Universal Pictureskicked off its presentation for CinemaCon with a sizzle reel featuring more titles than most will even remember. These quick cuts played to thebiggest franchises, showing off the best action the studio has to offer. The video also went onto thank the exhibitors for Universal’s best year in motion picture history.
Universal President of Domestic Distribution Nick Carpou took the stage. He thanked his team and the exhibitors, giving a shout out to the folks at NATO that produceCinemaCon. Nick then brought to the stage Donna Langley, Chairman of Universal Pictures, to discuss how Universal sees the development of their slate. Langley said she wouldn’t be showing us ALL of their great stuff, but promised that all footage released would be exclusive new footage, not previously shown anywhere else. This was actually a first at the convention, as most of the studios were showing trailers and clips that had previously been released on the internet.
Langley started withWarcraft, introducing directorDuncan Jonesto show off the film. Jones talked about the origin for the film, and how it sprung from the game World of Warcraft with around 100MM players worldwide.Jonesis very excited to be less than 2 months from releasing the epic blockbuster, which has been 3 years in development. The newWarcraft footagepaints an exquisite tapestry of epic battles, fantastic creatures, magic and loyalty spanning different species.
Next up, the director ofThe Girl on the TrainTate Taylortook the stage.Taylordescribed how he kept seeing this book, byPaula Hawkins, everywhere he looked. When he found he could not put the book down and recognized that it was a huge best-seller, he soon understood that it was very cinematic, even on the page. H was compelled to get this project into development.TaylorcastEmily Blunt, who has created a role he calls, “Nothing short of breathtaking”. As you would expect,Taylorhad only effusive praise for the film, the first under Dreamworks' new partnership with Universal. He then tossed to the brand new, exclusive, never screened footage for the film. The trailer is riveting, promising a thriller that is mysterious and too compelling to turn away from. Playing, to some degree, like a (possibly) less violentGone Girl, the drama, if it delivers a fraction of the energy of the trailer, will be almost unbearable.
Next up,Frank Marshall, the producer ofJason Bourne, came on stage.Marshalthanked everyone in attendance for their help in creating a great past year. But he looks ahead to an exciting 2016, revisiting the world ofJason Bourneafter 10 years away. WithMatt DamonandPaul Greengrass, they searched to find this great new contemporary story that has a fresh take on Bourne.Marshallthen kicked it over to brand newBourne 5 footage, where we find our title character ‘remembers everything’. With that, he sets off in search of the ‘rest of his story’. Bourne wreaks havoc on those that get in his way, through epic chases and action-packed fights. He’s on a mission, across the globe, to truly find himself and, maybe, finally find peace. The crowd, clearly, loved that clip.
Next, we hear “LET’S GET READY TO RRUMBLE” boom out. The most famous voice in all of ring announcing history,Michael Buffer, takes the stage to introduce “a comedy concussion” a “snapchat superstar”…The “thimbleweight champion of the world”…Kevin Hart. We’ve seenHart’s comedic stylings previously on the stage at CinemaCon, facing off with the absentDwayne Johnsonjust last night. He was apparently held-over in Las Vegas by Universal to intro his concert pic,What now?Tonight, he marches up the main aisle with dancing girls, to take the stage to a thumping beat. He told the audience to ‘make some noise and act like this is a big fucking deal’.Hartthanked Universal for allowing him to create a great next step in concert comedy films.Harttalked about his ‘groundbreaking’ 156 show world tour. He has traveled the world telling jokes, and believes that laughter heals all wounds and he thinks that he can bring all people together to laugh at him! He said he wanted to create something groundbreaking by putting an action movie with his concert film. He compared his film, lightheartedly, to Bourne, saying, ultimately, that Bourne was “fucking amazing”, and giving a nod that his pic was a different beast altogether.
