't really get to see anything. We just got the release date for that film. Barbie is coming out in theaters on July 21st, 2023. So, that's something to look forward to. That's really all we saw from Barbie, but of those other titles you mentioned, we did get to see quite a bit. Sean, did you know Wonka was going to be a musical?
I didn't see that coming. I did. I'd read about it. To see it in action though, I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm a Timothée Chalamet fan and I like the Wonka mythos, but I was encouraged by what I saw and I think the fact that his time is a holiday movie and a musical and a children's kind of IP, but something that's going to appeal to parents and kids. I'm very fascinated about where they could go with it. I'm just curious as to over this last year we've seen musicals be hit or miss. I mean, In the Heights, Serrano, which is a really good musical. I mean, In the Heights, absolutely. These are movies that really should have worked better, didn't they? For me, the frame of reference for Elvis, for example, coming out on June 24 of this year is just comparing that to where In the Heights was. That was a June 21 release. So, we're going to have a year's worth of difference on somewhat similar titles in terms of who they're trying to appeal to. And that box office performance is going to be a key data point on the recovery. I think unless I'm over interpreting, Sean, obviously Wonka when it comes out in Christmas 2023, that's going to give us a different perspective, right? 2023 Christmas. I mean, that feels so far away at this point. It'll be here fast, but right now we have so much to get through. Elvis is absolutely going to be a test of the summer market because that's one of those mid-range movies, so-called like a Rocketman or a Bohemian Rhapsody, that can come out and really support the market with a strong performance. Now, the Salem's Lot movie, Stephen King adaptation, small town, vampires. Is that a musical? I hope there's a version that is, but I'm happy with the one we have. The one that we have kind of looks really good. And it looks like it's going to be tied into this cinematic universe that we saw Warner Brothers exploring through those pair of IT movies a couple of years back. It doesn't look like a standalone. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to take this in that cinematic universe direction with all the King Cinematic Universe is there. But that exists in the novels. A big part of that Stephen King fandom are those cameos in those books that hook you in, right? It has a great position in September. I mean, that's where Warner Brothers has had a lot of success with horror movies. That's always been a successful corridor for them. And to wrap up, some people do think of Harry Styles as a superhero. So, maybe this is a superhero film, but Don't Worry Darling with him directed by Olivia Wilde. It's not a film that I know much about. I like Olivia Wilde's Booksmart, her directorial debut. I thought that was a really good film. What genre is this even? What are we looking at? When's it coming out? What's its role? There was like a Stepford Wives vibe to what we saw. But to be very honest, you were there with me last year, Rebecca, when we saw the first footage for this movie. We didn't get to see much more. I'm not sure how much the public has seen, but from what we saw last year to what we saw this year, I didn't learn a lot more about the title. Sean, this is the first time you're engaging with so much footage from this movie. What are you curious about from this film?
I think the fact that she kind of compared it to Inception and The Matrix and The Truman Show, a cross-section of those movies and Stepford, that really tracked me after I saw that footage. I think Florence Pugh has been a star on the rise for years and this could be one of those movies that really continues to push her even further. Even though Marvel's kind of helping do that too at the same time, but she is clearly someone who has a lot of range. And this is one of those head-trippy movies that's going to stand out, I think, and really kind of continue to extend this recovery of non-IP movies. Original movie. I mean, this is what we've been asking for. Elvis is a brand to itself, right? But it's the type of movie that we're not seeing in theaters that often. So we have that opportunity. We'll have that opportunity obviously with Don't Worry Darling at the end of September. And then it's the DC universe and we saw a lot. So is The Flash coming out? Because this movie's been delayed multiple times, has had multiple directors. It is a real movie. It's very real. We saw quite a few shots. Essentially a trailer or an extended trailer I would say and a lot of first looks at some of the characters including Michael Keaton's Batman who had a great cameo in what we saw. Fantastic. I mean nailed it. It was the sort of reception, Rebecca, that is comparable not exactly the same but comparable to what we saw when Spider-Man: No Way Home premiered that trailer at Cinecon last year. Nothing's going to top that. But this was in a similar vein. Sean, I think of what we've seen these first two days at Cineacon, the Flash footage is what got the most enthusiastic response from the crowd. It's certainly up there so far. And I think it was Keaton that probably pushed it over at the end because that's for a lot of people the original Batman, especially in this industry where Batman was one of the very first superhero movies to make superhero movies a thing in the '80s. So that's the next one that we have coming out of the well we have DC League of Super-Pets which is sooner but that's