The Las Vegas jamboree swept into Caesars Palace (April 13-16) and not even the temporary airport chaos wreaked by Donald Trump’s Thursday visit to Sin City could overshadow a high-energy event that was dominated by talk of the Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery merger.
Cinemas Dis-United
Adam Aron, CEO of the world’s largest cinema chain AMC Theatres, dropped a bombshell on the final day of the conference when he posted on X, “[I]t is time for AMC to make known our favourable view about Paramount’s desire to acquire Warner”. Given the skepticism in the exhibition sector (and, frankly, everywhere) over the impending $110bn transaction with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), Aron’s statement was a shocker. Screen spoke throughout the week to cinema owners who expressed concern over Paramount CEO David Ellison’s ability to sustain a combined 30-film a year supply line were the merger to go through.
Cinema United president and CEO Michael O’Leary has made the group’s stance clear on several occasions, so there was reportedly considerable irritation on Thursday over the lack of a united front among cinema exhibitors. Screen has reached out to the two other “Big Three” chains for comment – Regal and Cinemark. Cinema United convened an emergency board meeting later that day, although it was unclear at time of writing what the next steps will be.
David Ellison talks the talk
Meanwhile David Ellison looked the industry in the eye and gave his word at the top of Paramount’s presentation on Thursday that he was committed to a minimum 45-day theatrical release on every one of a minimum of 30 features a year from a combined Paramount-Warner Bros.
That’s the plan at least. The studio expects the deal to close by the end of September, although satisfying the regulators is by no means a fait accompli. The young mogul also promised his films would go to SVoD after 90 days of the theatrical release. Some have argued it should be closer to 120 days.
Best show in show
Screen canvassed attendees on the best Hollywood studio presentation (credit to Studiocanal, Neon, Sony Pictures Classics, and Angel Studios for solid work) and Warner Bros’ bombastic session edged it. After all the talk last year of their rumoured imminent departure, film group co-heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy delivered the best riposte imaginable (cf. more than $4.4bn at the global box office and Oscar season domination) and touted a stacked pipeline that includes Dune 3; Tom Cruise on stage to promote Digger; and Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock on stage for Practical Magic 2.
The occasion will not have escaped Davids Zaslav and Ellison when De Luca and Abdy assembled their key executives, thanked the talent, and applauded exhibitors at Dolby Colosseum.
Is CinemaCon a safer bet for studios than Cannes?
Much has been written about the absence of the studios at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival and sources who spoke to Screen attributed this to a combination of timing and the realisation that a lukewarm review will derail a campaign. Given the largely boisterous reception to every clip and trailer that screened in Caesars Palace – including the well-received presentation of DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island (September 25) – Las Vegas seems like the place to roll the dice in the eyes of many studio heads. Will we see more preview screenings in 2027?
What could be Amazon MGM Studios’ next hit?
Kudos to Project Hail Mary for crossing $525m at the global box office, but it was not clear which other of the studios’ releases we will be talking about between now to the end of the year.
The Sheep Detective (May 8)? Masters Of The Universe (June 5)? Potential awards play I Play Rocky (November)? That said, one cannot fault the executive team’s unabashed enthusiasm about this theatrical distribution business. Just hurry up and tell us more about Bond 26.
Superstar performance
A toss-up between Jeremy Strong’s sociopathic cool menace as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Reckoning (October 9) and Tom Cruise channelling ego-driven fulmination as Digger Rockwell in Digger (October 2)
Special award: fashion win of the week
Dresses dazzled and sharp suits cut through… but Godzilla Minus Zero (November 6) director Takashi Yamazaki wins by a mile for the Godzilla claws detail on the heels of his shoes.
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