After Olivia Wilde Debacle, CinemaCon Amps Up Security for 2023 Edition (EXCLUSIVE)

Matt Donnelly
Updated ·2 min read
2

CinemaCon is making sure things don’t get Wilde this year.

The annual convention of movie theater owners is updating security protocols for its 2023 edition, after a shocking breach last year involving “Don’t Worry Darling” director Olivia Wilde.

More from Variety

The filmmaker was served child custody papers on behalf of former partner Jason Sudeikis at the 2022 convention while in the middle of a presentation on stage at Caesar’s Palace. Images of Wilde opening a manila envelope slipped to her by a process server went viral on social media, an incident she would later describe as “vicious.”

This year, numerous sources told Variety that extra layers of security have been put in place to make sure no such hiccups occur. This includes the installation of guards around the stage perimeter, an insider added, as well as extra manpower in the wings, both stage right and left. Additionally, each studio that presents at the Caesar’s Colosseum theater will now control all front-row seating (as opposed to previous years, when certain convention pass-holders could camp out for prime seats). Other individuals familiar with the plans said CinemaCon organizers made these changes early on and have communicated extensively that proceedings will be safe for all participants.

A spokesperson for CinemaCon would not comment on the revised security plans.

“We take our show very seriously. We said we were going to reevaluate and put into place more intensive plans and protocols, and we have. I’m not at liberty and won’t discuss those specific plans,” said Mitch Neuhauser, managing director of CinemaCon.

“It was my workplace,” Wilde told Variety several months after the incident. “In any other workplace, it would be seen as an attack. It was really upsetting. It shouldn’t have been able to happen. There was a huge breach in security, which is really scary.”

To be fair, CinemaCon is perhaps the most inside baseball gathering in the entertainment industry — and is already well layered with guards and surveillance befitting a Las Vegas casino. There’s also an emphasis on ensuring that none of the footage or trailers from upcoming blockbusters are pirated and leaked online. This perhaps made the Wilde incident so unbelievable in the first place, though reports at the time said the process server was credentialed as an industry professional and therefore had access to the Colosseum theater.

CinemaCon 2023 will take place April 24-27, and will see presentations from major studios includes The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Universal, Warner Bros. and Paramount. It will also mark the first screening of DC’s “The Flash” starring Ezra Miller.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.