CinemaCon 2023: Sony Pictures

There always complaints about the lack of originality from Hollywood. Yet year after year, sequels dominate the yearly box-office returns, so the theater owners in this audience aren’t likely to join that chorus. Rather, they likely welcome the studios not taking chances and offering safer gambles on the films they put out.

That may be why the Sony presentation started with Bad Boys 4. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back on set in a video recorded during the fourth week of shooting.

Director Craig Gillespie and Paul Dano present Dumb Money, a story about the Gamestop stock incident that took the financial world by the storm. At its center is Keith (Dano), a YouTuber named Roaring Kitty who led a mini-revolution against Wall Street. The first few minutes of movie are shown as Seth Rogen’s character and other rich guys (Vincent D’Onofrio, Nick Offerman) panic as the stocks go as they planned,

The Insidious franchise has made over half a billion at the worldwide box office. The fifth installment is Insidious: The Red Door, which brings back the original cast and sees Patrick Wilson also serve as the director. Set for July, Dalton travels into the dimension of the dead.

The Machine stars and is based on the stand-up comedy of Bert Kreischer. Not being aware of his work, I am not sure if viewers are supposed to believe he was involved with Russians gangsters and that he killed a bunch of people, but that would affect my reaction to the comedy.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the next chapter in the animated franchise. It’s been over a year since events of previous film and audiences will witness new dimensions along with old and new characters related to Miles’ family. The studio presented 14 minutes of the film. Gwen comes for a visit. Miles’ infatuation with Gwen doesn’t ease his jealousy when he learns she’s a member of the League of Spiders Interdimensional. Miles has a talk with his mother who is concerned about her boy growing up to fast, revealing the superhero extravaganza is again rooted in family.

Another film from Sony’s Marvelverse is Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the title character. Intended to be rated R., the first look teaser shows he’s a savage fighter. Russell Crowe plays his father and another Spider-Man villain, Rhino will be appearing.

Also rated R is the sex comedy No Hard Feelings set for release June 23. Jennifer Lawrence and writer/director Gene Stupinsky are on hand to talk about the film about Maddy (Lawrence) being asked to de-virgin a couple’s son before he goes off to school. The stronger she comes on the more scared he gets. Looks like it has potential

David Harbour and Orlando Bloom present Grand Turismo, based on a true story about a young man who went from playing a racing simulator to competing in GT Academy competition and earning a spot with Team Nissan. Out in August, the trailer makes the film look like a modern-day Rocky as a young man overcomes the odds to follow his dream.

Anyone but You is an R-rated romcom starring the attractive pair of Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, two people who hate each other and yet odds are we know how this is going to end. Set in Australia, so the scenery will look as good as the leads.

A clip from the set shows director Jason Reitman and the Ghostbusters: Afterlife characters are in New York for their next adventure.

Presented by director Antoine Fuqua, Denzel Washington received the 2023 CinemaCon Lifetime Achievement Award. Dakota Fanning joined the stage for the presentation of The Equalizer 3 trailer. Set for release 9/1, Washington’s Robert McCall lives in Italy. He takes on the local mafia, who can’t handle his particular set of skills.

The presentation closed with a film that is a joint venture with Apple Original Films, undercutting all the jokes Sony executives made about being loyal to the theatrical experience. Set for release around Thanksgiving, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon stars Joaquin Phoenix. The clip shown finds the Russian and Austrian armies united against France military genius. The sequence looked epic as Napoleons tactics surprised his enemies. Even though shot with and post production used modern techniques the carnage looked like the best of historical war films of an earlier era.