CinemaCon 2013 Pt. 1

Last week we attended CinemaCon, our annual industry convention in Las Vegas, which is held at Caesar's Palace ("Do you know if the hotel is pager friendly?"). I am sure some of you kept up with us on Twitter or our Facebook page, but this will give you a little more detail of what and who we saw.  

Monday night kicked off the convention with a presentation from Paramount Pictures, followed by a screening of their movie Pain and Gain (opening this Thursday at 9pm).  J.J. Abrams wasn't able to attend to help promote Star Trek Into Darkness because he is working on finishing the film, but they brought out members of the cast including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Alice Eve and John Cho.  We got to see about 20 minutes of the film, and the general consensus was everyone can't wait to see more!  Next, we got to see a trailer for World War Z starring Brad Pitt, who made an unexpected appearance.  He discussed how difficult it was making this movie and making sure they live up to the book.  We then got to see some additional footage, and it had all of us on the edge of our seats. World War Z will open on June 21st.  Their presentation concluded with a video of Dwayne Johnson and Mark Walhberg introducing Michael Bay, who made an appearance to introduce his film Pain and Gain.  Bay said he has been working on this movie for 12 years, and only on a $25 million budget.  Based on a true story, Walhberg and Johnson's characters get involved in an extortion scheme which takes a turn for the worse.  Get your tickets here for Thursday's 9pm or midnight shows.

Tuesday morning started off with the Universal Pictures presentation.  To get things going they start with Fast and the Furious 6 which opens on May 24th.  They brought out the whole cast including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and Tyrese.  Diesel announced the next installment will be coming to theatres in July 2014.  He said they have been planning 2-3 movies ahead, and once we see the ending of this one, we will understand why the next one will be here next summer.  We got to see a little bit of Despicable Me 2, which opens on July 3rd, and it won't disappoint!  The rest of their lineup includes R.I.P.D., 2 Guns, Kick-Ass 2, Riddick, Rush, About Time, The Best Man Holiday, and 47 Ronin.    

Warner Brothers was next on Tuesday afternoon with their presentation of 2013 films, and they have quite the lineup.  They start off the summer season with The Great Gatsby 3D  on May 10th, for which Baz Luhrmann introduced a trailer via a taped video.  This film not only looks beautiful, but the 3D is stunning.  Bill and Colleen are lucky enough to be able to attend the premiere of the film next week in New York City!  Following Gatsby, they take off with The Hangover Part III which opens on May 24th.  Todd Philips stepped out on stage and said "comedies should be seen in theaters where everyone can laugh together."  Next up they have Man of Steel 3D, set to open June 14th.  Director Zack Snyder introduced the newest trailer (Producer Christopher Nolan was in the audience, but enjoyed the trailer from his seat).  Guillermo Del Toro came out next to talk about his film Pacific Rim 3D opening on July 12th.  While talking about his excitement for the film he said  "Several times a week I find myself smiling like a goddamned moron”.  Their presentation ended with footage from The Conjuring, 300: Rise of an Empire 3D, We're the Millers, Prisoners, Gravity 3D, and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 3D.

To conclude our Tuesday evening, we got treated to a full length screening of The Heat from 20th Century Fox.  Director Paul Feig was there to introduce the film, and also mentioned he is from Michigan.  Colleen was able to talk to him following the screening and he grew up not far from Bill and Colleen!  The Heat stars Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock and they play a police officer and an FBI agent respectively, who don't get along the greatest. To say we loved this movie is an understatement.  I am pretty sure I was crying I was laughing so hard.  The Heat opens June 28th.

I will post Part 2 next week which will include more studio presentations and the awards night!