The only independent (though "mini-major" would perhaps be a more fitting category) studio to get any stage time was Lionsgate, who also offered the only actual complete movie screening (that is, the only one that is officially listed on the schedule--some surprises may be in store the next couple of days, after all), that of next month's chick flick comedy What to Expect When You're Expecting, inspired by the self-help best seller of the same name. (Review will come closer to the May 18 release date, per embargo.) While one of the film's large, star-studded cast, Chris Rock, was at the Colosseum last night for the DreamWorks Animation presentation, neither he nor anyone associated with the film appeared in person tonight. The stage was held solely, briefly by Lionsgate/Summit head Rob Friedman, who in addition to the expected film program also introduced the new teaser trailer for an offering on the complete opposite end of the hormonal scale: this summer's sequel The Expendables 2, which adds Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris, and Liam Hemsworth to the already testosterone-heavy established ranks of Sylvester Stallone (who once again also writes but cedes the director's chair to Simon West), Jet Li, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and an apparently more extensively used Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It isn't a shock to say that the film looks to offer more of the slam-bang same, just even bigger (though with Stallone no longer directing, one could reasonably expect the more historically conservative West to make this go-round less blood-drenched), but then in this case that's exactly what we all want.
Stay tuned here all week for ongoing coverage of all the goings-on at CinemaCon!
(very special thanks to Heather Lewandoski, Jessica Erskine, and the entire crew at Rogers & Cowan, as well as CinemaCon Managing Director Mitch Neuhauser for all their helpful and generous assistance at the convention this week.)
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