CinemaCon opens today
CinemaCon begins April 13 in Las Vegas with studios presenting trailers and first looks — Sony is already promoting Spider‑Man: Brand New Day at the event and a new trailer is being speculated, with the film slated for July 31. ( ) Industry conversations at the convention also include exhibitor focus on the proposed Paramount‑Warner Bros. merger and broader theatrical business concerns. ( )
CinemaCon opens Monday, April 13, in Las Vegas, where studios pitch theater owners on the films they want on screens through 2026 and 2027. (cinemacon.com) The convention runs April 13 through April 16 at Caesars Palace and is billed by organizers as the official convention of Cinema United, the trade group for movie theaters. CinemaCon says it expects more than 6,000 industry professionals and attendees from more than 80 countries. (cinemacon.com) Sony Pictures Entertainment has the opening-night studio presentation at 6:30 p.m. Monday, according to Cinema United’s posted schedule. Trade coverage ahead of the event said Sony planned to spotlight titles including *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* and *Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse*. (cinemaunited.org, maxblizz.com) One wrinkle in the Spider-Man chatter: Sony and Marvel already released the first official trailer for *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* on March 18, and both companies list the film for July 31, 2026. Sony’s official synopsis says the story takes place four years after *Spider-Man: No Way Home* and names Destin Daniel Cretton as director. (marvel.com, sonypictures.com) CinemaCon is not a fan convention in the Comic-Con mold. It is a sales floor for the theatrical business, where studios show trailers, footage and release plans to exhibitors who decide how many screens, showtimes and marketing commitments a movie gets. (cinemacon.com, screenrant.com) This year’s presentations come with a healthier box-office backdrop than the one theater owners faced a year ago. Deadline reported the domestic box office had reached $2.26 billion through April 12, up 23% from the same period in 2025, while admissions were up 16% to 154 million, citing Comscore and EntTelligence. (deadline.com) Even with that rebound, the loudest business conversation in Las Vegas is not a trailer. Deadline reported exhibitors are focused on the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, a deal it said is expected to close before the fourth quarter, and on David Ellison’s pledge to maintain 30 films a year across the combined companies. (deadline.com) Exhibitors want to know whether that output would hold and how release dates, marketing costs and theatrical windows would work if two major studios were combined. Cinema United chief executive Michael O’Leary told Deadline the group had “positive and constructive conversations” with Ellison about the future. (deadline.com) The rest of the week is stacked with studio showcases: Warner Bros. on Tuesday, Universal Pictures and Focus Features plus Amazon MGM Studios on Wednesday, and Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Studios on Thursday. By the time CinemaCon ends on April 16, theater owners should have a clearer view of the release calendar they are being asked to bet on. (cinemaunited.org)
