TAGGED AS: movies
CinemaCon is back! The “largest and most important gathering for the worldwide motion picture theater industry” returns for 2025 and Hollywood’s biggest studios will share updates on their upcoming theatrical slate. Sony Pictures, Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Amazon MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, and Walt Disney Studios will reveal trailers, first looks, release dates, casting announcements, and more. Check back all week as we dig into the three biggest moments for each studio at CinemaCon 2025.
The two stars appeared on stage alongside director Jon M. Chu and producer Marc Platt to share a first look at Wicked: For Good, the sequel to last year’s Wicked that covers the second half of the award-winning musical adaptation. Although the duo didn’t bless the audience with a live performance, even with the full orchestra that played during the entire Universal panel, a brand new trailer for the upcoming film showcased their emotional renditions of “For Good” and “No Good Deed.” Wicked: For Good opens later this year on November 21, 2025.
OK, so it was actually 20 dancers dressed up as M3GAN who rocked on stage to “Oops, I Did It Again,” and that was actually Blumhouse founder Jason Blum dressed up in that super impressive Freddy Fazbear costume. But you can’t deny they were effective in getting the word out for M3GAN 2.0 and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, both coming later this year. The panel showcased new trailers for both films, with M3GAN turning good (hopefully?) and receiving an upgrade in order to track down another killer robot, and Freddy Fazbear and his friends escaping the confines of the pizza shop to wander into the surrounding town. M3GAN 2.0 is scheduled for release on June 27, 2025, and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 comes out on December 5, 2025.
Jordan Peele’s production company, Monkeypaw, unveiled a new thriller starring Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers, who were both on hand to present the film. Wayans lit up the crowd with his humor, expressing joy that “I’m finally the only Wayans here!” The film tells the story of a college football superstar (Withers) trying to come back from a major injury with the help of his coach (Wayans), but it goes deeper than that. The footage shown included a helmet-to-helmet hit that flipped the switch visually and transformed into lots of smashing, screaming, and blood. Him is set to open in theaters on September 19, 2025.
In its inaugural trip to CinemaCon, Amazon MGM Studios brought some heavy hitters to play. Among them were Ryan Gosling and directorial duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who offered a sneak peek at their upcoming adaptation of Project Hail Mary, based on the book written by The Martian author Andy Weir. We got a look at some work-in-progress footage that showcased the same science, heart, and humor that was present in The Martian, and Gosling looked perfectly suited for the role. The film stars Gosling as an astronaut on a mission to save humanity when all the stars in the universe begin dying out, with one exception. The end of the footage teased Gosling’s character meeting an alien tasked with the same mission for his own kind, but all we saw was a mysterious hand; we’ll have to wait and see how much of the character remains under wraps until the film comes out.
Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry were also on hand to preview another adaptation with an all-star cast, namely Bart Layton’s Crime 101. Based on a novella by Don Winslow, the story follows four very different people on a collision course: Hemsworth’s jewel thief, Berry’s insurance broker, Mark Ruffalo’s detective, and Barry Keoghan’s outsider with nothing to lose. Layton wrote the latter role specifically for Keoghan, calling the film “a visually striking puzzle,” and Hemsworth echoed the sentiment by describing it as “uniquely mesmerizing.” The footage shown revealed a high-octane thriller with tons of action, focusing on California’s 101 freeway, where a thief has been conducting high value heists. Crime 101 has not yet been dated for release.
Fans new and old of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe franchise got a little treat from the set of the upcoming film, where director Travis Knight and stars Nicholas Galitzine (He-Man) and Camila Mendes (Teela) recorded a message to introduce some exclusive behind-the-scenes footage. Knight stated that “We’re making a film I’ve spent my entire life dreaming about” before the footage played, revealing that the film is going to great lengths to keep the look and feel exactly like the old toys and the cartoon. We also saw massive sets and practical designs for everything, including the makeup and costumes. Speaking of which, Galitzine got absolutely jacked for the role, and however you feel about Jared Leto, his Skeletor is also looking pretty spectacular. Masters of the Universe is currently scheduled for release on June 5, 2026.
