Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Bread and Spiders
Sony Pictures Entertainment started CinemaCon 2026 on the traditional Monday evening. The first movie presented to theater owners and the press was The Breadwinner, introduced by comedian Nate Bargatze with co-star Mandy Moore, who plays his wife. Out May 29, it looks like family fun for audiences as he becomes Mr. Mom for his three girls while she goes to South Korea for work. But it doesn’t start off well as he doesn’t know where the kids go to school.
After Tom Rothman, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, talked about longer theatrical windows, shorter advertising/pre-show stuff, and cheaper prices (the latter without mentioning lowering the studio’s take on ticket prices), he raved about Spider-Man: Brand New Day being the most-watched trailer in history. A hologram Tom Holland talked about the film being the most emotional and most grown-up. An early scene was presented which shows Peter Parker follow Ned into a party that he and MaryJane are throwing. Peter introduces himself as Maynard for some reason, and disheartened to learn MJ is now seeing his former nemesis Flash.
Insidious: Out of the Further is out Sept 18. I am completely in the dark about this franchise. The official synopsis states that “Gemma, a young mother raising her daughter in the house she grew up in, discovers she can travel into the Further, the purgatorial realm of lost souls at the heart of the Insidious universe.”
Not only can she enter the Further, she can bring the demons out, which results in all sorts of trouble. The clip showed lots of things appearing in and jumping out of the dark. The infinite couch fort is a scary prospect.
Meanwhile writer/director Zach Creggar comes to the Resident Evil franchise. In the film, a new protagonist ushers audiences and new viewers to this zombie world. It lumbers into theaters September 18.
Androids and Fannings
Taika Watiti directs an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s eighth novel, Klara and the Sun, set for theaters on October 23. Jenna Ortega stars as Klara, an older-model artificial friend for ailing teen Josie (Mia Tharia). Trouble is brewing at home but mother (Amy Adams) warns Klara about being sent back to the store.
Based on Kristin Hannah’s novel, The Nightingale is an epic World War II story about two sisters. Elle and Dakota Fanning, the stars and producers, talked about the project, the first where they appear together, and which has just started production. It’s set for release on February 12, 2027.
The box-office success of anime titles Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man will lead to more theatrical entries in these multimedia franchises. And speaking of further installments, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea is set for release at the end of the month.
The first English-speaking movie from Takashi Yamazaki, director of Godzilla Minus One, is Grand Gear, set for release February 18, 2028. The clip showed a mecha battling a kaiju. Sign me up.
Sony is plunging into video-game adaptations with The Legend of Zelda, directed by Wes Ball, out May 27, 2027. There was news of Bloodborne getting an animated feature with an R rating to match the game’s content. Justin Lin is directing Helldivers starring Jason Momoa leading the fight against aliens. It comes out November 10, 2027.
A companion piece to The Social Network, The Social Reckoning has writer Aaron Sorkin taking on the followup by directing as well. It’s based on the events surrounding the 2021 Facebook leak by whistleblower/engineer Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison). Jeremy Strong plays Mark Zuckerberg.
Animation at CinemaCon
Set for December 2027, Buds reveals a lot more going on in the plant world. One plant, to save his friend, breaks the sacred rule about not talking to humans. Spider-Man: Beyond on the Spider-verse is being formatted to deliver a high-quality experience in premium formats when it hits theaters June 18, 2027. The clip picks up right after the last movie as Prime Miles encounters another Miles and uncle from another universe. The animation continues to look wild and inventive. Miles is tasked with stopping Spot, saving his father, and stopping bad Miles, but will he do it on his own or accept help?
Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, and Kevin Hart came out to conclude the presentation with a look at Jumanji: Open World which sees the game coming to the real world. The main cast is having fun playing three different characters, including versions of their avatar characters. The clip has the laughs and action this version of the franchise is known for.
