LAS VEGAS – First, for those who care, CinemaCon has witnessed the first sneak of Antoine Fuqua‘s Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” and if you’re a hardcore fan, you will be quite happy with the results so far. Jaafar Jackson is at his best on stage playing his uncle and, truth be told, his dance moves are uncanny. Nia Long has a moment as Michael’s mother Katherine Jackson and there is a brief glimpse of Colman Domingo as the notorious family patriarch Joe Jackson. And, Lionsgate Vice Chairman Adam Fogelson made it clear Jackson’s life story is a controversial one and the movie will not shy away from it. Will the public see this preview? Probably not with the cast and crew just halfway through production. But, the mini-major, and partner Universal Pictures, knows they have a major hit on their hands.
The rest of Lionsgate’s presentation to the world’s theater owners was one action and horror film after another. Oh, and a faith-based Christmas movie, “The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever” (didn’t expect to see Judy Greer in this one). The only other previously unannounced movie to truly stand out was Aziz Ansari’s “Good Fortune.”
Ansari’s second attempt at a feature directorial debut (production was shut down on “Being Mortal” after Bill Murray was accused of inappropriate behavior), the dramedy finds the comedic actor as a struggling dad trying to make ends meet in Los Angeles. His character is hired in a TaskRabbit role for a rich Hollywood Hills douchebag played by Seth Rogen. That is until he encounters his low-rent guardian angel, Gabriel, portrayed by Keanu Reeves. Like a genie right out of the bottle, Gabriel flips Azari and Rogen’s lives hoping the former will see that having massive wealth isn’t as satisfying as he thought. Unfortunately, Azari’s character loves his new life and doesn’t want to go back to the misery he endured before. This comedy on economic disparity takes another few twists when Gabriel mistakenly returns Rogen’s memories and our angel ends up losing his wings. There is no release date, but it appears to be set for sometime in 2024 (it also screams TIFF world premiere).
Among other releases, Fogelson explained that the “John Wick” spin-off, “John Wick Presents: Ballerina” was pushed to 2025 to add more “set pieces” that are about to begin filming. That will be good news for “John Wick” fans as the extended preview already shows Ana de Armas kicking all sorts of ass all over the place. Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, Gabriel Byrne, and Lance Reddick (in what will be his final on-screen role) also have substantial screen time. Oh, and Wick himself (Reeves) has a small cameo in the final shot of the sneak (it’s unclear how much of the movie the character will appear).
For this year, Lionsgate is looking at August’s “Borderlands” to be a substantial moneymaker. The film is already popping up on polling for the most anticipated films of the summer and both director Eli Roth and star Ariana Greenblatt were on hand to promote it (stars Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Cate Blanchett were part of a video message as they all could not attend). Originally shot in 2021, “Borderlands” was delayed for several reasons including reshoot schedule conflicts and then the guild strikes of last year. The extended preview for CinemaCon certainly gave the movie scope and features some nice visual effects. That being said, it still looks like a down-and-dirty “Guardians of the Galaxy” rip-off. If it makes substantial coin in the late summer frame, theater owners won’t care.
The only other movie to truly stand out was Alexandre Aja’s new thriller “Never Let Go” which gave “A Quiet Place” vibes and not necessarily in a bad way. Halle Berry stars as a mother raising her young, twin boys in the middle of the forest after “the end of the world.” There are horrific monsters in the woods (well, we’re assuming all over the planet) and Berry’s character and her kids tie themselves to long ropes tied to the safety of their home when they are forced to head out. The tease included a few gruesome shots, but it seems much more of a psychological horror exercise than a torture porn one (maybe). “Let Go” arrives in theaters on September 27.
As for the rest of Lionsgate’s slate, it’s filled with a slew of action pictures that were simply hard to differentiate from one another. There is Guy Ritchie’s “In The Grey” with Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill trying to rob a rich drug dealer. Dave Bautista stars in “The Killer’s Game” as an assassin who finds out he has three months to live and puts a hit on himself only to discover – whoops – it was a mistaken diagnosis. And then Kerry Washington and Omar Sy are former members of “Shadow Force,” a spy organization that doesn’t let you leave. The studio has recruited some nice star power for these flicks, but throw in another Ritchie movie, “The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare,” which opens in two weeks, and it all looks disturbingly familiar. The latter is a WW II period movie and you could still cut that with clips from the other three movies into one big action trailer that would look like one big non-stop studio action film. They all look the same aesthetically. They all have similar action set pieces. They all look like Netflix action movies for the past five years. It was mind-numbing, to be honest. But if it gets people to buy tickets, and keeps theaters open, no one should complain.
Lionsgate also screened a new preview for Rupert Sanders’ “The Crow” reboot that just moved to the dump date of August 23. Notably, no talent was on hand.
