Las Vegas CinemaCon 2023 is currently underway and is dropping all manner of epic movie revelations upon us. The likes of Warner Bros, Disney, Sony and Paramount are presenting tantalising details of their upcoming projects, and here's what's been revealed so far.
1. The Flash drops a new trailer
The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) now tackles its own twist on multiverse theory and adapts the Flashpoint arc. The quicksilver Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) aka The Flash attempts to undo the ramifications of his parent's death, in the process splitting apart the space-time continuum and allowing the otherwise dead General Zod (Michael Shannon) to attack Earth in an alternate timeline.
Luckily, Barry has not one but two Batmen on his side, the first of which is series veteran Michael Keaton. The actor returns to the role for the first time since 1992's Batman Begins and the trailer for The Flash is laced with all kinds of goosebump-inducing Easter Eggs, from direct quotations ("Let's get nuts") to implicit visual references (the Batwing forming a silhouette against a full moon).
The other Batman featuring is Ben Affleck; fingers crossed he has more to do than in the previous Zack Snyder DCEU movies. The Flash movie also exploits its fractured timeline to conveniently shift Henry Cavill's now-defunct Superman to the side. He now gives way to Sasha Calle's Supergirl who joins the fight against Zod. Here are some fresh character posters to go with the new trailer, which you can watch below.
Behind the camera: IT filmmaker Andy Muschietti who reunites with his regular composer Benjamin Wallfisch on scoring duties. Fingers crossed we'll get both the tunes and the drama that we expect as the DCEU prepares for a wholesale reboot under the auspices of new creative chief James Gunn. The latter's final Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits Cineworld screens on May 3rd.
As for The Flash, it's released on June 16th.
2. The Flash gets rave responses from CinemaCon attendees
Could the DCEU be about to unleash an all-time classic on us? Those lucky enough to see The Flash in advance of its release date have praised the movie for its heart and energy with some even claiming (whisper it) the movie might be one of the greatest comic book epics ever made... Here are just a few of the responses to get you excited.
DC’s #TheFlash is TREMENDOUS! Forget DC, it is without a doubt among the best superhero films ever made. An all-timer. Inventive storytelling, FANTASTIC action sequences, great cast. SO MANY nerdy details. I’m in tears at the end. Everything you want from a superhero film & more pic.twitter.com/xYSn0zuXMm
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) April 26, 2023
The Flash is hands down one of the best superhero films of all time. No joke, The Flash is the ultimate movie going experience as it has a little bit of everything! Action, emotion, heart, humor and plenty of nostalgia. Ezra Miller is phenomenal as dual Barry Allens. Michael… pic.twitter.com/F7SHA30vZM
— Scott Menzel (@ScottDMenzel) April 26, 2023
Yup. #TheFlash is as good as rumored. It’s Back to the Future meets Spider-Man: No Way Home with all the humor & heart of the former and action and surprises of the latter. If anything, it might be a tad too ambitious but it’s also just incredibly satisfying, heartwarming & fun. pic.twitter.com/Yysb9mjiAm
— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) April 26, 2023
#TheFlash is fantastic. I know Ezra Miller has made a lot of mistakes but they are soooooo good in this movie. Loved Keaton, the action, humor and emotion. Andy Muschietti has crafted something special. Thumbs way up.
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) April 26, 2023
WB didn’t show the after the credits scenes. pic.twitter.com/J8KsdrKVwz
Caught an unfinished cut of #TheFlash and dug it quite a bit! Especially how the narrative challenges Barry to confront who he is, who he could have become, and how one’s influenced by the people in (or not in) their life.
— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) April 26, 2023
It’s a successful mix of heartfelt coming-of-age… pic.twitter.com/CB7mTDEZXC
3. Denzel Washington makes a killing in The Equalizer 3 trailer
Relatively few A-listers can sustain their star wattage into their sixties. Then again, Denzel Washington is no ordinary movie star. The screen veteran possesses 40 years' worth of screen credits and has two Oscars to his name, and if anyone can bring commanding gravitas to sticking a pistol through somebody's eyeball, it's him.
That's just one of the delights on display in the trailer for The Equalizer 3, the latest instalment of the uber-violent revenge saga. Washington's ex-CIA operative Robert McCall has now gone to ground on Italy's Amalfi Coast and is attempting to build a new life for himself. However, the local Camorrah, an offshoot of the Italian Mafia, has other plans. Expect visceral and nasty retribution as marshalled once again by director, and regular Washington collaborator, Antoine Fuqua.
Here's the new poster that's been revealed along with the first trailer (scroll down to take a look).
Interestingly, the movie also sports an on-screen reunion between Washington and Dakota Fanning who last appeared together in Tony Scott's frenetic revenge thriller Man on Fire in 2004. The Equalizer 3 is released on September 1st.
4. New posters for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
If Michael Bay's blockbusting Transformers movies battered us into submission, then 2018's Bumblebee, helmed by Travis Knight, was a big-hearted salve: a nostalgic throwback to the Amblin heyday of Steven Spielberg.
Knight gives way to Creed II filmmaker Steven Caple Jr. for the next chapter in the Transformers franchise, which riffs on the classic 1990s Transformers arc Beast Wars. In the Heights' Anthony Ramos plays the unsuspecting youngster who finds himself caught in a spectacular age-old battle between various Transformers factions: the Maximals, the Predacons and the Terrorcons.
This standalone sequel sports an impressively eclectic and diverse cast including Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah), plus Michelle Yeoh, Ron Perlman and Optimus Prime regular Peter Cullen on vocal duties.
Here are some new posters to get you fired up ahead of a fresh trailer that's coming very soon. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is released on June 9th.
