Warner Bros Taking CinemaCon To Another Level With Oprah Winfrey & ‘Color Purple’, ‘Barbie’, ‘Dune 2’, ‘The Flash’, ‘Aquaman 2’, ‘Wonka’ & More

Anthony D'Alessandro, Nancy Tartaglione and Jill Goldsmith
·8 min read
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Big stuff expected here this morning at CinemaCon in Las Vegas as Warner Bros struts its 2023 slate.

Teeing off this morning was Warner Bros Domestic Distribution Chief Jeff Goldstein and Internatioinal Distribution Cheif Andrew Cripps jogging onstage all clad in pink suits, in celebration to the studio’s late summer anticipated hit, Barbie.

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“By a show of hands who wore it better, Andrew or me?” beamed Goldstein

“As Barbie says, everybody looks better in pink!” the distrib exec added.

“I’m not sure, Jeff, ” added Cripps.

“Hello, everybody, we’re both tickled pink,” Goldstein continued to pun.

The two touted the success of this past weekend’s Evil Dead Rise, which made its pivot from Max streaming service to an exclusive theatrical window. They also took time to reflect on the legacy of former distrib colleague, MGM’s Erik Lomis. This led into a 100 Years studio sizzle reel with flashes of Elvis, Inception, A Star Is Born, Man of Steel, Mad Max Fury Road, Great Gatsby set to the cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You” from the Baz Luhrmann movie.

Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav took the stage this AM, in what is an anomaly appearance for a corporate CEO at the annual distribution and exhibition love-in.

“We tell the stories, and you bring the people in,” Zaslav told exhibition in the room.

Also expected this AM are Warner Bros Motion Picture Bosses Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy (“Who’s better than the two of them…I call them anytime of day and try to stump them on a movie I’m watching on Turner Classics” said Zas today) as well as DC co-Boss Peter Safran (fellow co-Boss James Gunn is on a global press tour for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3).

“Mike and Pam and I were sitting in a room with James Gunn and he was writing the Superman script,” said Zaslav; the filmmaker telling the Boss how the DC universe was his family growing up.

“There’s one word we share (in this business), it’s courage,” said Zaslav, “It’s such a complicated and at risk business, but here we are with a shared love of the movie business.”

Zaslav shared with the theatre how he saw To Sir, With Love with his father, growing up in Brooklyn.

Zas reflected on the recent loss of Harry Belafonte. “I wanted to pay tribute to him who like Sidney (Poitier), inspired me.”

“I’m convinced, there is no other place to see a motion picture, to have impacts on all parts of the world…we believe in full windowing of the business, we don’t believe in streaming. We’re in no rush to bring movies to Max,” asserted Zas who outlined that movies perform substantially better on the service after debuting in theaters –even more so than direct-to-streaming business.

Zas asked for theater owners for their help to bring people back to make business stronger than ever. “We’re a storytelling company, we’re not in the broadband business, we’re not in the phone business,” he continued about the new era of Warner Bros Discovery, as it leaves behind the AT&T owned era.

Zas reflected on a moment 15 years ago, and that was meeting Oprah Winfrey and creating OWN. “We went on this journey together…there’s no harder fighter in the world than Oprah Winfrey. We created the No. 1 network in America for the Black community. We became close friends. When the deal closed (Warner Bros Discovery) and then I called Oprah. How did this happen? This transaction…we were sharing this joy…halfway in the conversation, she said Steven Spielberg and I are making a movie for you, The Color Purple, the Musical for you…I thought to myself, growing up in Brooklyn, I don’t think that was something I’d here that Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg are making a movie for me.”

Winfrey than took the stage with the pic’s director Blitz Bazawule, and told the room it was her first time at CinemaCon. “This is first circle moment for me to be a part of this film,”said Winfrey who starred in the 1985 Spielberg directed version of the Alice Walker novel.

Winfrey said that the new musical version brings “magical realism, wholesome family goodness” to the screen. She extoled Bazawule, “we knew you were the director to bring this version to the screen. How did you know you were the one?”

