Extra from the Oscar entrance at CinemaCon.
On the just lately concluded 98th Academy Awards Paramount Photos had precisely zero Oscar nominations. That isn’t an important lead into David Ellison’s Skydance takeover of the fabled studio behind such Greatest Image winners as The Godfather, Phrases Of Endearment, The Godfather Half II, Titanic, Forrest Gump, and even the primary Oscar profitable Greatest Image, Wings.
So, because the studio says they’re nonetheless in a state of transition and getting new slates collectively, I didn’t stroll into this morning’s presentation at CinemaCon anticipating a lot of something, aside from a bunch of sequels and revived IP to attempt to get the exhibition crowd excited by one thing they know. And sure Paramount did ship on that with footage from one other Scary Film, one other Jackass, one other Road Fighter, one other Paw Patrol, one other Sonic The Hedgehog, as properly one other Paranormal Exercise, GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and varied different iterations of Par IP promised for the long run together with a 3rd High Gun, following within the footsteps of their final Greatest Image nominee, High Gun: Maverick.
However Oscar stuff — which as I hold writing, has been my major mission to smell out at CinemaCon this week? Effectively I’ve to say, based mostly on the footage and the stellar ensemble of a who’s who in Black cinema, plus the particular therapy it obtained on the present’s huge finale, Kids Of Bone And Blood simply is perhaps Paramount’s ticket again to the Large Present this 12 months. The Gina Prince-Bythewood movie was tailored from the novel by Tomi Adeyemi and is ready in an African fantasy kingdom the place a younger lady goes on a quest to reclaim the magic that was violently stolen from her individuals. She and her brother ally with the daughter and son of the king to struggle again in opposition to his brutal rule.
Regina King on the Paramount Photos Presentation throughout CinemaCon 2026, the official conference of Cinema United held at The Dolby Colosseum at Caesars Palace on April 16, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Stars out in drive this morning on the Caesars Palace Colosseum have been Thuso Mbedu, Damson Idris, Amandla Stenberg, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Regina King, who’re within the movie together with Tosin Cole, Cynthia Erivo, Lashana Lynch, Zackary Momoh, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Idris Elba and Viola Davis, plus many others. It seems robust and has been dated for January 15, 2027. After all that date wouldn’t make it eligible for the 99th Oscars and different awards however does appear a pleasant match for MLK day weekend, and in addition a very good date for a film to go huge after getting a bunch of Oscar nominations. So I used to be instructed by sources initially concerned with it {that a} platform break in December has been the plan talked about for the reason that film got here into Paramount’s orbit. Although Paramount made no point out of it, and solely are touting the January 15 opening, sources inform me it’s nonetheless seemingly the plan.
One former prime Paramount govt who was on the studio when the movie got here alongside mentioned it’s simply such a “unbelievable” story, liked Prince-Bythewood’s tackle it, and known as it a cross between Black Panther and Lord Of The Rings. This govt mentioned passionately on the time that if Paramount didn’t go together with this movie they could as properly not even be on this enterprise. The primary motive to not go huge with it on the finish of this 12 months is the extraordinary competitors for premium screens with all of the blockbusters coming down the pike, notably Dunesday (Dune and Avengers: Doomsday) on the identical date of the 18th.
Atria
Along with Oscar potential, this movie with this forged might be a giant contender at SAG’s Actor Awards the place movies like Black Panther, Hidden Figures, The Assist, and most just lately Sinners all took the highest Forged Award on their strategy to Greatest Image Oscar nominations. Prince-Bythewood and Sony’s Tri Star Photos have been very disillusioned when their 2022 movie, The Lady King (additionally with Davis, Lynch, and Mbedu) acquired no Oscar love, not a single nomination regardless of a sturdy marketing campaign. (They have been robbed.)
Nonetheless, Sinners offers the counter argument. It was huge film with a predominately Black forged that acquired extra nominations that any single movie in Oscar historical past, and went on to 4 wins. If Paramount is waffling about launching a giant Oscar marketing campaign they need to simply have a look at that little truth, not the snub for The Lady King. I’ve a sense we’re going to be seeing a whole lot of Kids Of Blood And Bone come awards season. Keep tuned.
Paramount
Additionally from Paramount’s presentation this morning I used to be impressed by Fall launch The Coronary heart Of The Beast starring Brad Pitt and a German Shepherd attempting to outlive after a airplane crash within the Alaskan wilderness.
Man (Jacob Elordi) and canine attempting to outlive is what can be on the heart of Ridley Scott’s post-apocalyptic film, The Canine Stars that launched a strong trailer on the Disney presentation this afternoon and will, with a August twenty eighth opening be primed for some awards motion for Disney whether it is pretty much as good because it seems.
Johnny Depp at CinemaCon
Gilbert Flores
Again to Paramount, additionally with some awards potential presumably is Johnny Depp’s “comeback” as Scrooge in Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol. It’s clearly an important juicy function for any actor, and so many have performed him from George C. Scott to Michael Caine to Christopher Plummer, however solely Albert Finney in 1970’s Scrooge musical acquired a Greatest Actor nomination for it. Depp nonetheless gave props to the nice Alastair Sim who in all probability delivered the most-acclaimed Scrooge ever in 1951’s A Christmas Carol. Whether or not it is a function to deliver Depp again to the Oscars is one other query altogether.
The spotlight although of the whole well-produced Paramount CinemaCon present was the way it began with an exceptionally nice movie touting the studio, its historical past, its stars, and its Hollywood lot. All of it ends with Tom Cruise sitting atop the Paramount water tower. It was created by Depraved director Jon M. Chu, who now has a take care of Paramount. As somebody who labored on that iconic lot for 12 years, it introduced tears to my eyes.