5. New trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
The galaxy-consuming Unicron is coming in the latest Transformers trailer, and the various Transformers factions are rallying for battle. The results look spectacular, as marshalled by Steven Caple Jr. who picks up with Anthony Ramos' Brooklyn boy Noah in 1994. There, he meets grey Porsche come Autobot Mirage (voiced by Pete Davidson) who heralds the arrival of Autobot leader Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and the always-welcome Bumblebee.
However, the show is stolen well and truly by the animalistic Maximals, one of the three Transformers clans preparing for war. They include Ron Perlman’s gorilla-shaped Optimus Primal (see what they did there) and Michelle Yeoh’s winged Airazor.
How will Caple Jr. amalgamate the Beast Wars backstory with the heart of the previous movie Bumblebee and the sheer collateral damage of Michael Bay's Transformers movies? We'll find out on June 8th – watch the trailer below.
6. Ryan Gosling talks channelling 'Ken-ergy' for Barbie
Greta Gerwig's live-action Barbie movie (the first to ever be made) looks like something special. Margot Robbie plays the equivalent of Barbie Prime in this candy-coloured fantasy comedy, occupying a literal Barbie world that also encompasses variations played by the likes of Issa Rae and Emma Mackey.
And Barbie isn't the only character who's splitting the difference. There are multiple Kens too with the main one played by Ryan Gosling (his equally hunky rival is played by Simu Liu and their bickering looks to be one of the funniest things in the movie).
So, what does it take to channel one's inner Ken? Gosling admits that it took some doing.
”I have to be honest, I had up until this point, I only knew Ken from afar. I didn’t know Ken from within,” Gosling told The Hollywood Reporter. “If I’m being really honest, I doubted my Ken-ergy. I didn’t see it. Margot and Greta, I feel like they conjured this out of me somewhere.
"One day, I was bleaching my hair and shaving my legs and wearing bespoke neon outfits and rollerblading down Venice Beach. It came on like a fever, like a Scarlet fever. Like, ‘Why is there fake tanner on my sheets? Why am I wearing jackets without shirts? What just happened.’
That sounds like the sort of Ken we want to see. Barbie is released on July 21st.
7. Kraven the Hunter will be an R-rated Sony superhero movie
Sony's Universe of Marvel Characters is set to expand with the forthcoming Kraven the Hunter. Kick-Ass actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson will portray Marvel's feral title character for director J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year) – and he isn't playing nice. In fact, it's being touted as Sony's first properly violent, R-rated superhero movie (both of the Venom films were granted PG-13 ratings in the States).
The first Kraven footage has played at CinemaCon with Johnson declaring: "Will it be rated-R? F**k yes, it will be rated R." The movie co-stars Alessandro Nivola as Spider-Man villain The Rhino, last seen on-screen as played by Paul Giamatti in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).
“I only transform, physically, in the final moments of the movie, so it’s just a classic villain role,” Nivola told The Hollywood Reporter last year. “It had a really interesting, complex psychology and personal history to draw on, and the movie has a time jump in it, so the character changes a lot from the way he is in the beginning of the film. It was as much of an acting opportunity as any other film I’ve done.”
Kraven the Hunter tracks down the box office competition on October 6th.
8. A Haunting in Venice trailer sees Hercule Poirot embroiled in a spooky mystery
Kenneth Branagh's impressively hirsute Belgian detective Hercule Poirot has never met a case he couldn't crack. However, in Branagh's latest Agatha Christie adaptation, in which acts as director, writer and star as before, the cerebral sleuth may be facing matters that are not of this Earth.
A Haunting in Venice adapts one of the Queen of Crime's lesser-known properties, Hallowe'en Party. It sees Poirot frequenting the archaic, water-logged canals of the famed Italian city during Halloween, and one seance later, instigated by a mother calling out for her lost child, some seriously creepy stuff is going down. Here's the new poster.
Branagh has evidently amped up the Gothic panache based on the newly released trailer, and the bustling cast includes newly minted Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey and the young Jude Hill who led the cast of Branagh's acclaimed Belfast. A Haunting in Venice creeps onto the screen on September 15th.
9. Taika Waititi returns with the first trailer for Next Goal Wins
The idiosyncratic Kiwi helmer behind Thor: Love and Thunder comes back down to Earth with this stirring underdog sports story. Next Goal Wins is adapted from the 2014 documentary of the same name, detailing the story of the American Samoa soccer team who suffered the worst loss in World Cup history. However, following the appointment of Dutch coach Thomas Rongen, the team made the most unlikely and exhilarating of comebacks.
Scored to Waititi's signature pop needle drops (Abba's classic 'Take a Chance On Me' in this instance) and showcasing a resurgent performance from the brilliant Michael Fassbender, who's been pretty quiet of late, the trailer is more than enough to life the spirits. Next Goal Wins is released on October 20th.
10. Disney's animated adventure Wish scores Chris Pine
Wish is co-written and produced by Frozen's Jennifer Lee, focusing on the relationship between the optimistic Asha (Oscar winner Ariana DeBose) and a ball of energy named Star that she ends up manifesting. It's now been revealed that Dungeons and Dragons star Chris Pine will be voicing King Magnifico (pictured below), leader of the kingdom of Rosas where all wishes come true.
"As the most powerful person in the kingdom, King Magnifico needed to be played by someone who could give all the charm, cleverness and charisma to this magnanimous character, and Chris is beautifully bringing all of that and then some" Lee explains.
Wish will be released on November 22nd and you can watch the first trailer below.
As mentioned, we'll be updating this post with CinemaCon news between now and the close of the event on April 27th, so check back here regularly for updates.
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