CinemaCon 2026 opens up in a fascinating time in the movie industry. As all the major studios seem to be consolidating, creating fewer opportunities and a slimmer distribution chain, Sony Pictures appears to be holding strong. They’re the only major movie studio without their own streaming service, instead partnering with other platforms for that while prioritizing their own theatrical releases. Sony Pictures Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman knows this well, but refrained from taking shots at his fellow studios, upholding a promise to deliver his “least profane opening” to a CinemaCon presentation.
Before getting to the movies themselves, Rothman delivered a strong speech to the movie theater owners and exhibitors in the crowd, reaffirming his commitment to the theatrical experience. He told the members of Cinema United that their demands should be threefold. First, longer theatrical windows, keeping the movies exclusively on the big screen for as long as possible. Second, to shorten the ads that play before movies, which hurts the moviegoing experience and trains audiences to show up late. And third, to make the overall experience cheaper for the customer, bringing down costs that have soared at theaters. The first two points got big cheers from the crowd, while the third, well, went over with middling applause. Still, Rothman is known to the room as a champion of theaters, and the Sony presentation offered up big, diverse movies that will certainly draw audiences to the screen.
Unsurprisingly, Spider-Man was the biggest star of the night, just as he was in Sony’s presentation last year. While Tom Holland wasn’t on hand in person, Sony showcased a pre-recorded hologram of him to introduce a new look at “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” In the extended clip, we see Peter following Ned, who, of course, doesn’t remember him anymore, into a party. Ned has become obsessed with discovering Spider-Man’s identity. Peter then meets MJ and discovers she has a boyfriend. After the clip, we got an extended montage of huge action set pieces that look pretty stunning, including a clip of Peter’s eye turning black. While there weren’t many new revelations, this continued to build hype for what Holland called “the most emotional entry yet.” We’ll find out if that’s true when it comes out in July.
Funny enough, “the most emotional entry yet” is exactly how Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Bob Persichetti, and Justin K. Thompson described their trilogy-capping “Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse.” The filmmakers took the stage to talk about the progress of the long-delayed animated film. One of the most interesting revelations is that their movie will be in the 1.43:1 aspect ratio, which is more square, giving it a very distinct look for a mainstream superhero animated flick. They unveiled a new look at the movie, in which our Miles, still tied up from the last film, confronts evil Miles, now The Prowler. The teaser showcased bursts of action from across the film, underscoring how detailed and boundary-pushing the animation remains. We’re still over a year away from this release, but the wait may very well be worth it.
Fresh off a shockingly successful awards run for “Weapons,” Zach Cregger arrived at CinemaCon to talk about his new adaptation of “Resident Evil.” He says he’s played a “shitload” of “Resident Evil” games over the years, and that they’re so naturally cinematic. Cregger says he wanted to capture the spirit of the games, especially their pacing. We saw the first trailer, in which Austin Abrams plays a deliveryman on the run. The trailer was really light on story, but made up for it in vibes. The trailer is incredibly tense and builds to the final shot, with Abrams running nearly the entire time. Even as someone with no history with the “Resident Evil” games, I can’t wait to see more.
That’s not the only video game adaptation on the horizon for Sony. President Adam Bergerman announced that Wes Ball’s “The Legend of Zelda” has just wrapped production, though they didn’t show any photos or footage from the film. He also announced that a new R-rated, animated adaptation of Bloodborne is now in development at Sony. This was light on details, but a big swing nonetheless. And finally, a “Helldivers” adaptation is in the works from director Justin Lin and star Jason Momoa.
The specialty market also got a highlight from Sony. While Sony Pictures Classics had a bigger feature earlier in the day at the inaugural 2026 CinemaCon Film Showcase, Bergerman made sure to shout out Crunchyroll and Sony’s success with theatrical anime. Last year, both “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle” and “Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc” found enormous success at the box office, something the exhibitors in the crowd know well. He said they plan to keep that momentum going this year with “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea,” coming out later this month.
While director Takashi Yamazaki is busy wrapping up “Godzilla Minus Zero” to debut later this year, he’s prepping his English-language debut for Sony: “Grand Gear.” We got a very quick teaser that didn’t show much, but it did feature giant robots fighting with swords in the middle of a city. I don’t think we need much more to sell audiences on the film, which will land in 2028.
A couple of highly anticipated book adaptations were highlighted during Sony’s presentation. First, Dakota and Elle Fanning sent in a video from the set of “The Nightingale,” an adaptation of Kristin Hannah’s World War II-set novel. The sisters are producing and starring together in the film for the first time. They say the film is a tribute to the resilient spirit and will capture the heart of the novel. Next up, we got the first trailer for Taika Waititi’s “Klara and the Sun,“ an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel. Jenna Ortega stars as a robot hired by Amy Adams’ character to be an artificial friend, who discovers the world, friendship, and connection for the first time. It looks bright, colorful, and very silly, and you can very much feel Waititi’s fingerprints on it. It hits theaters on October 23rd.
Sony’s lone (thus far) awards contender for 2026 got a moment to shine as writer-director Aaron Sorkin took the stage to talk about “The Social Reckoning,“ the companion piece to 2010’s “The Social Network.“ Sorkin described this new film as “a real David and Goliath story,“ as it centers on whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) taking on Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, this time played by Jeremy Strong. We got a teaser that looks solid, and ends on the first film’s iconic Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross score, but Strong’s performance is certainly a major departure from Jesse Eisenberg’s take on Zuckerberg. Frankly, from the short trailer we saw, it felt like a “Saturday Night Live“ impersonation more than a real human, very tense and short. We’ll have to see if the full film shows more layers from Strong when it comes out this October.
Finally, Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, and Kevin Hart came out to tease their final outing in “Jumanji: Open World.“Black said this was the most fun he’s ever had making a movie, and they clearly kept the fun going on stage, where Hart kept insulting Johnson, saying The Rock was “drunk as shit right now.“ They said that each of them plays three different characters in the film, a huge challenge. Next, they introduced the first trailer for “Jumanji: Open World,“ which shows Lamorne Morris as a repairman who attempts to fix an old video game console but accidentally unleashes the game into the real world. It looks big and fun, right in line with the last two films, and comes out on Christmas Day.
Sony certainly made a splash, as they always do, as the first major studio to present at CinemaCon. Their commitment to the theatrical experience, not diluted by other streaming interests, truly helps them stand out among exhibitors at this conference. And it doesn’t hurt that they got a solid slate coming up over the next year and beyond. As upcoming presentations for Paramount and Warner Bros. will carry a lot more baggage, it was much easier for Sony to bring the excitement to the room.
What was your favorite announcement from Sony Pictures’ 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 X account.
