Warner Bros. and STX Entertainment Studios Presentations Come To Cinemacon 2019

Day two of Cinemacon 2019 started off with a little unintended excitement and ended with even more.  Before the STX Entertainment presentation began, NATO and Cinemacon did some housekeeping.  First Director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) opened the day and told stories of how films, especially watching them in a movie theater changed his life and helped him imagine and dream.  His sentiments were echoed throughout the morning as each speaker came to the podium.  NATO Chair Ellis Jacob spoke briefly about the industry before awarding the 2019 Marquee Award to John Loeks.

Next Motion Picture Association of America's Charles Rivkin offered staggering numbers about the 2018 box office…11.9 Billion for US/Canada and 41.1 Billion for the Global box office last year.  He then presented the Triumph Award to Joan Graves, Chair of the MPAA rating board, who will retire later this year.  That is when the unexpected excitement occurred. Upon walking back to her seat Graves fell and a suffered a head injury.  Luckily it wasn't too serious and she is recovering tonight.  Finally, STX Entertainment Chairman Adam Fogelson took to the stage and presented an impressive upcoming slate.

He began with a drama based on real-life events called The Best of Enemies.  The film chronicles the unlikely friendship of Ann Atwater (Taraji P. Henson; Hidden Figures) and C.P. Ellis ( Sam Rockwell; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri).  Next, he brought legend Diane Keaton (Annie Hall) to the stage to discuss the movie, Poms.  The feel-good comedy is set to be released in time for Mother's Day this May.  Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) also graced the stage to talk about the police drama 21 Bridges that he not only starred in but co-produced as well.

Next up was the kid comedy called My Spy starring Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Chloe Coleman (Big Little Lies).  Offering up their option for a horror film this year was Brahms: The Boy II starring Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek) who also spoke about working with the studio.  Guy Richie's The Gentlemen sees him going back to his Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels roots.  The audience then got a sneak peek of The Secret Garden and Fogelson spoke about Jennifer Lopez's Hustle coming in the Fall, along with Countdown, Greenland, and Bad Moms' Moms. Finishing up their presentation STX Entertainment offered a few songs from their first animated feature, UglyDolls along with a live performance by Kelly Clarkson.

Later in the day, Warner Bros. offered two hours of non-stop content previewing their offerings for the rest of 2019.  Host Aisha Taylor introduced chairman Toby Emmerich who teased us with titles such as Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Wonder Woman 1984, Matt Reeves' The Batman, and Suicide Squad 2.  He was followed by President of Domestic Distribution, Jeff Goldstein who mentioned the 5.6 Billion Worldwide box office for Warner Bros. in 2018 and the fact that last year was the 18^th consecutive year that Warner Bros passed the 1 billion dollar mark domestically.  Next up was Director Todd Phillips (The Hangover) who offered a sneak peek of The Joker coming to theaters in October.  

Taylor returned to the stage to introduce the adaptation of the New York Times Bestseller The Sun is Also a Star and The Good Liar.  She was joined onstage by star Hellen Mirren (The Queen) and Director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters) to discuss the latter film.  The audience was then treated to a holographic Pikachu who introduced his new film followed by a sneak peek of Super Intelligence.  Next up was Blinded By the Light about a young Pakistani living in England who discovers the music of Bruce Springsteen.

The Shining fans were offered a real street as Director Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House) offered a glimpse into Dr. Sleep starring Ewan MacGregor.  That was followed by Godzilla and The Goldfinch (based on the best-selling novel).  Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) and Oakes Fegley (Pete's Dragon) came on stage at that point to discuss The Goldfinch.

Next up was a sneak pick of the animated films being offered by Warner Bros including Scoob!, Super Pets, Tom and Jerry, and Space Jam II with LeBron James. Then came a preview of Motherless Brooklyn that was written, Directed, and stars Edward Norton (Primal Fear) and includes Bruce Willis (Die Hard) and Alec Baldwin (The Departed). Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Tiffany Haddish (Night School), and Director Andrea Berloff spent a hilarious few minutes on stage discussing their upcoming movie The Kitchen and the grand finale was all of the young and older actors from the losers along with Director Andy Muchietti (Mama) discussing It: Chapter 2. 

For STX Entertainment and Warner Bros., it looks as if they will both have successful box office years once again as the slates they provided left Exhibitors excited for the rest of 2019.

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