Hartthanked the audience for their work in exhibition and then introduced his passion, his baby, what may be a look at his last world tour ever.Don Cheadle,Halle Berryand others show up in the clip as it opens.Hartspars with a Russian over a poker table and, hilariously, callsCheadleout as the “black Iron Man”. The scene is a lighthearted spoof on Bond flicks, as he beats a Russian in a poker game and proceeds to kick everyone’s ass in the room. As he stabs his Russian foe, he’s sprayed with the blood of the vanquished. When he asks why his date,Halle, doesn’t have a drop of blood on her (since all she did was watch him kick everyone’s ass), she retorts, ‘Kevin, I’m Halle Berry, I don’t get messed up’.Hartis basically playing some kind of secret agent that is en route to play the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where he sold out the 69,000 seat stadium, before he takes the stage to make people laugh. As the Bond spoof ends, we’re treated to Hart telling jokes and lighting it up like we’ve not seen for decades on the big screen, most likely not sinceEddie Murphy’s Delirious}.
Donna Langley sets up an effusive introduction ofChris Meledandrifrom Illumination Entertainment, who is up next with the focus onDespicable Me,Despicable Me 2andMinions. Illumination’s hits that have grown the label from 2 people in a borrowed room in Los Angeles to a thriving animation studio with 800 people spanning Los Angeles and Paris.Meledandritalks about the July 8 release ofThe Secret Life of Pets, but only, at this point, to introduce an exclusiveMinionsshort that he’s developed,Mower Minionsthat will be attached to theSecret Life of Pets, the only place to see the new short, only in theaters. He then showed us theMower Minionsshort, which sees our characters trying to raise money to buy a new smoothie blender. They steal a mower and set out to operate a mowing business to raise the money. Hilarity ensues and the Minions land their first clients in their geriatric neighbors across the street. You’ll have to see it for yourself to get the gist (since you all know how difficult it is to translate Minion-speak), but at the end of the clip, the ‘clients’ are so entertained by the Minions that, despite the epic #fail of the yard care, the old folks pay the Minions for the entertainment…Enough to buy that blender. But that only satisfies them until they see the next thing they need money for…The new and improved blender.
Up next, the audience is treated to the first 10 minutes ofThe Secret Life of Pets, which seeks to enlighten all of us humans on what our pets do when we’re away at work all day. With an expansive voice cast includingKevin Hart,Albert Brooks,Louis CK, and others (all pet lovers), the film opens 3 weeks afterFinding Dory(as they did releasing Despicable Me (the first installment), 3 weeks after Toy Story 3, in 2010). Dory will provide a perfect launch platform (trailer target) to promotePetsto audiences.Meledandriteases that, after the 10 minute run, they’ll play a trailer cut specifically to highlightKevin Hart’s character, Snowball. While the first 10 minutes shown proves that this is a well-animated and well-acted animated feature that has really appealing scenarios and dialogue, it’s reallyHart’s teaser that leaves the audience with a broader taste of what’s coming in this animated treat.
Despicable Me 3will release June 2017, focused, as in the other installments, on recognizable themes, this time, sibling rivalry. Gru will meet his ‘opposite’ twin, Dru. While Gru is dark, bald and somewhat ‘unique looking’, Dru is blonde, handsome and dressed in bright white. A new villain also emerges inSouth ParkcreatorTrey Parker’s Balthazar Brat, a helplessly ‘stuck in the ‘80’s’ former star.Meledandrishowed several animation tests and cels from their early work on the characters (showing movement of various sorts, like dancing and walking), proving his team has great skill in animation translation.
Up next,The Grinchwill, once again, steal Christmas in 2017 in an all-new ‘modern-classic’ animation. The big announcement for this title?Benedict Cumberbatchis voicing The Grinch! Again, animation tests are shown to give us just a raw ‘taste’ of his Grinch-ness in motion.
Finally, the capacity crowd gets 20 minutes ofSing, an anthropomorphic animated feature telling the tale of animals signing up to become the next great singing star in a competition promoted by a down-on-his-luck promoter, a Koala, voiced byMatthew McConaughey. This is a pic that’s sure to appeal, once again, to families, with a story that looks to inspire at the same time as it entertains. Despite some of the early footage still rendered in story-board, the clip plays well. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that all of the voice cast performs their own songs, ranging from Sinatra to Drake. If this is true, the music performed in this little clip really shows-off some amazing vocals that will fill the soundtrack.
With that, Universal wraps up its presentation, notably without any word on the nextFast and Furiousfollow-up and, disappointing some in the audience who thought we might, once again, seeVin Dieselin his shameless self-promotion on a third studio presentation. Alas, we’ll have to wait until another time to get aFast 8update.
