CinemaCon 2023: Disney, DreamWorks, and Paramount Animation Updates

CinemaCon Recap and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

• 🚀 Drew Taylor and Jim Hill discuss their experiences at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
• 🎬 Taylor shares his thoughts on the world premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, calling it potentially his favorite in the trilogy and highlighting its emotional impact, especially for animal lovers.
• 🌟 He also notes the presence of mid and end-credit scenes, with the post-credit scene being a particular favorite.

Paramount Animation Slate

• 🐢 Paramount is releasing four animated projects: SpongeBob SquarePants: Search for Squarepants (tentatively Memorial Day weekend 2025), a hybrid live-action/animation film.
• 💥 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (August 4, 2023), produced by Seth Rogen, features a striking, sketchy art style inspired by the director's childhood drawings.
• 🤖 An animated Transformers film is slated for July 2024, with a voice cast including Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson, exploring the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron.
• 💙 The Smurfs movie (February 14, 2025), featuring Rihanna as a producer and voicing Smurfette, appears to focus on her character.

Disney and Pixar at CinemaCon

• 👑 A pre-recorded video featuring Winnie the Pooh will be part of King Charles III's coronation.
• 🌲 An R-rated Christopher Robin comedy is in development following Winnie the Pooh entering the public domain.
• 🌊 Elemental is set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival as the closing night film.
• ✨ Disney also debuted the trailer for Wish, announcing Chris Pine as the villain, who will also perform a song in the film.
• ❄️ Jennifer Lee is executive producing and writing Wish, with Peter Delveio also producing.

DreamWorks and Illumination Announcements

• 🦑 Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken will premiere at Annecy and be released theatrically on June 30th, promoted as a potential "girl power" movie of the summer.
• 🎶 Trolls 3: Trolls Band Together (November 17, 2023) will feature Justin Timberlake and explore his character's boy band past, with a score leaning heavily into Backstreet Boys songs.
• 🦆 Migration, an Illumination film releasing December 22nd, follows a family of ducks on a vacation, featuring a voice cast including Elizabeth Banks, Awkwafina, and Danny DeVito.
• 🐼 Kung Fu Panda 4 (March 8, 2024) will see Po searching for a successor and facing a new villain, The Chameleon, who can summon past villains, including Tai Lung and Shen.

Annecy Festival Preview

• ⚔️ The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 11-17) will feature a work-in-progress presentation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
• 🧙 Warner Bros. Animation will present The War of the Rohirrim, an anime Lord of the Rings project.
• 🦊 Netflix will debut Nimona and also discuss Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and Bluey Samurai.
• 🦆 DreamWorks will premiere Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken and offer a first look at Trolls Band Together.
• 🌟 Pixar will showcase its first animated series, Win or Lose, for Disney+.