Disney leaned into 100 years of brand heritage at its CineEurope slate presentation on Wednesday afternoon (June 18), with an array of titles that offer “magic, wonder and joy,” in the words of Andrew Cripps, head of theatrical distribution.
The distribution boss also placed the presentation in the context of “immersive experiences” that “bring imagination to life”.
With new titles from all seven Disney brands – Disney, Pixar, Walt Disney Studios Animation, Marvel, 20th Century Studios, Lucasfilm and Searchlight Pictures – the studio offers a slate with a “regular 12-month cadence”, and films that play “exclusively on the big screen, longer than any of our competitors”.
Disney traditionally occupies the Wednesday afternoon slot at CineEurope – the last of the big five US studios to present to assembled cinema operators in Barcelona.
Before handing over to colleagues Nick Rush, head of theatrical distribution, EMEA, Lee Jury, head of studio marketing, EMEA, and Rebecca Kearey, head of business operations and international marketing, Searchlight, Cripps trumpeted some of Disney’s recent achievements.
Only three films last year grossed more than $1bn at the global box office, all of them from Disney: Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine and Moana 2.
Cripps urged the assembled operators to “team up on trailering” with Disney, adding “let’s lean into this together” – the inference being that exhibitors playing Disney films will see an upside by virtue of a longer exclusive theatrical window.
First up to bat was Pixar, which has imminent new release Elio followed by another original story, Hoppers. In a filmed segment, Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter narrated an extended look at the high-concept Hoppers, which sees a young environmental activist “hop” into the body of a beaver. The segment ended with a sequence from the film offering a “hefty dose of adorable”, in the words of Jury.
Next summer, Toy Story 5 will continue Pixar’s most beloved franchise. Disney played the film’s opening sequence, with non-final animation.
Disney’s live-action division showcased franchise properties Freakier Friday and Tron: Ares. For the former, co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan featured in a filmed greeting, as well as a scene from the film. Nisha Ganatra directs.
The Tron: Ares segment featured a message from director Joachim Ronning, plus footage powered by a score from Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. This is a film “100% designed for the big screen”, said Jury.
The Marvel slate presentation, with a filmed greeting from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, featured The Fantastic 4: First Steps and Avengers: Doomsday, which combines a dizzying array of cast members primarily drawn from Marvel’s Avengers, X-Men, Thunderbolts* and Black Panther franchises. Matt Shakman and the Russo brothers respectively direct these new Marvel titles.
The Walt Disney Animation Studios segment began with dancing animals – in this case from Zootropolis 2 aka Zootopia 2. Dancing has been a theme in family films presented at CineEurope this year, and marketeers will be looking to leverage sequences into meme-friendly content. Disney showed two sequences from the film.
From Lucasfilm, The Mandalorian And Grogu will be the first big-screen outing for the characters from the Disney+ series, offering “bigger scale” and “wider adventure”. Jon Favreau directs, and Pedro Pascal stars alongside Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White.
Searchlight & 20th Century Studios
Searchlight’s Kearey introduced two upcoming titles – Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? and Martin McDonagh’s Easter Island-set Wild Horse Nine – before introducing footage and sequences for three more.
Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come from Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will offer more murderous mayhem, following the 2019 original film.
Showcased in a sizzle, Rental Family from writer/director Hikari (Beef) stars Brendan Fraser as a struggling actor in Tokyo, hired to be the “token white guy” at a Japanese service offering family stand-in members.
Searchlight’s segment concluded with exclusive footage and trailer for The Roses, directed by Jay Roach, scripted by Tony McNamara, and loosely based on Warren Adler’s 1981 novel that previously yielded 1989 film The War Of The Roses starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. This time, Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman lead the cast, with support from an ensemble including Andy Samberg and Allison Janney.
Disney’s 20th Century Studios has been its most prolific division lately – at least according to the CineEurope presentation spotlighting seven new films.
From director Dan Trachtenberg (Prey), Predator: Badlands will make the Predator character the hero of the adventure.
Next came an early look at James L Brooks’ potential awards contender Ella McCay, starring Emma Mackey with Jamie Lee Curtis, Albert Brooks, Woody Harrelson, Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Spike Fearn, Ayo Edibiri and Rebecca Hall. A couple of sequences – one featuring Mackey and 2024 Screen Star Of Tomorrow Fearn – gave a flavour of the comedic drama.
In 2026, Send Help will see Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien as two colleagues whose unequal relationship at work is upended when they are the sole survivors after a private plane taking them on a business trip crashes, leaving them washed up on a desert island. Sam Raimi directs.
With no footage yet to show on The Devil Wears Prada 2, Disney instead spotlighted the cultural phenomenon of the original 2006 film, which has built up a “global multi-generational fanbase” over the past couple of decades.
Coming next March is Ridley Scott’s Dog Stars, adapted from Peter Heller’s 2012 novel and starring Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley. The film is currently in production.
The 20th Century slate – and thus the whole Disney presentation – climaxed with two priority titles, from directors Scott Cooper and James Cameron.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere captures a transformational time in Bruce Springsteen’s life, as he records 1982 album Nebraska, and is based on Warren Zanes’ 2023 biographical book. Jeremy Allen White stars as Bruce, with Jeremy Strong as manager and producer Jon Landau. A special greeting from Cooper was followed by the big-screen debut of the film’s trailer.
Jon Landau is not to be confused with the man of the same name who was James Cameron’s producing partner until his death in July 2024. Cameron included a tribute to his collaborator in his filmed introduction to Avatar: Fire And Ash, which lands in cinemas in December.
The new film will explore fresh worlds in Pandora – and the CineEurope audience donned 3D glasses to experience these at their full impact in the extended sizzle.
“We make these films for the fans and all moviegoers,” said Cameron, who added that Avatar films are “made to be experienced on the big screen”.
It was left to Cripps to return to the big screen to remind cinema operators that Avatar: Fire And Ash will be available in multiple premium formats including Imax, Dolby, DBox, ICE and HDR by Barco.
Disney’s upcoming slate:
2025
The Fantastic 4: First Steps
Dir. Matt Shakman
Freakier Friday
Dir. Nisha Ganatra
The Roses
Dir. Jay Roach
Tron: Ares
Dir. Joachim Ronning
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
Dir. Scott Cooper
Predator: Badlands
Dir. Dan Trachtenberg
Zootropolis 2
Dirs. Jared Bush, Byron Howard
Avatar: Fire And Ash
Dir. James Cameron
2026
Send Help
Dir. Sam Raimi
Hoppers
Dir. Daniel Chong
The Dog Stars
Dir. Ridley Scott
Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come
Dirs. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Dir. David Frankel
Rental Family
Dir. Hikari
The Mandalorian And Grogu
Dir. Jon Favreau
Toy Story 5
Dir. Andrew Stanton; co-dir. McKenna Harris
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