animated, that's family. I mean that is technically part of the DCU? I think everybody's wondering what is and what isn't part of the DCU right now because we're jumping around from Joker and The Batman to Super-Pets to Black Adam and Wonder Woman. This is a brand still figuring itself out and that's going to be one of the tasks of the new leadership at Warner Brothers now in Discovery. That's something they have to figure out. Maybe they're starting to. I think they can coexist things that don't necessarily tie in as neatly as Marvel does it. But we certainly saw a great variety tonight. So, we saw sequels, we saw some stuff from the sequels to Shazam and Aquaman. Did we see a lot from those sequels? What kind of stuff did we get? Shazam, we essentially got a new trailer. I believe it's the first trailer if I'm not mistaken. And that looks like an extension of the first movie, which I think a lot of people love. And Aquaman was a little bit of new footage. They were very clear that James Wan's working on it and you know kind of that usual spiel when a director comes out to Cineacon and reveals new footage for the first time. But all in all everybody that loved those previous movies will probably like these next ones based on what we saw. But listen, I'm not a huge fan but I know a movie star when I see one. And I think we were all a little bit disappointed when The Rock shows up on the screen, not on the stage, with a backdrop in Hawaii, saying he's sad that he couldn't come to Las Vegas and speak to everyone there. But then, plot twist, it was a fake backdrop. He was there all along. What? Blown. I know it was cheesy. The magic of it was cheesy. It worked. You got excited. Come on. It was fun. Man walked five rows in front of me. I mean, that might be the highlight of my week. He's a big man. Don't mess with that guy. In person, you can't like wow. I wouldn't mess with them. I think you can fit like four Timothée Chalamets in one The Rock. I think that's how it works. You just tie them with a string and you'll more or less get to that. No, I'm picturing like a Wonka DCU crossover. Just wait till next year. But he was there. He showed up. And I think what he did was a great reminder of how refreshing it is when you have a star that's engaged in promoting a film. He goes up there and starts name calling CEOs of circuits. But he calls out Adam Aron, he calls out Mooky, he calls out Sean Gamble. He's just having conversations with CEOs unscripted, just going back and forth. It was lively. I think the audience appreciated it and it was really fun. He was very much there to fill the role of the movie star in capital letters selling movie theaters in capital letters and we hadn't seen that for a long time. We didn't see that at Cineacon last year. And this is what Cineacon needed as an event. It's been 3 years since we had a major star come be charismatic, take the stage, engage the audience, and this year we get Viola Davis and The Rock. It's been great. We're only halfway through the week. And they're committed to promoting these movies. We really didn't see this from stars last year, guys. And that's a big part of making sure that theatrical releases work. Stars putting in the work. The Rock did that today. Really funny anecdote here. He singled out Cinemark as a theater where his mom who apparently lives in South Florida. She apparently goes to a Cinemark location close to her house and she'll tell the Cinemark team 'I'm going to go to my local theater, can you set me up in the screening?' Cinemark being very smart, they'll put a couple of Rock posters, put like a Moana poster there, some stand-in theater marketing, and a couple corners. The Rock's mom shows up, the guy makes you money. You treat the family right. You treat his mom right. Apparently, the mom will just walk out with whatever posters they put up. So, a pro tip here. Any of our listeners in South Florida, go to a Cinemark location, tell the staff you're The Rock's mom, you might walk out with a free poster. Just take a stand with you. I'm not sure they'll be able to call you out on it. That's adorable. That's such mom behavior. That's wonderful. It was really nice. And it was just really great to have him there. I guess going through all of this, Sean, what was the one thing you learned from this Warner Brothers slate? Because we said this coming into the event. This was going to answer a lot of questions with a studio that went from day and date to a 45-day window.
I think for me this was a giant underlying message that signaled perhaps leadership, new leadership's intent to return to the good old days because even when we went in there, they're showing photos of all of their archival films from the '50s through the 2000s. I mean, you name a Warner Brothers movie, there was a still showcase for about 15 minutes and Driving Miss Daisy music playing leading into Harry Potter music. It was just a kind of a best of Warner Brothers. And to me, that was the takeaway because it's hard to signal out with all the movies we've talked about, Elvis, all the DC stuff, Salem's Lot, virtually all of it landed in some capacity. And that's a really encouraging sign. Fantastic job from Warner Brothers, fantastic job from The Rock. Really good site. I would shout out to Aisha Tyler. She did a great job carrying the hosting duties as well. You need moderators in these things like lively hosts. She did a really good job. Really conversational talk show style format. Really great job. I'll be interested to tune in tomorrow when we will be dissecting the Disney presentation to see if they can thread the needle like Warner Brothers apparently did. Bar has been set.