Despite a brand-new era for Walt Disney Studios, with newly installed CEO Josh D’Amaro replacing Bob Iger just this past March, little was made of the transition during their CinemaCon 2026 presentation. It makes sense, of course, as a clear continuity of leadership feels safe, especially for the movie theater owners and exhibitors at CinemaCon, who rely on the big Disney grosses to help pad out their year. While Disney’s no stranger to rocky seasons, as they’re currently laying off 1,000 employees, the drama seems less pronounced than with Paramount’s national news-making censorship and takeovers. It allowed Walt Disney Studios to close out CinemaCon 2026 with a bang, showcasing their huge franchise material alongside a few smaller films, all focused on driving big audiences into theaters.
Disney Entertainment Chairman Alan Bergman kicked off the show with a celebration of the studio’s enormous box-office success. As he noted, Disney has been the number one studio at the box office for nine of the last ten years. Even as it launched a streaming service during that period, Bergman called Disney “the industry leader” in theatrical windows, with an average of 57 days of theatrical exclusivity in 2025. He noted that other studios have been calling for a 45-day window, while Disney already surpasses that. It’s hard to argue with the results, and the theater owners loved this celebration.
Turning Disney’s attention to the films themselves, Jon Favreau arrived on stage to deliver an extended look at “The Mandalorian & Grogu.” Favreau shouted out his team, who helped bring the film to life, including Dave Filoni, who shot second unit for him. He also celebrated the craft, praising ILM’s visual effects and the stop-motion animation they used for some creature effects. Favreau then introduced the first full 16 minutes of “The Mandalorian & Grogu.” The film opens with our titular duo infiltrating the hideout of Empire sympathizers, taking them out. In their escape, they run into three AT-ATs, leading to a big action sequence. The footage looked really solid, and the visual effects were excellent, though it’s hard to imagine someone connecting with it without having watched the show first. Still, it’s always exciting to have a new “Star Wars” film in theaters.
Next up, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen took to the stage to promote “Toy Story 5.” They went off-script to reminisce about the 30-plus-year journey of making “Toy Story” films. They remembered countless times when a parent would approach with a child, only for the child to refuse to believe they were talking to Woody or Buzz. After much joking around, they introduced two extended scenes from the film. The first saw Bonnie getting his Lilypad tablet and immediately becoming addicted, leading Jessie to confront the tablet. It was reminiscent of the first “Toy Story,” with Woody confronting Buzz. The second sequence saw Woody returning to Bonnie’s house to help with their dilemma. While it will be tough to top “Toy Story 3,” tackling technology in a child’s life is a perfect extension of the characters.
Disney highlighted two other animated films as well: one original, and one new entry in a long-running franchise. First, from Disney Animation Studios, we got a first look at a scene from “Hexed.” We didn’t get much context for the scene we saw, but it was intriguing nonetheless. A girl named Billie (Hailee Steinfeld) fell into some sort of cavern and encountered a talking book and a quill. They quiz her about her magical experiences, apparently testing to see if she’s a witch. They conclude she does have magical powers and open up a portal, welcoming her to Hexed. It wasn’t clear if that was a world, or a school, or something else entirely, but the animation looked engaging and cute. It seems like an original fairy tale, which could be an exciting direction, and much better than 2023’s “Wish.“ And then, for the first time since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, a new “Ice Age“ film is coming to theaters. Ray Romano, Denis Leary, and Queen Latifah all arrived on stage, noting it was their first time all together in several years. “Ice Age: Boiling Point“ teased a funny sequence with Scrat and the new Baby Scrat working with acorns, when Scrat accidentally triggers a volcano. The film looks exactly like the previous “Ice Age“ films, for better or worse.
Heading only slightly away from the animation world, Dwayne Johnson and Catherine Laga’aia arrived to promote the live-action remake of “Moana.“ Johnson explained how personal this series is to him, and the character of Maui specifically, because so much of him was inspired by his grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia. Further, he praised Catherine for taking on such a big, challenging role and told the audience that just earlier today, she had completed her first-ever interview, not just for the role, but for any role yet. The pair introduced a new extended trailer, giving us glimpses of new verses for songs like “Where You Are,“ and Maui singing “You’re Welcome.“ While the trailer didn’t overcome the hesitancy many have with this remake, it should satisfy those fans who have clamored for it.
Disney didn’t forget about adult fare in their presentation, either. In addition to highlighting a scene from the upcoming “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” we got first looks at “The Dog Stars,” “Wild Horse Nine,“ and “Whalefall.“ Directed by Ridley Scott, “The Dog Stars“ follows Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, and Josh Brolin in the wake of a deadly pandemic, living in a small community. Elordi’s character wants to leave and search for more survivors. The trailer has already been released online, but it looks intriguing, if a little bland. Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine“ is sure to be a hit with the Academy, and we got a look at an extended scene featuring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell. Malkovich is playing a surly, overly talkative CIA officer who just can’t stop babbling about the coup he’s helping with. Finally, “Whalefall“brought the house down. This book adaptation, directed by Brian Duffield, follows a scuba diver, Austin Abrams, who is swallowed by a sperm whale, leaving him with an hour to escape before his oxygen runs out. We saw the sequence in which he’s swallowed, and it’s unbelievably tense, and dialogue-free, of course. It’s “Gravity,“ but underwater. “Whalefall“ instantly leaped up on my list of most anticipated films for the rest of the year.
And finally, of course, Marvel Studios had to bring something from “Avengers: Doomsday.” First, Kevin Feige, Anthony Russo, and Joe Russo came to the stage to introduce a new concept called Infinity Vision. This sounded like a joke, but it’s a real effort they are introducing. This process will certify premium large-format theaters, allowing fans to identify which theaters they want to see Marvel films in. Their description was vague and unclear, but I’m sure this has everything to do with “Dune: Part Three” taking their IMAX screens away for December 18th. Following that announcement, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans all made their way to the stage to introduce “The Trailer of Doom.” In the trailer, narrated by Doom, we see all the different universes coming together: Avengers meeting the New Avengers, The Fantastic Four meeting the Wakandans, the X-Men meeting, well, everyone. We also saw Doom stop Thor’s axe with just two fingers. There’s so much going on, with nearly every character you can imagine, but the CinemaCon crowd ate it up, so much so that they shouted out and demanded they show the trailer a second time. Feige obliged, wrapping up Disney’s CinemaCon 2026 presentation by showing the trailer one last time.
Disney didn’t spend much time looking past 2026, with only a brief mention of Pixar’s “Gatto,” coming in March of 2027, and “Star Wars: Starfighter,” coming next year as well. But with a slate this focused on massive properties, you can’t just move past the big titles. There’s not much reason for Disney to tease 2027 when there’s this much box-office potential in 2026. The question is: amidst all of Disney’s properties and upcoming films, when will we start to see the effect D’Amaro will have on Walt Disney Studios as a company? Will there come a time when Disney’s direction feels tangibly different because of his influence, or will he stay the course, keeping the legacy studio moving in the same direction it is now? Only time will tell, but 2026 could be yet another winning year for the House of Mouse.
What was your favorite announcement from Walt Disney Studios’ (and its subsidiaries) presentation at this year’s CinemaCon? Which of their films are you most excited about? Please let us know in the comments below or over on our X account.
