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Filmmaker John Krasinski appeared via video from London to present what appears to be a new trailer for IF. Ryan Reynolds sets up the movie’s premise when he asks, what if everything you believed as a kid was real? He seems like possibly the only adult who can see imaginary creatures. He teams up with a young girl, who he takes down to area underneath a marry-go-round. They begin matchmaking the old IFs with new kids. Set for release May 17, the imaginary friends and voiced by a star-studded cast.
A bunch of upcoming projects were announced: an untitled Damien Chazelle film; David Ayer’s Heart of the Beast; a new Star Trek origin story from director Toby Haynes and writer Seth Grahame-Smith (although why on earth a nearly 60-year-old multimedia franchise needs an origin story is unclear); a team up with G.I. Joe and Transformers: a remake of The Running Man from Edgar Wright starring Glen Powell, Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) directing a Robbie Williams biopic; and Ridley Scott directing a Bee Gees biopic. Also, a R-rated, live action adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin; Seth MacFarlane producing The Naked Gun reboot starring Liam Neeson, a new Scary Movie, a musical from the South Park guys and Kendrick Lamar out July 4, 2025, and the next installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise.
Scarlett Johansson appeared by video to introduce Chris Hemsworth, who introduced Transformers One, an animated origin story set before Optimus Prime and Megatron became enemies. Hemsworth plays young Optimus Prime and Brian Tyree Henry, who was also on hand, plays young Megatron. Not sure if hardcore fans will appreciate the comic approach to the material, but casual fans might appreciate this animated action film as the main characters go from workers to Transformers. The 3-D sequence of the characters racing through a moving train upon the planet’s surface looked very good.
For A Quiet Place: Day One, Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn introduced an extended look which expands on the trailer. The aliens come to Earth and specifically New York City for our characters. They work together to get out of city. As if staying a step ahead of the aliens wasn’t enough, the government destroys the city’s bridges in order to contain, which as seen in the two previous movies, doesn’t work. The footage looks scary and thrilling. It comes out June 28.
After announcing the 10th anniversary of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar returning to theaters, including 70 mm and IMAX formats.
The footage from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 showed Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) revitalized and teaming up with Shadow to fight Sonic. What started looking like a Lady Gaga concert film was actually a spooky trailer for Smile 2, which centers around a pop star. Set for release Oct. 18.
The presentation concluded with a video introduction by Ridley Scott of the first footage shown from Gladiator II. The five-minute segment set up the story’s players with Pedro Pascal as a Roman soldier, Paul Mescal as a fighting slave, Joseph Quinn as an Emperor, and Denzel Washington, as a character who has power by whispering in the ears of those in power. Connie Nielsen returns from the first film. The Coliseum fight look to be massive as not only do men fight each others but also baboons, rhinos, and even a shark.
