CinemaCon: Warner Bros Wins Strong Exhibitor Reaction To Summer Slate
It was Warner Bros Pictures’ turn for studio slate presentations at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas Tuesday and President of the Warner Bros Pictures Group Jeff Robinov unveiled the studio’s packed summer lineup with its familiar mix of comedy, horror, superheroes, monsters, and sequels. Robinov looked to the future and thanked all the studio’s partners: New Line, Legendary, Village Roadshow, Alcon, and MGM (on the Hobbit trilogy). He also thanked his new boss Kevin Tsujihara who won the job of Chief Executive Officer replacing Barry Meyer. ”All of us share his vision and this will be an exciting time under his leadership,” Robinov said. Distribution head Dan Fellman initiated a bunch of baseball analogies after the success of Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros’ Jackie Robinson biopic 42 last weekend. It followed a string of 5 straight box office disappointments for Warner Bros and occasional other partners (like New Line). ”Consistency has always been a hallmark of Warner Bros Pictures. But even the most consistent player can hit a few fouls,” Fellman told exhibitors. Fellman emphasized that Warner Bros is the only studio to score $1 billion box office gross domestically 12 years in a row. And International Distrib topper Veronika Kwan Vandenberg pointed out that the studio in 2012 grossed over $4 billion worldwide thanks to hits like The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Add to that the 85th Oscar-winning Best Picture success of Argo. Plus, this year Warners Bros is celebrating the 90th anniversary of its founding by the Brothers Warner in 1923.
The season starts out May 10th with the 3D drama from Baz Luhrmann, The Great Gatsby, originally intended for the 2012 awards season but held for Summer 2013 instead. Luhrmann is still tweaking the movie which will open the Cannes Film Festival on May 15th, but sent along a pre-taped introduction – complete with music underscoring to the film’s trailer. Footage was shown at last year’s CinemaCon but this was much different and in 3D. No question it looks like another visual triumph for the director of Moulin Rouge and Romeo And Juliet which starred his Gatsby lead Leonardo Di Caprio. Luhrmann said he was inspired to use 3D when he saw a 3D screening of the Alfred Hitchcock 1950s drama Dial M For Murder (also released by Warners). Even though he said the most special effect in this movie is the acting.
Director Todd Phillips publicly chided Luhrmann before introducing The Hangover Part III trailer. “It would be nice if Baz showed up. There are a lot of directors backstage. We showed up,” he said. Phillips then fed the exhibitors’ egos by saying that comedies should be seen in theaters where everyone can laugh together. Warner’s is now referring to his sleeper smash as the Hangover Trilogy.
Next was Zack Snyder, director of Man Of Steel, who turned up with the world premiere of the film’s new trailer which will play before Oblivion starting on Friday. “There’s no competition between superheroes obviously. But if there were, he would win,” said the unabashed fan of the comic book hero. “I am sorry to even have to say this now but we shot the movie on film and anamorphic. We wanted to give your cinemas a big giant movie movie.” He also acknowledged producer Christopher Nolan’s help during their first meeting in steering him in the right direction on the film. Nolan and his co-producers Emma Thomas and Chuck Roven were in the audience but oddly not introduced to the crowd. The trailer played well and Nolan seemed pleased with the reaction when I saw him afterwards.
Also speaking was Guillermo Del Toro, director of the monster movie Pacific Rim, who said the film made him feel like a 12-year-old kid again. ”Several times a week I find myself smiling like a goddamned moron,” he said. Clearly, judging from the trailer, this is a movie that could out-Godzilla the studio’s planned Godzilla movie. I’d say the Colosseum Theatre’s gargantuan sound system was well-used on this one.
There was also footage shown from Robinov’s other Warner Bros summer entries including 300 Rise Of An Empire, The Conjuring, and the Jennifer Aniston comedy We’re The Millers which, with its crude go-for-it humor, got one of the most audible responses from the crowd. The August 9th release casts Aniston as a stripper and Jason Sudekis as a small-time dope dealer who together create the ‘All American Family’ for a job. This could be a real sleeper if this reaction was any indication. There were also brief looks at the studio’s fall product including the Hugh Jackman/Jake Gyllenhaal drama Prisoners, and the George Clooney/Sandra Bullock stranded-in-space thriller Gravity, and the second in the Hobbit trilogy for Christmas. The latter was introduced on tape by Peter Jackson who this time did not even mention the controversial 48 frames format. After the first Hobbit‘s global blockbuster status, the theatre owners who may have balked at being forced to install the equipment to show films in 48 frames seemed to be eagerly awaiting whatever Jackson has in store for them this year.
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