Stars come out in Vegas for CinemaCon 2024

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A celebration of all things cinema took the stage on the Las Vegas Strip, as actors and actresses came out to support their upcoming efforts at CinemaCon 2024.

It was a star-studded affair at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip as the entertainment capital of the world really earned its nickname over the course of the week. There, officials from movie theater exhibitors, alongside international press, settled into the Collusseum several times to hear about the latest and greatest from the world’s biggest movie studios—and some of the stars that make them come to life on the screen.

On Tuesday, Warner Bros. announced its 2024 slate with never-before-seen first looks at upcoming films like Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the four-part Horizon: An American Saga, Mickey 17, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and the debut of the first trailer for the hotly anticipated sequel Joker: Folie à Deux. On-stage, the looks were introduced by the artists that put together the silver screen fare, including directors like Tim Burton, George Miller, and M. Night Shyamalan, and the actors that bring them to life. Performers that took the Las Vegas stage Tuesday included Chris Hemsworth, Anya Taylor-Joy, Kevin Costner, Robert Pattinson, Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, and Monica Bellucci.

On Wednesday, presentations from Lionsgate and Universal Pictures took the stage, with the latter’s firm focus on the Thanksgiving Broadway adaptation Wicked. Guests were given lanyards and flowers with color LEDs that exploded with light as the film’s previews began. A five-minute preview of the upcoming film was projected, accompanied by appearances from the musical’s stars, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, and Michelle Yeoh, and the film’s duo of witches, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

Wicked wasn’t the only film to storm the stage as an extended preview of Twisters, a sequel to the 1996 disaster film classic starring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt, took the stage, along with the new film’s stars Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Anthony Ramos as they “demonstrated” the on-set effects with the help of a few fans, some confetti, and an inflatable cow.

The final day of the convention saw presentations from Paramount Pictures featuring new footage from Despicable Me 4, IF, the animated Transformers One, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Other notable announcements included a new addition to the Scary Movie franchise, a new Star Trek origin film, and an R-rated adaptation of popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic The Last Ronin.

However, the whole event began with the stage being stormed by dozens of gladiators, anticipating the first sneak peek at the new sequel to 2000’s epic Gladiator.

Disney’s presentation rounded out the proceedings with a 13-minute preview of the new sci-fi epic Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the first 35 minutes of Pixar’s “emotional” sequel Inside Out 2, a first look at Captain America: Brave New World from the film’s star Anthony Mackie, and nine full minutes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s forthcoming effort Deadpool & Wolverine. Other content included looks at The Lion King sequel, Mufassa: The Lion King, and a new addition to the Alien franchise, Alien Romulus. Finally, the “Final Boss” himself, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, took the stage to present the forthcoming sequel, Moana 2.

The trade show floor featured the newest in movie presentation, including HDR or “high-dynamic range” technology, a technique promising stronger contrast and more vivid imagery in the theater. Cinema laser projection technology company Barco presented a look at the pilot program that will open at cinemas in September.

According to the CinemaCon website, the annual event is “the largest and most important gathering of movie theater owners from around the world.”

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