‘The Flash’, ‘Black Adam’, ‘Barbie’ and More Highlighted at Warner Bros. CinemaCon Presentation
Warner Bros. came to Las Vegas to play and delivered a ton of news, showing CinemaCon attendees some footage from their upcoming movies, including The Flash and Black Adam.
Besides the announcement of the sequel to The Batman, which happened very early in the panel, the biggest takeaway was probably The Flash, which screened some unfinished footage featuring the return of Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Here is The Wrap‘s description of the preview:
“The work-in-progress trailer shows Barry Allen working on a mysterious experiment that could open up the DC multiverse. Inspired by the landmark comic ‘Flashpoint,’ the film will see The Flash travel across various multiverses, encountering other versions of himself as well as a version of Supergirl from an alternate timeline.
And after showing an assembly of Batsuits from various past ‘Batman’ films, Michael Keaton himself showed up as Bruce Wayne in a full Batsuit and some de-aging CGI. ‘You wanna get nuts?’ he asks The Flash. ‘Okay, let’s get nuts.'”
The studio also confirmed that Michael Shannon will return as Zod in the movie, something that had already leaked from a production briefing a few months ago. The Flash will hit theaters on June 23, 2023.
A quick look at Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom flooded Las Vegas too. The Hollywood Reporter described it as follows:
“Warner also shared a very brief look at the Aquaman sequel, which featured a buff-as-ever Jason Momoa as the watery superhero and a menacing Black Manta, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Momoa couldn’t attend CinemaCon but said hello (shirtless) via video from London. Director James Wan, who was on hand in Las Vegas, said advanced special effects allowed him to advance as a filmmaker — and spare the actors from hanging from painful wires by using dozens of cameras to create 3D characters.”
From Discussing Film, the movie “will follow Aquaman and Orm, who reluctantly team up to face a stronger Black Manta and his army.” Shazam! Fury of the Gods also screened some footage, which included Billy telling Helen Mirren (who plays the main villain of the film) that he’s seen the Fast & Furious movies, so he knows that saving the world is about family. And at that point, the Shazam family shows up.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson also showed up onstage to introduce Black Adam and DC’s League of Superpets. Here is THR‘s description of Johnson’s amazing arrival:
“As for Johnson, he tested the crowd by opening via video claiming that he was Hawaii before ditching the routine by saying ‘fuck this.’ He then into the Colosseum to huge cheers as he walked to the stage and greeted convention delegates. ‘I could not miss this. You can feel the energy in our business. You can feel the lift, the tailwind in our business.'”
The Rock was announced to be playing the character of Black Adam, on the same stage, seven years ago. Check out a description of what was shown to the audience:
Black Adam footage had real Black Panther vibes. Similar look, similar jets, similar speed. We see him as a slave, being reborn, firing lightning, taking down a helicopter and catching rockets. He's then told that heroes don't kill people. "Well, I do," he retorts. #CinemaCon
— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) April 27, 2022
Moving on from DC, Elvis was the movie that WB focused on the most. They had director Baz Luhrmann and lead actor Austin Butler on stage for an extensive Q&A with the audience. They also showed several minutes of footage from the movie. Other non-DC movies that were highlighted include Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling, which premiered its first trailer to great buzz, and the Timothée Chalamet starrer Wonka.
Wilde’s new movie stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, along with Gemma Chan, Chris Pine, KiKi Layne, and Nick Kroll, plus Wilde herself. Here is The Hollywood Reporter‘s description of the Don’t Worry Darling segment:
“‘What would it take for you to give up your life, to do what is right? That is the question of Don’t Worry Darling,’ Wilde said, introducing an exclusive look at the film’s first trailer as she saluted the exhibitors ‘who fought so hard to keep the movie business alive.’
Describing her Sept. 23 release as a ‘love letter’ to movies like The Matrix and Inception, she said that in Pugh’s performance ‘you are seeing the birth of a full-fledged movie star’ and called Styles ‘a revelation.’ She quipped, ‘I am also in the movie because I was the only one we could afford when we go that that point.'”
Timothée Chalamet is also seen as the iconic character created by Roald Dahl in the first trailer of Wonka, which confirmed that the movie will indeed be a musical. Here’s Variety‘s description of the first-ever footage:
“Though iconically portrayed as a quirky (bordering on perverse) magnate by Gene Wilder, Chalamet stakes his own claim at the iconic brown velvet top hot worn by Wonka. Busking chocolate truffles in the street as police and clergymen seemingly try to run him out of town, Chalamet is earnest and charming in his mission to spread joy (and, perhaps, go on to retail domination).
Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson, Keegan-Michael Key, Sally Hawkins and more all crop up around several song-and-dance numbers led by Chalamet — who deftly tap dances on a cafe tabletop and leads a chorus of umbrella-wielding dancers spelling out his character’s name.
There’s even an appearance by a golden ticket — written on it is a note from Wonka’s mother, reminding him that the best part of eating sweets is sharing it with those you love. In the trailer’s final moments, a few bars of a ballad play, featuring Chalamet’s sweet voice singing about “an invisible thread” that connects us all.”
The movie will hit theaters on Christmas 2023. Warner Bros. also used the panel to announce that the star-studded Barbie live-action movie will be released on July 21, 2023. Then, they shared the first look at Margot Robbie as the iconic doll. Coincidentally, the movie is scheduled to release on the same day as Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a curious move that is even more intriguing once you consider that Nolan and WB parted ways last year after working together on many (highly successful) projects. Take a look at Robbie in Barbie below:
CinemaCon continues today with the highly anticipated panels from Disney and Universal. Stay tuned for more big news.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
