The Walt Disney Studios thrilled attendees at CinemaCon® in Las Vegas Thursday with exclusive looks at its upcoming theatrical releases, including films from some of its renowned production studios—Disney Live Action, Marvel Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight Pictures.
Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, took the stage at The Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace to welcome attendees and speak about the outstanding cinematic events that Disney will be delivering to theaters in the coming months.
Bergman thanked the attendees and then turned the microphone over to Andrew Cripps, head of theatrical distribution, who spoke about the importance of the theatrical experience and the partnerships involved that work together to bring audiences to theaters.
Cripps showcased The Walt Disney Studios’ record-breaking 2024 slate before kicking off the Studio’s 2025 presentation with a montage of footage from Lilo & Stitch, a live-action reimagining of Disney’s 2002 animated classic. The film, which is the wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family, will open exclusively in theaters May 23.
Lilo & Stitch is directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, the Oscar®-nominated filmmaker behind the animated feature film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, and stars Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Tia Carrere, Hannah Waddingham, and Chris Sanders, with Courtney B. Vance, and Zach Galifianakis, and introducing Maia Kealoha. The film is produced by Jonathan Eirich, and Dan Lin. The studio also released a brand-new clip and poster from the film.
Next up, CinemaCon Vanguard Award recipient Lindsay Lohan and Disney Legend Jamie Lee Curtis came on stage to talk about Freakier Friday, the eagerly anticipated sequel to the Disney classic, which opens in theaters August 8. Curtis and Lohan spoke about the film, and together they presented an extended trailer and montage.
In the film, Curtis and Lohan reprise their roles as Tess and Anna Coleman, respectively. The story picks up years after Tess and Anna endured an identity crisis. Anna now has a daughter of her own and a soon-to-be stepdaughter. As they navigate the myriad challenges that come when two families merge, Tess and Anna discover that lightning might indeed strike twice. Directed by Nisha Ganatra, Freakier Friday also stars Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, Manny Jacinto, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Rosalind Chao, Chad Michael Murray, and Mark Harmon. Kristin Burr, Andrew Gunn, and Curtis produce.
With a dazzling “grid” light show, Jared Leto and Jeff Bridges walked on stage, where they were introduced by Cripps. Leto and Bridges chatted about Disney’s TRON: Ares and showed an extended trailer. TRON: Ares is the highly anticipated third installment in the TRON franchise and follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings.
The feature film is directed by Joachim Rønning and stars Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, and Cameron Monaghan, with Gillian Anderson and Bridges. Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, Leto, Emma Ludbrook, and Steven Lisberger are the producers. TRON: Ares opens in theaters October 10.
CinemaCon attendees were next treated to an exclusive clip from The Amateur, an all-new espionage-thriller from 20th Century Studios, which premiered last night in New York and opens in theaters nationwide April 11. The Amateur, directed by James Hawes, stars Oscar winner Rami Malek, Academy Award® nominee Laurence Fishburne, Emmy® Award winner Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Adrian Martinez, and Danny Sapani. The film is produced by Hutch Parker, Dan Wilson, Malek, and Joel B. Michaels.
Elle Fanning, the star of 20th Century Studios’ Predator: Badlands, joined Cripps onstage and screened a first look at the trailer for the upcoming film directed by Dan Trachtenberg. The newest entry in the Predator franchise is set in the future on a remote planet, where a young Predator, outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary. Predator: Badlands opens exclusively in theaters November 7.
Jeremy Allen White, who plays Bruce Springsteen, and Jeremy Strong, who plays Springsteen’s longtime manager, Jon Landau, in 20th Century Studios’ Deliver Me from Nowhere, surprised fans and gave attendees a first look at the upcoming film. Chronicling the making of Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 Nebraska album, which was recorded on a 4-track recorder in Springsteen’s New Jersey bedroom, Deliver Me from Nowhere is directed by Scott Cooper from his adaptation of Warren Zanes’ book of the same name.
Deliver Me from Nowhere also features Paul Walter Hauser as guitar tech Mike Batlan; Odessa Young as love interest, Faye; Stephen Graham as Springsteen’s father, Doug; Gaby Hoffman as Springsteen’s mom, Adele; and David Krumholtz as Columbia executive Al Teller. The film is produced by Cooper, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Eric Robinson, and Scott Stuber.
