CinemaCon 2024 Las Vegas: A Global Cinema Celebration

It's April 8, 2024, and so begins the four days of CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first day, as always, was International Day, with speeches and seminars regaling the strength of the Global Cinema marketplace. As they say…the numbers don't lie and movies had a multi-billion year in 2023: thirty-four billion to be exact, thanks in part to the worldwide Barbenheimmer phenomenon. However, the cautiously optimistic reminded attendees that the film industry is not quite back to pre-pandemic levels. Still, the steady growth makes it seem as though those numbers could return in the next few years.

The morning began with a welcome and "State of the Global Market" speech offered by Global Cinema Foundation Chair Alejandro Ramirez. There were brief presentations by the morning's sponsors before moving on to the CinemaCon Award of Excellence in Cinema presented to Le Grand Rex, located in Paris, France. Originally opened in 1932, the theater had gone through several renovations and boasts not only the largest theater in Europe, seating 3,300 people, but also a water show and a few physical upgrades. They also hold "events" for various groups to coincide with current screenings.

Next, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and data expert, Walt Hickey, discussed his book, "You Are What You Watch: Cinemas as a cutting-edge technology. Hickey reviewed how scientists were able to measure carbon dioxide in theaters and determined that audience members were having similar reactions to the movie they were watching. He also threw out other data such as how baby names varied over the years based on movie characters and the correlation between movie settings and popular travel destinations. Hickey's presentation was thorough and certainly made a strong argument for the shared movie-going experience that can only be found in theaters.

After a few more seminars including Exhibitors and Distributors sharing data and changing landscapes, attendees enjoyed a delicious lunch and the awards presentation. Honorees included the Comscore International Box Office Achievement Award presented to Universal Pictures International, Global Achievement in Exhibition Award presented to CJ CGV which was accepted by Dong Hyun Lee, Chief of Business Innovation Officer, CJ CGV, CinemaCon Passepartout Award presented to Rebecca Kearey, EVP/Head of Business Operations & International, Searchlight Pictures, and International Career Achievement in Filmmaking presented to George Miller (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga). Miller then sat down for a thirty-minute "fireside chat" to the delight of the attendees.

Finally, convention-goers made their way to the Colosseum for the opening night events. Convention director Mitch Neuhauser welcomed everyone, offered messages of hope and growth for the industry, and introduced the Universal Vice President for domestic distribution to start off the main event for the evening, an advanced screening of The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling (Barbie), and Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place). While my actual review will be coming in the next few weeks, I can say that the film will be a blockbuster hit. All in all, the kickoff to CinemaCom 2024 was well put together and offered some wonderful presentations while giving updates on the industry.

Tomorrow we can look forward to Studio presentations from Crunchyrole, and Warner Bros.