In the last couple of years, CinemaCon - the annual convention of the National Association of Theater Owners - has come to rival San Diego Comic Con, in terms of being a pop culture weathervane of box office buzz and bluster. Want to know what to get excited about this year, and what's like going to disappoint, then CinemaCon is a pretty strong crystal ball.
Let's start with what went well. Everyone's got a very strong vibe on Alien: Covenant, and what was screened in Vegas last week only upped the ante. Expectations are doing really well. Likewise some jaw-dropping additional footage from Blade Runner: 2049, which wowed the crowd and has people feeling that this is going to be something really special. October can't get here soon enough.
Stephen King's It managed to dominate the zeitgeist, as they've seemingly cracked the code at finding the best elements of King's shocker by telling the story in a fresh way. Today's post-Stranger Things audience is chomping at the bit, as the trailer broke the record for the most online traffic in a 24-hour frame after debuting. Just think about that.
Other big winners include Spider-Man: Homecoming, finally putting the web-slinger into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. The latest trailer is sharp, charming, and has a singular, formidable villain. It's going to do really well.
Likewise Luc Besson's Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets looks to overcome its ungainly title and bring Besson's wildly expansive Fifth Element vision of the fantastic to a new generation. They've got a great trailer and a cool, young cast.
Two femme fatale flicks look like they'll be doing well - Red Sparrow with Jennifer Lawrence and Atomic Blonde, with Charlize Theron, look to capture some John Wick ultra violence and atmospheric excitement. Add sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle, to that spy list, as Kingsman evoked some of the most wildly enthusiastic applause and crowd energy of the entire convention. Also watch for P.T. Barnum musical The Greatest Showman, with Hugh Jackman, which the audience went crazy for. It's going to be a huge Christmas success.
May as well accept it, The Rock is a massive force in Hollywood these days, and the first look at Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle did an impressive job of captivating attendees.
On the more adult front, two extremely strong showings were made by Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express and Christopher Nolan's World War II saga, Dunkirk. Dunkirk looks like it might just out-Save Saving Private Ryan, and should be a potent addition to the August box office roster.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. has nothing to worry about at this point, and War for the Planet of the Apes is looking strong, too. Wonder Woman should also be a lock and is feeling terrific. There was more footage from Justice League, that clearly shows they've listened to fans who griped about the dour lack of fun. Me, I'm just concerned there won't be a substantial enough villainous threat to justify all these titans banding together - because so far, I haven't seen it.
Okay, so that's all the good news, now what's not so great?
The Dark Tower - feeling like the Yang to It's Yin, this long anticipated epic saga is getting tepid reactions, concerned grimaces from fans, and lackluster impressions of Matthew McConaughey as The Man in Black. I so want to be wrong about this, but there's very little excitement, which is stunning given the property in question.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword looks just abominable. Remember First Knight in 1995 and King Arthur in 2004? This is going to make those look like King Lear. Lugubrious CGI that's like a Sharknado riff on Return of the King and a bestiary of anachronisms and clichés look to make this one of the biggest bombs of the summer.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales - This one looks so yawn-inducing, yet Disney screened the entire picture at CinemaCon, and it was generally well-received. Though it looks pretty much like franchise autopilot and deliriously heavy on green-screen. It's one of those behemoths that seem to make money despite how they're received - I'm looking at you, Transformers: The Last Knight.
The Mummy. Man, I'd just love for Universal's big gamble at creating a "shared cinematic universe" for their classic pantheon of monsters to work, but this looks really bad to me. So far, the footage is trying to be all things to all people, and the titular mummy just doesn't look even remotely scary. If this is the best they can come up with, they are in serious trouble over there. Prove me wrong, because I would just love for this to work.
And that's about it. A pretty good sense of what to expect, and it sure looks like there's an awful lot of good coming our way this year.
Oh - and what we didn't see even a glimpse of, is that most hungered for reveal of all - a trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. We should expect to see that later this week at another big convention, when Star Wars Celebration begins in Orlando, sometime between Thursday and Sunday.
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