Up next, Curtis returned to the stage with Emma Mackey, who both star in 20th Century Studios’ Ella McCay, a new comedy written and directed by Disney Legend James L. Brooks, slated for release on September 19. After offering some details about the film, Curtis welcomed the Academy Award- and Emmy Award- winning Brooks and Bergman to the stage, where Bergman presented Brooks with CinemaCon’s Cinema Vérité Award, which recognizes the achievements of actors, actresses, and filmmakers, providing an opportunity for the global theatrical exhibition industry to thank them for bringing the best in filmmaking to their screens.
Brooks then introduced a sizzle reel that was screened exclusively for CinemaCon attendees. Ella McCay is about the complicated politics that arise when a young woman’s stressful career clashes with her chaotic family life. Ella McCay features an all-star cast, including Mackey, Woody Harrelson, Kumail Nanjiani, Spike Fearn, Ayo Edebiri, Jack Lowden, Rebecca Hall, Julie Kavner, Becky Ann Baker, and Joey Brooks, with Brooks and Curtis. The film is produced by Brooks, Richard Sakai, Julie Ansell, and Jennifer Simchowitz.
Attendees were treated to the first trailer from Searchlight Pictures’ film The Roses, which is directed by Jay Roach and written by Tony McNamara, starring Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, Belinda Bromilow, Sunita Mani, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Demetriou, Zoë Chao, and Kate McKinnon. In The Roses, life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy (Colman) and Theo (Cumberbatch): successful careers, a loving marriage, great kids. But beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life, a storm is brewing—as Theo’s career nosedives while Ivy’s own ambitions take off, a tinderbox of fierce competition and hidden resentment ignites.
The Roses is a reimagining of the 1989 classic film The War of the Roses, based on the novel by Warren Adler. The film is produced by Roach, Michelle Graham, Adam Ackland, Leah Clarke, Ed Sinclair, and Tom Carver. The Roses opens in theaters nationwide on August 29.
Up next, stars Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hannah John-Kamen, and Wyatt Russell surprised attendees with footage from Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*, which opens in U.S. theaters on May 2. In Thunderbolts*, Marvel Studios assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes: Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster, and John Walker. After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, these disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts. Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart, or find redemption and unite as something much more before it’s too late?
Thunderbolts* also stars Sebastian Stan, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, and Wendell Edward Pierce. Jake Schreier directs, with Kevin Feige producing.
Feige, in a taped greeting, then introduced footage that transported attendees through time to the 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world of Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach)—face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal. Directed by Matt Shakman and produced by Feige, The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens in theaters July 25.
Oscar winner Zoe Saldaña came on stage next to talk about her role as Aunt Olga in Disney and Pixar’s Elio. Fans enjoyed six minutes of 3D-footage from the upcoming film, which hits theaters June 20. The cosmic misadventure introduces Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab), a space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession. So, when he’s beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide, Elio’s all in for the epic undertaking. Mistakenly identified as Earth’s leader, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions, and somehow discover who and where he is truly meant to be.
Directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi and Adrian Molina, and produced by Mary Alice Drumm, the film also features the voices of Remy Edgerly as Glordon, Brad Garrett as Lord Grigon, Jameela Jamil as Ambassador Questa, and Shirley Henderson as Ooooo.
Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan was up next and shared two clips and first-look visuals from Disney Animation’s new big-screen adventure, Zootopia 2. Quan, who voices Gary De’Snake, a venomous-but-lovable pit viper, revealed today that Quinta Brunson is joining the voice cast as therapist Dr. Fuzzby, an adorable quokka who lends a paw to detectives Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman).
In the all-new story, Nick and Judy find themselves on the twisting trail of a mysterious reptile who arrives in Zootopia and turns the animal metropolis upside down. To crack the case, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before. From the Oscar-winning team of Disney Animation chief creative officer Jared Bush and Byron Howard (directors) and Yvett Merino (producer), Zootopia 2 releases in theaters November 26.
Bergman returned to the stage to present director and Disney Legend James Cameron via a taped message for Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third film in the phenomenally successful Avatar franchise, opening exclusively in theaters worldwide December 19.
Cameron addressed the audience and then called out Saldaña, who came back onstage to introduce a sneak peek at the film. Cameron takes audiences back to Pandora in an immersive new adventure with Marine turned Na’vi leader Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Na’vi warrior Neytiri (Saldaña), and the Sully family. The film also stars Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Oona Chaplin, Jack Champion, Britain Dalton, Trinity Bliss, and Bailey Bass. Cameron and Jon Landau produce.