(photo by Michael Dequina)
Being the first edition of its official convention that the organization formerly known as the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is holding under its recently announced (and, frankly, long overdue) updated name, Cinema United, the prevailing air one sees and feels initially stepping into the Caesars Palace Las Vegas conference center for CinemaCon 2025 is one looking forward and headlong into the future. For me, however, perhaps owing to the fact that 30th anniversary of my launching The Movie Report publication (and, ultimately, "brand") as a teenager is less than two weeks away (on April 10), I go into this year's four-day event with just as much of an eye trained to the past. After all, I first was afforded the privilege to attend and cover this event, back when it was still called ShoWest, all the way back in 2001. Needless to say, the global motion picture exhibition industry has radically changed and evolved (or devolved?) in the ensuing near-quarter-century; also dramatically different is how industry insider events such as as these are covered by the media. (Chances are most of those who now have any familiarity with the name "CinemaCon" -- especially in the last few years -- have erroneously been led to believe that this is like the movie fan equivalent of Comic-Con as opposed to the largely inside-baseball industry professional conference it actually has always been and will always continue to be.) Thus, this year, it is with a certain 360-degree, decades-burnished focus on and sensitivity to history and context, if you will -- and more than a little sense of nostalgia -- that I made the trip up the familiar set of escalators leading to the convention's customary main hub of activity.
As it has been at every convention since the pandemic, those escalators were devoid of any film advertising, and at this point, it's safe to conclude that this is officially the new normal. Also a new normal, but in a far more positive way, is the large Cinema United logo sculpture that greets patrons even before the traditional CinemaCon archway, which, new organization name and logo aside, remained unchanged from its shape and static, no-frills form since 2022. I must say, though, that I prefer -- and miss -- the more flashy LED video screen archway first used in 2015 and last seen in 2019.
In fact, the new Cinema United branding is receiving as much of a push in the lobby poster lightboxes as any other film, film studio, or company, with a variety of different designs and display sizes turning up in the hallways. Actually, the organization has one of the largest lightbox displays -- four panels -- in the hallway.
Winning this year's contest for the largest lightbox display goes to Paramount's Smurfs (due out July 18), at five panels.
Aside from the new organization name and logo, everything in the main lobby is as it has typically been. Signs denote main registration booths and the press room, and the Christie-sponsored looping movie trailer screen that sits diagonally opposite the archway remains the same size. Receiving the prime studio advertising spot, the floor of the main escalator landing, this year is Danny Boyle's virus/zombie sequel 28 Years Later, set for release on June 20 from Sony Pictures.
One of the things I used to always look forward to in the early years of CinemaCon and most especially during the years under its former ShoWest moniker was not only seeing official movie posters making the debut in these hallways before anywhere else, but also seeing preliminary mock-ups the studios would throw together for some titles (sometimes very preliminary, as in this example I photographed at the 2002 convention). This practice has gone virtually extinct in the last few years, even going back before the pandemic. In what I hope is the beginning of a new trend, this year sees both of these tactics back in substantial practice. Leading the way is Universal, offering the first official promotional looks at the Jordan Peele-produced sports horror Him (September 19) and two polar opposite sequels, violent actioner Nobody 2 (August 15) and family-friendly musical fantasy Wicked: For Good (November 21); and posting two early, logo-only promotions for a pair of Blumhouse horror offerings, sequel Black Phone 2 (October 17) and M3gan-but-as-a-sexbot tale Soulm8te (January 2, 2026). Their specialty division, Focus Features, also continued its regular practice of having a basic list of upcoming releases in a lightbox display.
Sony Pictures has gotten into the game with the premieres of teasers for the horror franchise revival I Know What You Did Last Summer (July 18) and the Steph Curry-produced animated feature GOAT (2026).
While not having a proper presentation during the convention as they have in a number of previous years, NEON has a hallway presence for two big film festival acquisions: the key art debut for Toronto International Film Festival Audience Award-winning Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck (June) and a first teaser for Sundance body horror buzz item Together (August).
Faith-centered Angel Studios, the one distributor who had been keeping the practice alive the most the past couple of conventions, continues with mock-ups for forthcoming releases Sketch (August 6), Truth and Treason (October 17), and Zero A.D. (December 19). Based on the release dates listed on these posters, and those of a couple of their releases earlier this year, it appears the studio is abandoning the "only on holiday weekends" release pattern it followed in 2024.
Selfie-ready standees remain the way to generate buzz for big ticket big studio titles, including Paramount's Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning (May 23), Disney's live action Lilo & Stitch adaptation (also May 23), Universal/DreamWorks's live action How to Train Your Dragon adaptation (June 13), Disney/Pixar's Elio (June 20), and Universal's Jurassic Park Rebirth (July 2). The big winner in the creativity department is Disney/Marvel Studios, with the giant Wheaties cereal box-style standee for Thunderbolts* (May 2), complete with witty "nutrition" labeling.
Even among a lot of big displays for a lot of big releases, a number of indies caught the eye in the hallway, most notably a multi-panel lightbox display for the 50 Cent-starring, apparently social media-themed Skillhouse (July); and the next releases in the new indie trend of public domain exploitation horror, Pinocchio: Unstrung, starring horror icon Robert Englund; and -- yes -- Bambi: The Reckoning (July 25).
Speaking of trends, new this year in the hallways were display cases of what has become the big movie tie-in merchandise item, souvenir popcorn buckets.
The Movie Report is not the only presence at this year's CinemaCon marking a milestone anniversary this year. Bookending my 30 years are ticketing services Moviefone (35 years) and Fandango (25 years). The difference in size in their respective lightbox displays is reflective of how the once-dominant (most especially during its phone-dial-in-only "777-FILM" heyday) former is now in the massive shadow of the latter.
After taking last year's convention off, Sony Pictures will return to the main stage for the first studio presentation of the week tonight, but they did not return to the corner of the hallway where they usually put up a large and high tech display, such as 2023's Gran Turismo video game tournament and 2022's interactive Spider-Verse installation. Instead, that space served as added real estate for Variety, the Children's Charity's annual silent auction of autographed items and memorabilia items.
One of the big hits of the CinemaCon 2024 hallway,the Twisters wind booth, is now up for auction
(photo by Michael Dequina)
One of the more cheeky -- in more ways than one -- displays up is not anywhere in the hallways but in the main lobby of Caesars Palace, where a number of the nude statues were given a couple of accessories by Paramount to promote their upcoming reboot of the zany comedy franchise The Naked Gun (August 1), with Liam Neeson taking the place of the late, great Leslie Nielsen.
Now join me for a virtual walkthrough of all the main hallways of posters and displays at CinemaCon in the video below.
Stay tuned here and on my Instagram, TikTok, Spill (user name: @twotrey23 ), and Twitter all week for ongoing coverage of all the goings-on at CinemaCon 2025!
(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 Harry Medved and the Cinema United team)
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