All The Sequels (And Handful Of Non-Sequels) At CinemaCon

Since the ‘70s, major theater chains have run a trade show for studios to preview and cut distribution deals around upcoming films. As Hollywood blockbusters became synonymous with superhero and genre franchises, the ShoWest convention was rebranded to CinemaCon, solidifying it as a hotbed for news about Marvel sequels and surprise divorce papers. Behind all the closed door Doomsday sizzle reels loomed other kinds of doom, as major consolidations threatened disarray and Netflix sought penance for doubting ticket returns.

Disney gave attendees an upcoming glimpse at Avengers: Doomsday, a make or break mega-blockbuster that will see the Fantastic Four, X-Men and MCU veterans square off against Dr. Doom, played by a returning Robert Downey Jr. Disney wants as big a return on Doomsday as possible after a sluggish bog of Marvel let-downs, even introducing their own IMAX brand to charge fans more. Disney also gave presentations on The Mandalorian and Grogu, live-action Moana and sequels for Toy Story, Ice Age and The Devil Wears Prada.

Not to appear completely devoid of new ideas, Disney gave glimpses at two original projects. One was The Dog Stars, a new film from Ridley Scott based on Peter Heller’s post-apocalyptic novel about pandemic survivors seeking the source of a mysterious transmission. The other was Hexed, an animated film about a teenage witch, starring Hailee Steinfeld and Rashida Jones.

Robert Downey Jr's entrance for CinemaCon. pic.twitter.com/Oeqd3Gt8Md

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 17, 2026

Warner Bros. had some witchcraft to discuss as well, though probably not the school you were thinking of. Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock will be reuniting in Practical Magic 2, adding Joey King and top-five hunk Lee Pace to the coven. Though bizarre to follow-up on a nearly 30 year old romantic comedy, the unassuming ‘90s flick has apparently done numbers on streaming platforms. More perplexing is the studios’ addition to The Lord of the Rings saga: The Hunt for Gollum, which announced that Jamie Dornan will be taking Viggo Mortensen’s place as Aragon.

The Warners had plenty of superheroes to divulge. More footage of the upcoming Supergirl film was shown, featuring Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El and Jason Momoa, previously Aquaman, now the main man Lobo. For years it was unclear if Clayface was going to tie into Reeves’ The Batman or a standalone film like Joker, though it now seems like the mudpack villain will get the third spot in James Gunn’s DCU marquee. CinemaCon previews suggest that Matt Hagen’s suffering has a horror overtone, unsurprising given the script treatment was given by Haunting of Hill House’s Mike Flanagan.

Warner is also upping their stake in horror, showing attendees an exclusive peek at Evil Dead Burn, announcing an original Zach Cregger film titled The Flood and a spin-off for his hit Weapons revolving around Aunt Gladys, which won Amy Madigan an Oscar at the recent Academy Awards. They also unveiled a new film from Pearl director Ti West, an Ebenezer Scrooge origin starring Johnny Depp, which sounds like the most cooked movie ever conceived.

One of the more surprising announcements at CinemaCon was Warner’s new label Clockwork, seemingly to compete with the likes of A24 and NEON at original, mid-budget hits. Its first film will be from Anora director Sean Baker, titled Ti Amo! An odd sticking point as the studio and media conglomerate has been cleaving off limbs during David Zaslav’s tenure, especially recently as it seeks a merger. Paramount appears to be moving towards the acquisition, but the devastating shake-up, industry resistance and the naked political positioning from CEO David Ellison will make proceedings a legal gauntlet.

On top of ruining people’s day, Paramount also makes movies! At CinemaCon they shared news about new Jackass, Top Gun and Scary Movie installments. By now you’ve probably seen their debut trailer for the latest Street Fighter movie as Paramount finds a healthy niche in video game adaptations. They also revealed a trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 4, with the unsurprising return of Jim Carrey’s Robotnik, and the more surprising announcement of a Call of Duty film directed by The Kingdom’s Peter Berg and undisputed king of grandpa shows Taylor Sheridan.

Sony prefers to outsource their video game adaptations, but their movie division will be borrowing one of Capcom’s for the moment. The increasingly busy Cregger gave a look at his Resident Evil film, which follows a medical courier trying to survive a night of an unfortunate viral outbreaks. Sony’s biggest to-do is the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day, though the clip shown at CinemaCon revolved around non-costumed encounters with Zendaya’s Mary Jane. Sony also had first glances at Aaron Sorkin’s Social Network follow-up The Social Reckoning, revolving around the 2021 whistleblower who divulged how bad this shit is for teens. There was also a debut trailer for Jumanji: Open World. The fourth in the series has the jungle realm merging with the real world, which sounds an awful lot like the first Jumanji.

Universal, the studio people are the least mad at, brought out Stephen Spielberg to discuss his latest alien escapade, Disclosure Day, as well as new looks at Nolan’s anticipated The Odyssey, which adds Charlize Theron to the massive cast as Calypso. There was news regarding upcoming Minions films and Focker in Law, which adds Ariana Grande and Skyler Gisondo to De Niro’s humiliation of Ben Stiller. Universe also showed off Robbert Eggers next classic monster take, Werwulf, and announced a Snoop Dogg biopic directed by Hustle & Flow’s Craig Brewer.

Netflix did not have a keynote, because they’ve generally been cold towards theatrical runs (though they found time to announce their own Wonka slop from home). However, CEO Ted Sarandos did arrive to seek penance from the theater chains after the failed bid to buy Warner Bros. and the wildfire success of KPop Demon Hunters. The animated phenomenon has made the big screen harder for Netflix to ignore. As more studios are trending towards longer theatrical windows, Netflix still wants to pierce theirs closed, with Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia only getting two weeks before it debuts online. You’d think it would be tough to balance the streaming availability with traditional Hollywood business, but some tech conglomerates are having a better time than others.

Amazon, who bought MGM in recent history, is still enjoying the windfall from Project Hail Mary, extending the theatrical window as it continues to sell tickets. It’s quelled industry skeptics regarding Amazon’s ability to navigate distribution, though with so little news regarding James Bond, their greatest fumbles may still be on the horizon. Until then, they’ve got plenty of novel garbage for us. A Highlander reboot starring Henry Cavill. A new Thomas Crown Affair with Michael B. Jordan starring and directing. A self-indulgent fictionalized making-of Rocky film with Anthony Ippolito as a young Sly Stallone.

First teaser for ‘SPACEBALLS: THE NEW ONE’.

In theaters on April 23, 2027. pic.twitter.com/dh9aDyTJbv

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 16, 2026

Leaner than other blockbuster fare than the other studios, Amazon did get to take us to a galaxy very, very, very, very far away. Decades in the making Spaceballs: The New One, a sequel to Mel Brooks’ bawdy riff on the Star Wars saga arrives next year. With more material to spoof than ever, the sequel sees the return of the nearly 100 year old Brooks, Rick Moranis coming out of retirement, as well as Daphne Zuniga, Bill Pullman and son Lewis. A teaser reel shows that they all look great, and if movies can’t be inspiring any more they can at least be an opportunity to check in on our favorite character actors.