CinemaCon: Fox Debuts Footage From Buzz Titles 'The Revenant,' 'Joy,' 'The Martian'
By Rebecca Ford
Fox’s presentation at CinemaCon provided a slew of new footage from its hotly anticipated late-2015 films, including The Revenant; David O. Russell’s Joy, starring Jennifer Lawrence; and Ridley Scott’s The Martian.
All three projects came off as very dark and tension-filled. Director Alejandro Inarritu is shooting The Revenant (out in limited release on Dec. 25), starring Leonardo DiCaprio, with only natural light in the harsh wilderness of Canada.
Joy (out Dec. 25) centers on the struggles of a single mom and inventor who is chasing the American dream. Fittingly, Russell’s footage was set to dark music and seemed much less lighthearted than his previous film American Hustle. Scott’s The Martian (out Nov. 25) stars Matt Damon as a man who’s stranded on Mars. The film also stars Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
READ MORE: ‘Birdman’ Cinematographer to Push the Envelope on 'The Revenant’
Fox woke up the theater-owner crowd with a break-dancing performance and a DJ remix of the Peanuts theme song when it kicked off its presentation on the last day of CinemaCon.
Fox domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson walked onto the stage wearing his own hip-hop Peanuts outfit. The studio had a lot to celebrate after a record-breaking 2014, earning $5.5 billion worldwide.
“We have an equally stellar slate for 2015,” Aronson told the crowd after he’d shed his costume.
Stacey Snider made her debut appearance at CinemaCon as 20th Century Fox co-chair. She joined chairman Jim Gianopulos in presenting the studio’s slate.
Fox peppered its presentation with plenty of humor. After a screening of new footage from The Peanuts Movie, Snider introduced Spy star Melissa McCarthy … and 50 Cent walked onstage.
“Hello, I’m Melissa McCarthy,” he said. “I use this 50 Cent costume to get into places.”
Co-stars Jason Statham, Rose Byrne and Jude Law took the stage with the musician to introduce video from the comedy.
Earlier in the week, the studio had screened the action-comedy. Director Paul Feig was in town to present the film, and he hosted the afterparty in the casino’s ballroom. The film got a warm reception from exhibitors, who enjoyed performances by the musicians on the film’s soundtrack at the afterparty.
Fox also showed new trailers for actioner Hitman: Agent 47, the Maze Runner sequel The Scorch Trials and Victor Frankenstein, starring James McAvoy. The studio also brought out Fantastic Fourstars Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell and Miles Teller to present footage from the superhero summer film.
READ MORE: CinemaCon: 'Lego’ Movie Directors Creating Animated Spider-Man Film for Sony
