It was the final day of CinemaCon 2023 and it definitely did not disappoint. The morning started off with the Paramount Pictures presentation and, as per usual, they opened their show with a DJ and a dance troupe in hopes to get the crowd psyched up. While it did, it was awesome to see Paramount CEO, Chris Aronson, ascend to the stage from the "sewer" below while offering pizza to some of the dancers and audience members. Continuing that theme, after a few remarks about Paramount and movie theaters in general, he introduced Seth Rogen to discuss Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle: Mutant Mayhem.
Next, the animated arm of Paramount Pictures, told the audience that an animated transformers movie will be released making it the first time in about 40 years that there has been an animated Transformers film and it will star the voice talents of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Laurence Fishburne, John Hamm, and Keegan Michael Key, to name a few. Additionally, there will be a new SpongeBob movie and a Smurfs movie starring Rihanna as Smurfette. She then came out on stage to briefly discuss the movie, which she will also produce as well as write and record new songs for the film.
From animated to live action feature films, first up was Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback to discuss Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and introduce a clip of the movie, which looks great. Next, legendary director Martin Scorsese came out to talk about making Killers of the Flower Moon based on a true story. Fun Fact: Scorsese told the audience that he has worked with Leonardo DiCaprio 6 times and Robert De Niro 10 times. After a sizzle reel for Killers of the Flower Moon, Ziggy Marley came on stage to talk about his father before introducing a trailer for the biopic, One Love.
Actor/writer/director John Krasinski has two projects with Paramount - A Quiet Place Day One set in New York City and IF which stars Ryan Reynolds and is part live action, part animation about a girl who can see other people's abandoned imaginary friends. Finally, the audience was treated to twenty minutes of Mission:Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One and it looks AMAZING. After Paramount Pictures presentation ended, attendees enjoyed a lunch sponsored by Fathom Events and included a "chat" with Martin Scorsese before he was awarded the Legend of Cinema Award.
Lionsgate closed out this year's studio presentations with a quick look at 10 of their 14 titles being released this year including Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, Sisu, About My Father, Expendables 4, Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, The Blackening, White Bird, Ordinary Angels, Saw X and Joy Ride. Just before the screening of Joy Ride, which was hilarious, Lionsgate showed a sizzle reel for The Hunger Games prequel.
As they do every year, NATO closed out the convention with their 2023 Big Screen Achievement Awards show. This year's winners were:
- NATO Spirit of the Industry Award - Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas
- Star of the Year - Zendaya
- Comedy Ensemble Award - The cast of "Joy Ride" - Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu
- CinemaCon Award of Excellence in Animation - Chris Meledandri
- Cinéma Vérité Award - Melissa McCarthy
- Rising Stars of the Year - Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback
That's all for this year!
Photo Credit: Kevin Winter / Getty Images for CinemaCon
