LAS VEGAS – Things are rocky for Paramount Pictures at the moment. While studio CEO and Chairman Brian Robbins and his team presented highlights of their upcoming 2024 slate, reports were breaking of corporate shareholders coming out publicly against a proposed merger with Skydance Media. Robbins acknowledged the “elephant in the room” joking that the studio’s head of distribution Chris Aronson was setting up a GoFundMe to buy the company himself. Luckily, Robbins had new footage from “A Quiet Place: Day One,” “Smile 2” and, most notably, Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” to reassure theater owners that the mountain’s future was sound.
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To be blunt, the presentation was somewhat short, running just an hour. There was talent on hand though. Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry appeared on stage to present the first trailer and 3-D footage of the ILM animated “Transformers One” (young kids might be into it). Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn also were on hand to introduce a new extended trailer for “A Quiet Place: Day One” (looks like another big hit for this franchise). There was the first trailer for Parker Finn’s “Smile 2” (less scary, more stylish) and a preview of what Paramount hopes will be a major Christmas moneymaker, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” featuring the return of Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik.
As for “Gladiator II,” this writer is slightly concerned. The footage looked good and certainly less flat or digital than “Napoleon.” The question is why was it so difficult to sell a conflict in a five-minute preview? Was the idea just to show as much “finished” action as possible for theater owners? Lucius, our hero portrayed by Paul Mescal, was portrayed as a young man who always dreamed of being a Gladiator (he’s playing Maximus’ son from the first film, but the CinemaCon audience wouldn’t have a clue). There simply wasn’t any conflict shown at all for his character (Mescal looks beefy shirtless tho). Joseph Quinn and Fred Herchinger were delivering over-the-top energy as Caracalla and Geta, but that’s become a cinematic caricature of Roman emperors at this point. Denzel Washington looks like he’s having fun as a mysterious figure looking to push Rome’s downfall and Connie Nielsen is on hand to provide a connection to the first Best Picture-winning film. The only character that seemed to have any compelling storyline is a Roman figure portrayed by Pedro Pascal and we’re not even sure who he’s supposed to be. At least there was some emotion to his role. Overall? Honestly, we’re very concerned.
What had to be a highlight for Robbins was the audible buzz in the theater with every breaking news announcement. A new “Scary Movie” installment? We’re hoping Regina Hall and Anna Faris sign on. Edgar Wright rebooting “The Running Man” with Glenn Powell? Um, yes, please. A “G.I.Joe” and “Transformers” crossover movie? Probably 10-15 years too late, but could be fun. A new “Star Trek” movie finally coming to theaters next year? We want to believe! And Damien Chazelle with a new movie at his new “home”? You too can blow $80 million on “Babylon” (we’re pretty sure it was $100 million) and get rewarded with another studio flick. Still, for Paramount it’s a prestige play to get excited about. Oh, and “South Park’s” Trey Parker and Matt Stone teaming up with Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free for a comedy dropping on July 4, 2025? That deserves a “wow.” And, of course, a new “Mission: Impossible” is on the way for 2025 (although “Dead Reckoning” wasn’t part of the on stage graphic).
The future of Paramount may be cloudy and new owners may not keep Robbins and his regime around. That’s just how this business works if a merger or acquisition occurs. That being said, they are certainly doing everything they can to make sure the studio has a compelling slate for 2025.
Check out The Playlist’s complete CinemaCon 2024 coverage her