(photo by Michael Dequina)
CinemaCon 2022 came to its traditional close with the Big Screen Achievement Awards and Closing Night Party, honoring notable acting and filmmaking talent, most of whom involved in upcoming releases featured throughout the week at the various studio presentations. Likely owing to the ongoing pandemic, the lineup for the final night was much smaller than in previous years, plus two awards, the inaugural Trailblazer of the Year and the Entertainment Icon of the Decade, were respectively given earlier in the week to Viola Davis and Dwayne Johnson during their appearances at their current films' studios' official presentations. This year's complete list of honorees for the awards night:
- CinemaCon Star of the Year: Zoe Saldaña
- Star of Tomorrow: Glen Powell
- Rising Star of the Year: Abby Ryder Fortson
- CinemaCon Vanguard Award: Rachel McAdams
- Comedy Star of the Year: Billy Eichner
- Cinema Vérité Award: Robert De Niro
Also due to the pandemic, the usual pre-awards show press conferences understandably did not take place this year, and so I made an earlier than usual departure from the convention after the final studio presentation of the week, from Lionsgate.
And so ends another full springtime week at CinemaCon. Hopefully I will be returning on April 24 - 27, 2023 for CinemaCon 2023!
(Very special thanks to Heather Lewandoski and the CinemaCon PR team for all their helpful and generous assistance at the convention, as well as Mitch Neuhauser and the CinemaCon crew and John Fithian, Jackie Brenneman, and the National Association of Theatre Owners)
The Movie Report wants to attend all your film special events! Please send any and all invitations to this address. Thanks!
