CinemaCon: Benedict Cumberbatch to Voice Star in 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'
Benedict Cumberbatch (Photo: Getty Images)
By Rebecca Ford
The Universal presentation, which focused largely on Illumination projects, debuted the first trailer for The Girl on the Train and a new Jason Bourne trailer.
Universal’s presentation at CinemaCon committed a significant amount of time to the studio’s Illumination Entertainment projects, announcing that Benedict Cumberbatch will star in the new animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas film, which hits theaters on Nov. 10, 2017.
Illumination Entertainment CEO Chris Meledandri also announced that South Park co-creator Trey Parker, who has not done voice work in anything other his own projects, will voice the new villain in Despicable Me 3. The character, called Balthazar Bratt, is a former child star who is obsessed with the character he played in the ’80s. Plus, Steve Carell will voice both his main character Gru and Gru’s charming twin brother in Despicable Me 3, which centers on sibling rivalry. The film hits theaters on June 30, 2017.
Meledandri also announced that a new short titled Mower Minions (starring the lovable gibberish-talking creatures) will play ahead of The Secret Life of Pets in theaters.
He spoke about the company’s upcoming animated films, including The Secret Life of Pets. “Our filmmaking aspiration is simple: to put smiles on people’s faces,” said Meledandri.
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Universal made custom content for its CinemaCon presentation Wednesday afternoon, debuting the first trailer for Girl on the Train and a new Jason Bourne trailer.
“We know that 2015 is a very tough act to follow,” said Donna Langley, chairman of Universal Pictures, reflecting on the studio’s recording breaking year. “But we’ve always played the long game.”
Langley announced that the studio would not be showing trailers for all of its films, but rather showcasing projects that “truly reflect what we have in store for you this year” through unique clips created specifically for CinemaCon.
The studio presented the first trailer from Tate Taylor’s The Girl on the Train starring Emily Blunt, a dark drama about a troubled woman who thinks she witnesses a murder while riding the train.
Frank Marshall, the producer of Jason Bourne, spoke on the return of the Matt Damon-starring franchise before showing a new trailer. “The reason we haven’t had a movie for almost 10 years is we wanted to get the story right,” he said.
The studio brought several directors to the stage, including Warcraft director Duncan Jones, who spoke about the video-game adaptation. “Warcraft is a story that shows that heroes come in all shapes and sizes,” he said.
CinemaCon runs April 11-14 in Las Vegas.
