New Bond, Matrix footage thrills CinemaCon as theaters recover

LAS VEGAS – New footage from the upcoming sequels of James Bond, The Matrix and Batman took center stage at the CinemaCon film industry summit in Las Vegas on Tuesday, as Hollywood executives adopted a provocative tone on the future of the big screen.

A nine-minute excerpt from No time to die billed as Daniel Craig’s final 007 release and the 25th installment in the series, showed Bond apparently waking up from an explosion in a quaint Italian village, before embarking on a series of car and motorcycle chases.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has unveiled more footage from its formidable roster of new films, including a trailer for the upcoming Matrix sequel, now officially titled. The matrix: resurrections in which Keanu Reeves’ Neo seems confused by dreams from his past life.

The annual CinemaCon show sees Hollywood studios bringing glitzy stars and never-before-seen footage to a Las Vegas casino to woo theater bosses.

Although A-listers largely stayed away from this week’s event amid concerns about Delta variants, executives at studios and theater chains attempted to end a difficult year with a optimistic message.

“I’m going to get right to the point, James Bond is coming out in October,” reassured Michael De Luca, MGM film director, after the film was delayed several times by COVID-19 and the studio itself was sold. to streaming giant Amazon.

Episode 007 is of huge importance to theaters this year, as Hollywood hopes to attract viewers to theaters despite the pandemic.

No time to die resumes after 2015 Spectrum, with the loving loyalty of Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) now apparently questioned.

Bond producers have insisted that future 007 films will still appear in theaters, despite the $ 8.45 billion buyout deal meant to bolster Amazon’s streaming presence, as competition s ‘is stepping up in the market on demand.

The MGM presentation also featured footage from Ridley Scott’s upcoming drama. Gucci House featuring a scintillating ensemble including Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, as well as a new musical from Cyrano directed by Peter Dinklage (Game Of Thrones).

BATMAN “EMOTIONAL”

Warner Bros.’s presentation on Tuesday came after the studio angered many Hollywood filmmakers and cinemas this year by releasing all of their titles simultaneously on the HBO Max streaming platform.

Studio executives were away in Las Vegas this year, delivering an hour-long video presentation.

But the bundle contained a lot of new material, including an extended scene from the upcoming sci-fi epic. Dune, in which a heart-wrenching rescue operation to extract a team of spice miners from one of the desert planet’s deadly giant worms goes awry.

Denis Villeneuve’s film, released in October, is the latest attempt to adapt Frank Herbert’s sprawling novel for the big screen, and stars Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac and Javier Bardem.

A featurette presented next year The batman starring Robert Pattinson and directed by Matt Reeves, who has promised it will be “the most touching Batman movie” to date, in which the hero has just started his crime-fighting career.

An opening scene from The Many Saints of Newark, a feature film prequel to The Sopranos, whetted the appetite of fans of the famous American mafia television series.

The sequence featured Christopher Moltisanti telling from beyond the grave the story of Tony Soprano’s childhood years.

Other upcoming films briefly presented include Clint Eastwood’s Neo-Western film crying macho, and Will Smith’s portrayal of the father of tennis greats Serena and Venus Williams in king richard.

Following this year’s controversy, Warner recently made deals to restore a “window” in which films will be exclusive to theaters in 2022.

“Going to the theater is just in our DNA. And that will never change,†said Warner’s chief distribution officer Jeff Goldstein, admitting that some “difficult and controversial choices†were made during the pandemic.

CinemaCon runs until Thursday.

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