CinemaCon 2012 Pt. 1

I wanted to write this post last week, but after CinemaCon it took me a week to get back in my routine.  I am finally caught up, so now I can share everything about the convention!  Since there is so much to share, I am going to do two parts and post the second one next week.


CinemaCon is a convention held in Las Vegas each year and it is for theatre owners, movie studios, and everyone in between to see what new technology is available, new concession items, upcoming movies, and more.  My parents have been going to this convention, previously named ShoWest, for over 20 years and this was my fourth time attending.  Being a part of this convention really makes me excited to be involved in this industry.  It is a week long reminder of why going to the movies is a wonderful, magical experience, and continues to be for all ages.


We started opening day with a Paramount Pictures presentation.  Sacha Baron Cohen made quite the entrance in costume as The Dictator, which opens on May 16th here at Aksarben Cinema.  We got to see an extended clip from the movie and you found yourself laughing and cringing at the same time, in true Sacha Baron Cohen fashion.  We saw a bit from Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, and Chris Rock came out and talked about working with this franchise, and he definitely had everyone laughing.  Next, they presented G.I. Joe: Retaliation and an appearance with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.  He is as cool and charming as they get!  Some other films they have coming out this year are Katy Perry: Part of Me, Paranormal Activity, Not Fade Away, Fun Size, Flight, The Guilt Trip, Rise of the Guardians, and One Shot starring Tom Cruise (one of my favorite clips we saw all week).  That night they also gave Dwayne Johnson the Action Star of the Decade award.  


On Tuesday, we started the day off with the Warner Brothers presentation.  This started off with them talking about Dark Shadows.  I was sitting on the edge of my seat to see if Johnny Depp was going to come out because he rarely does things like this, and guess who walked out from the side of the stage...Johnny Depp and Tim Burton!  We aren't allowed to take pictures in these presentations, otherwise I would have a ton of them!  Pee Wee's Big Adventure was my favorite movie growing up, so it was really cool to see Tim Burton.  Next, we got to see some clips from Rock of Ages, Magic Mike, and The Campaign.  The best part of their presentation was Christopher Nolan coming out to talk about The Dark Knight Rises. He is so sleek and you just want him to keep talking.  We saw a compilation of scenes, and everyone was wanting to see more!  As I am sure you know, TDKR opens on July 20th.  We also got to see about fifteen minutes of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D from Peter Jackson.  There was a lot of talk about this because of the jump to 48 frames per second.  We were the first ones to see the film this way, and it was definitely different.  The new 48 frames per second may need a blog post of it's own.  Next, we saw my favorite compilation of scenes/trailer of the whole week.  I honestly almost started crying while watching it.  The Great Gatsby will be coming out on Christmas day and it will be starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey McGuire, and Carey Mulligan directed by the amazing Baz Luhrman (who also did Moulin Rouge and Romeo & Juliet).  The colors, movement, and costumes are so Luhrman and it was beautiful!  


To finish the day we saw what Disney has coming.  They kicked off with The Avengers, which many of you now know is amazing.  We got to see the fight scene with Thor and Iron Man, broken up by Captain America.  The one that got me really excited was Brave.  We got to see the first 30 minutes in 3D, and it was beautiful.  I tend to get excited anytime there is a new red-head character :)  On June 29th, People Like Us will open starring Chris Pine, who made an appearance, and Elizabeth Banks.  This is going to be a great heartfelt story inspired by true events.  We also got to see Jennifer Garner promoting The Odd Life of Timothy Green, which looks wonderful and sweet.   This one opens on August 15th.  Frankenweenie, a stop motion black and white film by Tim Burton opening this October looks great too.  You immediately fall in love with the little boy and his dog.  They also showed us a clip of Finding Nemo in 3D being re-released September 14th.  The 3D looked great, especially the bubbles in the water!


My next post will include what it was like to hear Martin Scorsese and Ang Lee discuss filmmaking, the award show, and other studio presentations.