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| Author | Mia Blakeney |
CinemaCon 2025 took place at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas from Monday 31 March until Thursday 3 April. The annual event brings together the biggest movie theatre owners, Hollywood studios, and industry execs, for a showcase of presentations and screenings – including an exclusive first look at titles from the upcoming film slate.
Theatrical-First Policies
The theatrical window was one of the key talking points at CinemaCon 2025. Ideally, exhibitors prefer every film to show in cinemas for 45 days, however, the debate continued over whether this should be longer.
Major studios were advocates for the theatrical window:
Peter Levinsohn, Chairman of Global Distribution at NBCUniversal Studio Group, insisted that the company’s theatrical-first policy is “the underpinning of every single thing we do”.
Disney’s Chief Distribution Officer, Andrew Cripps, also reminded the CinemaCon audience that the company leaves its movies in cinemas longer than any of its competitors: “Trust me, that is not by accident,” he said. “We believe in the theatrical experience.”
Stars Show Up to Support
This year’s CinemaCon saw many big names attend to promote their upcoming releases, emphasising the power of the theatrical release. Tom Cruise, Scarlett Johansson, Jenna Ortega, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ana de Armas, Glen Powell, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and many more were in attendance, bringing the excitement for the 2025 and 2026 film slates.
Amazon MGM Studios CinemaCon Debut
Amazon MGM Studios presented for the first time ever at CinemaCon 2025. Mike Hopkins, Head of Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, promised to get “15 big cinematic films annually into theatres by 2027… with 14 titles already lined up for 2026.” This can only be good news for exhibitors and cinemagoers, adding even more fantastic films to look forward to.
Big Blockbusters on the Horizon
And speaking of films, there is a lot of great cinema content for audiences to look forward to!
Hollywood stars from Walt Disney Studios had a huge slate of films to showcase: Zoe Saldaña introduced Elio, Ke Huy Quan introduced Zootropolis 2, while Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis introduced Freakier Friday. Hannah John-Kamen, Wyatt Russell, Florence Pugh and Julia Louis-Dreyfus promoted their upcoming film Thunderbolts.
Paramount Pictures showcased Edgar Wright’s highly anticipated The Running Man, starring Glen Powell, as well as the new trailer for The Naked Gun, starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. Tom Cruise took to the stage for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, praising director Christopher McQuarrie and holding a moment of silence for his late Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer.
Lionsgate announced that The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be coming to cinemas in November 2026, three years after prequel film The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Their presentation included many stars promoting films such as The Housemaid and Hurry Up Tomorrow, and an exclusive performance from The Weekend.
Peter Safran, Co-Chairman & CEO, DC Studios, and James Gunn, Co-Chairman & CEO, DC Studios, took to the stage with Warner Bros. Pictures to promote their new Superman film. Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor and Leonardo DiCaprio spoke about the upcoming One Battle After Another.
Universal Pictures brought Jon M. Chu, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande to the stage to introduce a first look of the upcoming Wicked: For Good, and Gerard Butler and Nico Parker for an exclusive screening of the live action How to Train Your Dragon.
In their first CinemaCon presentation, Amazon MGM Studios brought out big names such as Ryan Gosling, Luca Guadagnino, Halle Berry and Ben Affleck, to spark excitement for upcoming titles such as After The Hunt, Crime 101 and The Accountant 2.
And Sony Pictures unveiled the lead cast of their upcoming Beatles film series: Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Harris Dickinson as John Lennon. They also announced a new Spider-Man film in the works with a 2026 release date, and that the final Spider-Verse film will release in 2027.
If this year’s CinemaCon has got you excited about the upcoming film slate and you’d like to get involved, visit the DCM Campaign Planner or contact your DCM rep today.