CinemaCon 2018: Paramount Pictures

Held at Caesar’s Palace, CinemaCon is the official convention of The National Association of Theatre Owners.  The movie studios conduct presentations to get their exhibition partners excited about the products they will soon have to offer them.

Bumblebee tells a coming-of-age story that also serves as an origin story as Hailee Steinfeld gets what she thinks is an old VW bug. Director Travis Knight was as concerned about character as he was spectacle, which seems unusual for a Transformers movie. The Book Club ladies (Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen) all came out with wine, but only for themselves. They revealed the actors they are romantically paired up with in the story. Looks cute, but might be a limited demo.

Johnny Knoxville stars in Action Point, a comedy about an amusement that removes safety requirement to be more appealing to kids. It definitely seems to traffic in Jackass humor. Set for October 26, Overlord combines horror and WWII as things go “bat shit,” according to producer J.J. Abrams when U.S. soldiers make an amazing discovery about Nazi experiments. There is also another Cloverfield sequel in the works. In November, an untitled Tyler Perry Movie stars Tiffany Haddish, as a woman just out of jail who helps her up-tight, sophisticated sister deal with her dating life.

Taraji P. Henson is about to go into production as the star of What Men Want, a gender-flip remake of the Mel Gibson film. It is set for release January 2019. The following month, Instant Family, a comedy based on director Sean Anders’s experiences as a foster parent, stars Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne. In March, the animated Wonder Park, which is filled with animals and the potential for a TV series. Other animated films on the horizon are Monster on the Hill, which is set in a world where monsters wrestling as become popular, and Luck, which has the forces of good and bad luck fighting it out.

Set for 2019, a live-action Dora the Explorer in August and Are You Afraid of the Dark? in October, a Pet Sematary remake, and a Sonic the Hedgehog movie. With less specifics franchise entries from Star Trek, a Terminator sequel with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, another Top Gun, G.I. Joe, Micronauts, Dungeons & Dungeons, and SpongeBob: It’s A Wonderful Sponge in July 2020.

The highlight of the Paramount panel was Tom Cruise and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie for Mission:Impossible – Fallout. A stunt sequence that involved a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) skydive. They had to build new safety equipment and camera technology in order to capture the stunt being done. The animatics and raw footage of the jump were thrilling and a bit befuddling at the risks they take.