Sony to Skip CinemaCon 2019; Fox Uncertain
Sony Pictures is opting to spurn this year’s CinemaCon at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in early April, and 20th Century Fox hasn’t decided if it will attend the annual gathering of studios and theater exhibitors.
A rep for the studio confirmed that Sony has decided against making a presentation during the four-day event. Sony and the other major Hollywood studios — Disney, Fox, Paramount, Universal, and Warner Bros. — made presentations at the event last April along with Amazon, STX, Lionsgate, and Focus Features. The hour-plus presentations are usually held in the Colosseum showroom at Caesars, consisting of footage from upcoming films and high-profile actors hyping those movies.
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Sony’s upcoming slate includes “Men in Black International,” “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Sony did not elaborate on why it’s opted out.
This year’s CinemaCon runs opens on April 1. Sources said Fox, which is in the process of being acquired by Disney, has not yet decided whether to make a separate presentation or have it folded into Disney’s presentation. Disney made a well-received 90-minute presentation last year at CinemaCon with footage from its upcoming live-action “The Lion King,” “Dumbo,” and “Aladdin” movies, all opening in 2019.
Mitch Neuhauser, managing director of CinemaCon, told Variety that he’s still planning on separate presentations by Fox and Disney.
“We can be disappointed by Sony’s decision but we can’t be upset,” he added. “There’s been an outpouring of support from the other studios about it. The upcoming show will be one of the best we’ve ever had.”
CinemaCon is operated by the National Association of Theatre Owners. A similar Las Vegas gathering named ShoWest began operating in 1976 and put on its last show in 2010. NATO launched CinemaCon in 2011. The news about Sony was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
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