Bazawule, “I started this journey with the utmost respect for you, but also for Alice Walker, whose book gave us this amazing story….At its core it’s about finding your voice, your family and breaking through obstacles which keep you down.”

“We’re going to get the groups in the seats,” said Winfrey, “It’s a celebration of sisterhood.”

They showed off the trailer — and boy is it rythmic and mesmerizing set to a bass beat with the tagline “Not Your Mama’s Color Purple” The trailer is filled with lush Southern backgrounds, beaches, grand period costumes we see Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery saying “I was married to a man I didn’t know”. There’s a shot of a 1920s band set on stage, and Henson adds “We got to show these folks we belong.” The pic stars Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Jon Batiste, Halle Bailey and more.

Winfrey played the role of Sofia in the Spielberg movie, and in this version it’s played by Brooks.

“We’ve been doing previews that have been off the charts,” said Winfrey about Color Purple.

Henson added, “Shug is a complex character of the era…she was singing jazz and blues…it enchanced me to learn how women were when they didn’t have a voice.”

Brooks said, “Getting to hear ‘Hell No’ which is the anthem of this movie in the trailer…the music will never die, it will live forever. The world get to experience this music, it’s definitely healing.”

Fantasia Barrino who plays Celie and also played her on Broadway said that at the time her life was so much like the character, but her life had changed since and she wasn’t certain she could go back into the role, “I had to pull up some things I’d walked away from. I felt safe and able to go back into that place… It means a lot to me because I’ve come so far, I am Celie”

“When I got the call from Quincy Jones..it became quite a blur to me. I was so out of my body the whole time. I’m asking you all to stay in your body, and enjoy the Purple experience and to bring it to the theaters.”

“It can only be experienced on the big screen,” added Winfrey about the The Color Purple which opens on Christmas Day.

De Luca and Abdy then stepped on stage, talking about how elated they were to finally join Warner Bros. “It’s like getting called up by the Yankees,” said De Luca.

The duo spoke about Lomis, who they worked with at MGM making Creed III.

“We just wanted to take a moment here to say we miss you and love you Erik. Movies for movie theaters have never had a better or louder champion,” said De Luca. Warners has Creed III overseas in addition to other MGM/Amazon titles.

“Whether we were producers or exectuives…” said Abdy on stage, at which point De Luca interrupted and deadpanned, “It’s better to be an executive.”

De Luca shared the love back Zas, “As you all heard, when he talks about movies with Pam and me and our colleagues, it always inspires us, because he challenges us to meet this moment in time by asking ;What are we going to make?  What movies are we going to stand behind, and leave behind for the ages?’ We are very aware that we stand on the shoulders of giants, like legendary Warners production chiefs Darryl Zanuck, Hal Wallis, and John Calley… not to mention our consigliere in residence Alan Horn. It’s a lot to live up to but we take on that challenge happily, because the truth is that right now, good isn’t good enough anymore, the bar is high. People have too many choices and so many incredible options to turn to for their entertainment. But if we honor Warner Bros.’ unique and powerful legacy by committing to bringing you the unique and powerful films of this century, we will all win together.”

Other great stuff — extended footage of Barbie, which you can read about here.

There’s also Meg 2: The Trench which is bigger — this shark eats not just tourists, docks, but he chomps on T-Rexes that roam the beach and also smashes his head through underwater sea lab glass. Jason Statham is back for more, riding sea bikes and avoiding danger and teeth in the dark underwater. The movie hits screens on Aug. 4.

There was also The Nun 2 footage, which showed the devil conjuring through a stained glass window at a very creaky dark convent school. A demon that was once an angel has to be faced down and, the trailer promises, “The truth will be discovered behind the greatest event in the Conjuring Universe.”  The sequel was shot in abaonded church over in Europe. Pic comes out Sept. 8.

Meanwhile, Gunn let the world know about what’s coming out of this AM’s presentation:

Keep refreshing as we tell you more. We’re here squished in the second level seats of Caesars Palace Colosseum Theatre, elbow-to-elbow.

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