It’s time once again for studios execs, movie theater owners and the movie stars that make them billions to gather in Las Vegas for a week of trailer debuts, cocktail parties, public renewals of partnership vows and private grumblings about windowing and depleted release slates.
It’s CinemaCon 2026, the annual trade show held by Cinema United where Hollywood’s biggest films of the coming year — and sometimes beyond — are presented to the owners of the cinemas they will be screened in.
Since the event took its current form in 2011 after being previously known as ShoWest, the atmosphere at CinemaCon can best be described as defiant optimism, as theater execs proclaim onstage that moviegoing will forever endure despite the myriad of challenges the industry has faced, from shorter windows to competition from streaming and the challenge of a global pandemic that forced theaters’ doors closed for a year.
But this year’s edition comes amidst a queasy mix of optimistic signs and foreboding threats. The show arrives as theaters have enjoyed the best start to the year since the pandemic. After this coming weekend, the domestic box office for the year will cross $2.1 billion, on par with 2023 and roughly 22% ahead of 2025’s poor first quarter.
Theaters have called on Hollywood to bring them more films, and they’re getting it with major movies coming in rapid succession from the combo of Lionsgate’s “Michael” and Disney/20th Century’s “The Devil Wears Prada 2” in a month’s time, to the loaded end-of-year slate highlighted by Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Doomsday” and Warner Bros./Legendary’s “Dune: Part Three.”
And yet, the specter of Hollywood consolidation — with Paramount racing to complete its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery this year — looms over the proceedings, one that has brought Cinema United to Capitol Hill over the last several months to warn of the existential threat it brings to an industry that has been part of neighborhoods around the world for more than a century. Amidst that uncertainty, what will the mood and the message at CinemaCon be?
Here’s what we’re looking at this week:
The merger in the room
In 2023, David Zaslav appeared at CinemaCon to pledge that Warner Bros. was committed to the future of the theatrical experience, a promise fulfilled last year when Warner became the first studio ever with seven consecutive $40 million-plus domestic openings that included the likes of “Sinners,” “A Minecraft Movie,” and “Superman.”
But barring a possible lawsuit from state attorneys general, it is looking like Warner Bros. will soon be under Paramount’s ownership, with the companies aiming to get the merger done by the end of the year. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has made repeated vows to increase his studio’s theatrical output to 30 films annually with Warner in his portfolio, but that has been met with uniform skepticism from exhibitors, a sentiment shared in discussions TheWrap has had with theater owners and in letters that Cinema United President/CEO Michael O’Leary has sent to lawmakers and AGs.
“This merger threatens the economic and social well-being of our communities. While this transaction will impact theatre circuits of all sizes, it is Main Street America that will suffer the most. Smaller, mom-and-pop theatres will bear the disproportionate brunt of this latest attempt to scale Warner Bros,” O’Leary wrote this past week to the National Association of Attorneys General.
It’s unlikely that Warner Bros. or Paramount will acknowledge the merger outside of perhaps some faint acknowledgement of exhibitors’ worries. That leaves O’Leary’s Tuesday speech, which may not call out the studios by name but could reiterate what he has warned to Congress and to regulators: fewer distributors mean fewer films, and fewer films will mean fewer theaters across the country.
The next phase of windowing
A year ago, O’Leary called on studios to navigate the film industry towards a standard of a 45-day theatrical window, repeating the long-held mantra that longer windows mean bigger post-theatrical revenue for studios.
Since then, he’s largely gotten his wish. David Ellison has committed to a 45-day window at Paramount, and Universal will be transitioning to one for all of its films come 2027, while Disney has quietly practiced an even longer 100-day window since the end of 2022. While 45 days is not yet a hard, fast rule across Hollywood, it seems to be the direction the industry is leaning towards.
But as anyone in the business will tell you, windows are always fluid. It wasn’t long ago that it seemed like the 90-day theatrical window would forever remain untouched. So what’s the next step in this uneasy dance between studios and exhibitors? Insiders told TheWrap that windowing will be the subject of at least one major studio exec’s speech from the CinemaCon stage, and talks of what exhibitors can do on their end to get more moviegoers back in theaters will certainly be a part of industry panels throughout the week.
New studio partners
One presentation that Cinema United has heavily touted will be the first one on the CinemaCon schedule. Along with the big studios, Cinema United will host a showcase for three specialty/foreign distributors: Angel, StudioCanal and Sony Pictures Classics. That third slot was originally to be filled by Row K, but the new distributor backed out amidst an exodus of executives and an uneasy slate — film distribution is not for the faint of heart.
Angel is no stranger to CinemaCon, having hosted luncheon presentations since breaking into the box office in 2023 with “Sound of Freedom.” But this will be its first presentation on the main stage at Caesars Palace and comes at a time when the label is trying to expand its reputation beyond faith-based films with movies like “Sketch” and “Solo Mio.”
StudioCanal and Sony Pictures Classics will also showcase films as CinemaCon shines a spotlight on a specialty market that remains diminished compared to pre-pandemic norms. But their presence comes as O’Leary has urged theater owners to expand their horizons when it comes to choosing which films they screen in their theaters.
While these distributors wouldn’t completely make up for the theatrical output lost if studio consolidation continues, the theaters that survive the industry’s contraction will be the ones that find ways to uniquely engage their local community of moviegoers to reduce dependency on Hollywood’s biggest players.
What’s next for Amazon?
Speaking of the biggest players, Amazon MGM is coming back to CinemaCon after last year’s splashy debut, having proven itself with box office smash “Project Hail Mary.” The Ryan Gosling sci-fi movie became Amazon’s highest-grossing theatrical hit ever with a domestic total of $226 million and counting, and now the studio will look to build on that momentum as it continues its first year with a full theatrical slate.
“Masters of the Universe” will be Amazon’s big summer franchise tentpole, but the film on Amazon’s upcoming slate that theater owners have told TheWrap they have the most optimism for is “Verity,” the Colleen Hoover psychological thriller starring Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway that may become an autumn breakout title similar to “It Ends With Us” or “The Housemaid.”
The studio’s upcoming remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” will also have a higher profile, as it will be the first major project for director/star Michael B. Jordan since his big “Sinners” Oscar win.
Blockbuster bonanza
And, oh yes, there are a bunch of big blockbusters that will be getting trailer reveals as well. Comic book movies may not have their 2010s box office clout, but there will be a lot of fans waiting to hear word of exclusive footage for films like DC’s “Clayface” and “Supergirl” and Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “Avengers: Doomsday,” the latter of which is expected to reveal its first trailer to exhibitors with the first-ever glimpse of Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.
Takashi Yamazaki will be on hand to reveal the first footage and plot details of the next “Godzilla” film, “Godzilla Minus Zero,” a follow up to the surprise 2023 hit that grossed $116 million. Zach Cregger, hot off of last year’s “Weapons,” is expected to show a first look at his take on “Resident Evil,” while Universal is expected to show new footage from the latest films by two of cinema’s greatest directors: Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” and Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.”
On the animation front, Disney is expected to show the first footage for its next original film “Hexed,” while DreamWorks will show an entire work-in-progress cut of its next original offering “Forgotten Island.” Legacy sequels like “Shrek 5” and “The Devil Wears Prada 2” will be unveiled, and potential Oscar contenders like Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning” and Alejandro Iñárritu’s “Digger,” which stars Tom Cruise, will be showcased for the first time anywhere.
The future may be stormy, but heartbreak still feels good in a place like this.
