Universal knows how to put on a show. This year, their CinemaCon presentation featured a live orchestra directed by Ricky Minor throughout the entire presentation, showcasing movie scores that transported us throughout film history’s past and present. It’s a wise move for Universal, as they remind the Cinema United theater owners in the crowd about their classic films that have struck gold at the box office in years past, and looking forward to doing that again this year.
Chairman of Universal Pictures Donna Langley took to the stage, immediately thanking exhibitors for bringing Universal’s films to the big screen. She ensured the exhibitors that no other studio delivers as many theatrical releases each year. Universal has released 65 films to theaters since Covid, more than any other studio. Langley failed to address theatrical windows, a major sticking point between Universal and exhibitors. Universal’s theatrical windows are the shortest of all the major studios as they quickly throw their theatrical releases onto PVOD and Peacock.
Global Distribution Chief Peter Levinsohn told the crowd that Universal is focused on providing audiences with a wide variety of films to choose from, which is why they have such a diverse slate. “Audiences are demanding more and more,” he said. “We have to give them stories they haven’t seen before.” This, he said before diving into a presentation almost exclusively comprised of sequels. “We’re delivering more animated hits than any other studio.” Levinsohn celebrated the successes of “Kung Fu Panda 4” and “Despicable Me 4” last year and says Universal is committed to meeting the demands of family audiences.
Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and director Gareth Edwards came to the stage to talk “Jurassic World: Rebirth.” The actors praised Edwards for committing to shoot primarily in real locations, not sound stages. They talked about going through snake-infested rivers in Thailand, hanging out of real flying helicopters, and more. In the new trailer, we got a glimpse of a pretty gnarly-looking mega-dinosaur tormenting visitors on an island where “the worst” of the Jurassic experiments are sent. Judging by this footage, the commitment to real locations seems to be paying off.
Taking a turn toward animation, Dreamworks Animation President showcased the first trailer for “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie.” The Netflix preschool series “Gabby’s Dollhouse” has dominated streaming, becoming one of the most streamed shows ever. Now, the show will hit the big screen in a mix of live-action and animation, where Gabby is joined by Gloria Estefan and a villainous Kristen Wiig. Awkafina and Craig Robinson also took the stage to give a new look at “The Bad Guys 2,” in which the titular crew is forced back into crime by a group known as “The Bad Girls.” Later in the program, Universal teased their 2026 animated releases, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2,” “Minions 3,” and “Shrek 5,” but didn’t offer anything new about these projects.
Earlier in the day, Universal gave the CinemaCon the world premiere of the live-action remake “How To Train Your Dragon,” where reactions were overwhelmingly positive. The press in the crowd praised it as maintaining the heart and soul of the original while elevating the epic scope. At Universal’s presentation, director Dean Deblois, Gerard Butler, and Nico Parker announced that the story will continue, with “How To Train Your Dragon 2” coming in 2027.
There was lots to show on the horror front for Universal, starting with “Him,” the latest film produced by Jordan Peele. Directed by Justin Tipping and starring Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers, this looks like a brutal horror film in the vein of “Whiplash” meets “Get Out” meets sports flick. The crowd reacted well to the trailer. Later, Jason Blum made his way on stage in a very creepy Freddy costume of “Five Nights At Freddy’s.” He acknowledged the Freddy-sized elephant in the room: despite the massive box office success of the first film, exhibitors were not happy with its day-and-day release on Peacock. Blum reassured them: “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” will go straight to theaters. Blumhouse is doubling down on franchises this year, with “M3GAN 2.0” and a spinoff “SOULM8TE.” While “M3GAN 2.0” appears to be another PG-13 horror comedy romp, with M3GAN being recruited to take down an even worse AI bot named Amelia, “SOULM8TE” is an erotic horror in which a robotic sex doll becomes sentient, determined to stay with her man at all costs. Further, Blumhouse showcased a new look at “Black Phone 2,” which looks much bloodier and more violent than the first installment.
Focus Features Chairman Peter Kujawski came out to showcase the specialty lineup of films. He talked about how the specialty sector pollinates the movie business, but it’s movie theaters that help communities find resonance in these stories. In teasing their upcoming slate, Kujawski said that every single one of their films is made for the theatrical experience, with established filmmakers, promising newcomers, and even a global franchise. “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” teased the end of this long-running franchise, with the trailer noting, “It’s time to say goodbye.” Kujawski referenced “Honey Don’t” by Ethan Coen, “Hamnet” by Chloe Zhao, and “Anemone” by Ronan Day-Lewis, but we didn’t see anything from those films.
Instead, Kujawski presented new teasers for upcoming projects. Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” looks like a globe-trotting adventure in which Benicio del Toro plays an international businessman who has a close call with death. He disperses his business interests to his heir, and shows them how to manage his affairs. It featured a score that sounded straight out of the 30s or 40s. Next, we saw the very quick teaser for “Bugonia,” in which Jesse Plemmons waxed poetic about worker bees’ devotion to their queen bee but said the queen has abandoned the workers. We see Emma Stone’s CEO character kidnapped and her head shaved before she wakes up, seeing Plemmons standing above her.
Before their grand finale, Domestic Distribution Chief Jim Orr briefly mentioned their two biggest tentpoles for summer 2026: Steven Spielberg’s new sci-fi adventure and Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.” He didn’t say much about either project, only that Spielberg’s new film is a return to his blockbuster sci-fi roots, while “The Odyssey” would “make Homer proud.” Conspicuously, neither of the films from Jordan Peele nor The Daniels were mentioned in the presentation, and both of them are slated for next year.
And finally, we all knew how this presentation would end. For the third consecutive year, Universal Pictures wrapped their CinemaCon presentation with a look at “Wicked,” this time with “Wicked: For Good.” Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande came out stage donning all-black outfits, a departure from the pink and green that have dominated their looks for a year now. Shortly joined by Jon M. Chu and Marc Platt, they introduced the first-ever footage from the sequel. The teaser, mostly set to the song “For Good,” gave us glimpses of many major moments from the film. We saw Glinda and Elphaba reuniting, Fiyero leading a squadron to chase down Elphaba, Glinda’s wedding, putting on her crown, the quartet from “The Wizard of Oz,” and so much more. In the final moments of the trailer, Glinda and Elphaba alternate singing, “Because I knew you,” from “For Good.” It was a beautiful trailer and will do an excellent job of setting up another major box-office success for the studio this Thanksgiving.
With their musical odes to decades of movie magic, Universal certainly put on the showiest presentation of the year. Their commitment to an incredibly diverse slate of films is exactly what theater owners needed to see, but the studio still failed to address the damage they do to theaters with their needlessly rushed PVOD and streaming releases. Commitment to quality is great, but it needs to be paired with a mutually beneficial partnership with theater owners for the movie business to thrive. Perhaps successes like “Wicked” and “Oppenheimer” will continue to push Universal ever closer to prioritizing theaters.
What was your favorite announcement from Universal Pictures’s presentation at this year’s CinemaCon? Which of their films are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments below or over on our Twitter account.
