CinemaCon 2024: Paramount Pictures Presentation

CinemaCon 2024: Paramount Pictures Presentation

Lupita Nyong’o as “Samira” and Joseph Quinn as “Eric” in 'A Quiet Place: Day One' from Paramount Pictures.

(L to R) Lupita Nyong’o as “Samira” and Joseph Quinn as “Eric” in ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ from Paramount Pictures. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

Preview:

  • Paramount revealed a lot of news on future movies at its CinemaCon Presentation.
  • Other movies highlighted included ‘Transformers One’ and ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’.
  • Ridley Scott’s ‘Gladiator 2’ provided the big finish.

Paramount had a solid if uninspiring 2023, including a disappointing result for the oft-delayed ‘Mission: Impossible –– Dead Reckoning Part 1’ (which suffered in competition, particularly for IMAX screens, against ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’). But’s best not to bet against Tom Cruise, who will no doubt be doing something to promote the next ‘Mission’ (odds are good we’ll learn the new title). Still, the more recent likes of ‘Mean Girls’ and ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ were reasons to be grateful, even as talk of the studio being up for sale continues to swirl.

Beyond that, expect plenty of promotion for Ridley Scott’s ‘Gladiator II’, ‘A Quiet Place’ prequel ‘Day One’ and possibly the next ‘Transformers’ outing, animated prequel ‘Transformers One’.

Even before the presentation proper kicked off, there was news of new movies in the works. The studio is developing a reboot of the ‘Scary Movie’ spoof franchise to shoot this year for release next year via Paramount’s Miramax subsidiary.

And while a sequel to last year’s family friendly ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ is moving forward, the company also intends to go in a more grown-up direction with a new live-action ‘Turtles’ offering called ‘The Last Ronin’ that will adapt a dark comic book tale set in a totalitarian New York where Shredder’s grandson has employed artificial ninjas to slaughter all but one of the Turtles. The lone survivor swears vengeance. So… yes, definitely a less kid-centric take on the characters, and one that feels even closer to the black and white origins of the story. That one will be produced by former DC movie boss Walter Hamada, who has a multi-year deal with Paramount and ‘Boy Kills World’ writer Tyler Burton Smith is on script duty.

April O'Neil, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo in Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies in a Point Grey Production 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.'

(L to R) April O’Neil, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo in Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies in a Point Grey Production ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.’

Related Article: ‘The Fall Guy’, ‘Twisters’ and More Lead Universal’s CinemaCon Show

And now, on with the show…

After a glitch with the opening reel (effectively a tour of the Paramount lot), the presentation commenced with another highlighting Paramount’s considerable movie history and spotlighting successes such as ‘Sonic’, ‘Mean Girls’ and ‘TMNT: Mutant Mayhem’.

And, as suspected, the world of ‘Gladiator’ is a focus, as Roman soldiers stride on to the stage to shepherd the executives. Will those who backed unsuccessful movies have to battle lions? Doubt it, but… would watch.

First up to tout two very different movies is one John Krasinski, who is appearing via video from London. He talks first about…

IF

Cailey Fleming and Blue star in Paramount Pictures' 'IF.'

(L to R) Cailey Fleming and Blue star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’ Photo: Paramount Pictures.

As Krasinski (who wrote and directed this one) explains, ‘IF’ posits a world where everything kinds imagine is real –– and some imaginary friends are looking to find their humans again (or be connected with new ones).

It has Ryan Reynolds starring, a stacked celebrity voice cast and leans heavily into the Pixar style of movie making.

He cues up the final trailer for the film, which you can see here:

‘IF’ is in theaters May 17th.

“A story you have to believe to see.”

Not Yet RatedMay 17th, 2024

Showtimes & Tickets

A girl discovers she can see everyone’s imaginary friends and embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten IFs with their kids. Read the Plot

Krasinski also mentioned ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’, but more on that later…

Paramount Presentation: Other News

The Bee Gees in 'The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.'

The Bee Gees in ‘The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.’ Photo: HBO.

In between teases for this year’s releases, there were more news announcements, including confirmation of a ‘Transformers’ and ‘G.I. Joe’ crossover movie, Edgar Wright landing Glen Powell to star in his new take on Stephen King’s ‘The Running Man’, Ridley Scott officially boarding the Bee Gees musical biopic and Damien Chazelle seemingly handed a second chance after the floptastic ‘Babylon’, getting ready to shoot his next movie this year for the studio, with a release planned for 2025.

Also touted? ‘South Park’ duo Trey Parker and Matt Stone are working on a new, live-action comedy musical with Kendrick Lamar, which will debut on July 4 next year.

With the title very much back in the public consciousness thanks to the Netflix live-action show, Paramount has the likes of Dave Bautista and Eric Nam lending their voices to what is currently title ‘Aang: The Last Airbender’, with Bautista playing a villain. The movie will be in theaters on October 10th next year.

That was not the only voice cast confirmed for an upcoming movie. The new ‘Smurfs’ animated movie, which has Rhianna starring, will also see the tonsil talents of Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Nick Kroll, James Corden, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, Sandra Oh, Alex Winter and more. Expect that one on February 15th next year.

Patrick and Spongebob in 'The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run'.

(L to R) Patrick and Spongebob in ‘The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

Continuing the animated theme, we learned that ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants,’ will debut on December 19th, 2025

In fact, lots of future slate info dropped, including that the next ‘Star Trek’ movie (whichever it might be from the various options) and the new, Seth MacFarlane produced ‘Naked Gun’ with Liam Neeson starring, will both also arrive next year.

Oh, and if you, like us, had “next Mission movie title announcement” on your bingo card, no scratching it off –– there was a mention of it, but zero footage and no word on title.

Now on to…

The animated ‘Transformers’ movie that follows a titanic battle on Cybertron has ‘Toy Story 4’s Josh Cooley in the director’s chair and Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth among its voice cast.

Following a video introduction from Johansson, Hemsworth (who, if we’re honest, was already in Vegas because of the Warners presentation) arrived on stage to talk up the film. He voices Optimus Prime, with Brian Tyree Henry (who joined him at the event) as Megatron.

From the looks of the footage, the tone is aiming for more of a family adventure style, leaning closer to comedy than the live-action/CG movies. And it’s an origin story for many of the characters we love, with Keegan-Michael Key voicing Bumblebee.

Along with a trailer, a first clip screened –– in 3D, no less –– to wide approval for its epic scale and comedy value.

Find the title treatment below:

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