Thursday, April 16
Paramount Pictures
Paramount’s 2026 CinemaCon presentation has the potential to be a landmark event for the studio, and not just because of their ongoing (as of press time) bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. This year’s CinemaCon is the first since Paramount’s merger with David Ellison’s Skydance Media in August of last year. “My vision,” said Ellison at the time, “is to honor exceptional storytelling while modernizing how we make and deliver content to support the world’s top creative talent.” All eyes will be on Paramount’s slate presentation to judge whether Ellison can do it.
Paramount has a lot to prove in general: 2022 was the last year they had a film in the domestic top 10 (two, actually—Top Gun: Maverick and Sonic the Hedgehog 2). Several of its key franchises have either been absent from the big screen for several years (Star Trek, Terminator, Paranormal Activity) or have shown signs of waning box office momentum (Transformers, Mission: Impossible, SpongeBob Squarepants).
A key component of Paramount’s repertoire is family-friendly properties, which is understandable given its ownership of Nickelodeon. We can expect to see several of those represented at CinemaCon, with Sonic the Hedgehog, Paw Patrol, and Angry Birds (does anyone still care about Angry Birds?), all of which have installments coming out in the next year, being the surest bets.
Two of Paramount’s 2026 releases, Scary Movie and Street Fighter, have the potential to restart dormant franchises, with Street Fighter facing extra pressure thanks to the presence on the calendar of its fellow ‘80s-fighting-game-turned-’90s-nostalgia-bait Mortal Kombat II (Warner Bros.). Dystopian fantasy Children of Blood and Bone, based on the YA book series Legacy of Orïsha, could similarly set up future successes should it capture audience interest when it hits theaters in January. That film, starring Cynthia Erivo and Idris Elba, is getting an Imax release, which bodes well for its visual spectacle element; a strong showing at CinemaCon would do much to rouse fans of the books and generate interest among exhibitors.
Those same exhibitors should already know that you never bet against James Cameron, who is directing Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour, out in May, but some footage showing what a James Cameron concert film looks like would be welcome all the same.
The most exciting moments of any CinemaCon presentation often revolve around films you were not excited about beforehand, i.e., films that are not part of an established film franchise or those announced for the first time at the show. Of the former, Children of Blood and Bone, rodeo drama The Rescue, and supernatural thriller Passenger have the most breakout potential. Of the latter, who knows? We can only hope they signal good things about Paramount’s future during the Ellison era.
Walt Disney Studios
Disney enters this year’s CinemaCon under the leadership of theme parks chief Josh D’Amaro. Amaro succeeds Bob Iger as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, with Dana Walden serving as president and chief creative officer in a move designed to unify storytelling across the company’s vast portfolio.
The box office reputation of Disney’s live-action remakes got a major boost in 2025 with Lilo & Stitch dominating the summer. Disney no doubt hopes for a repeat this year, with the live-action Moana slated for July 10. Dwayne Johnson reprises his role as Maui, and Thomas Kail, the Broadway director behind Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights and Hamilton, makes his feature debut.
At Pixar, Toy Story 5 opens June 19 as the toys grapple with the digital age. Franchise veteran Andrew Stanton, who helmed Finding Nemo and WALL-E and wrote on all four prior installments, directs. Disney tends to save its biggest surprises for D23 but often delivers extended footage to the CinemaCon crowd from the next animated feature on the calendar, in this case, Toy Story 5.
Walt Disney Animation Studios returns to the Thanksgiving frame with Hexed, about an awkward teen who discovers a hidden magical world. The holiday corridor has long been lucrative for Disney—Zootopia 2 delivered a record-breaking global opening in 2025—though originals like Wish have struggled. The last Disney animated original to clear $100 million domestically was Moana, all the way back in 2016. Here’s hoping Hexed can break that decade-long spell.
The stakes are high for Marvel Studios after an uneven Phase Five delivered three of the lowest performing entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (The Marvels, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts*). The Fantastic Four: First Steps launched Phase Six but faltered after a front-loaded opening. All eyes are now on Avengers: Doomsday, reuniting the Avengers with directing duo the Russo brothers. With roughly 30 characters, including the Avengers, New Avengers, Wakandans, Fantastic Four, and X-Men facing off against Doctor Doom, the ensemble epic faces a delicate balancing act in bringing audiences back to the story.
Over at Lucasfilm, The Mandalorian and Grogu marks Star Wars’ first theatrical outing after six years as a Disney+ mainstay. Lucasfilm shifted plans for the series, moving from a fourth season to a feature film, one that will test whether streaming-era characters can drive theatrical turnout. Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise made set visits to Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter, with Cruise even jumping behind the camera and into a muddy pond to film a lightsaber scene. Hopes are high for a return to form with the Ryan Gosling-led adventure set five years after the events of 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker.
Beyond the core brands, 20th Century Studios rolls out The Devil Wears Prada 2, in which Anne Hathaway’s Andy returns to Runway magazine as it contends with a new media landscape, on May 1. Other 20th Century Studios’ releases include Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars (August 28) and the survival thriller Whalefall (October 16), while 20th Century Animation revives Ice Age in early 2027. Searchlight Pictures returns to Super Troopers for a third installment on August 7 and teams with writer/director Martin McDonagh for the drama-thriller Wild Horse Nine on November 6.
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