Wicked: For Good leads Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande joined the filmmakers on stage in Las Vegas to round out an ebullient Universal Pictures C
Wicked: For Good leads Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande joined the filmmakers on stage in Las Vegas to round out an ebullient Universal Pictures CinemaCon presentation on Wednesday.
Director Jon M. Chu and producer Marc Platt brought a bewitching first-look ahead of the November 21 follow-up to last year’s $747m global hit that featured Dorothy (not in full view), and prompted Platt to assure that the film mines deeper and more profound themes. Chu noted impishly that this was the third successive year that a Wicked film has served as the studio’s presentation finale.
A rousing medley of Universal theme tunes performed by a 43-piece orchestra kicked off the two-hour session in which studio brass touted the year’s tentpoles and a giant 2026 slate. They also trumpeted the studio’s credentials as a box office behemoth and champion of theatrical distribution – music to the ears of the exhibitor attendees at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace.
Donna Langley, chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios, noted that audiences were evolving. “There’s no question we continue to face an uphill climb,” she said, “but it’s one we will climb together. There is a lot to be excited about and a lot to be proud of… and our upcoming slate is definitely no exception.”
Peter Levinsohn, chairman of global distribution For NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios reminded that the studio crossed $3bn at the global box office for the third consecutive year in 2024 and said Universal and Focus were “firing on all cylinders”.
An underlying theme of CinemaCon has been to look beyond 2025 to next year, and president of theatrical distribution Jim Orr took the unusual step in his segment of teasing the 2026 pipeline first, which he described as “one of our most fulfilling and ambitious slates ever”.
Among the anticipated highlights are Steven Spielberg’s untitled Amblin sci-fi tentpole starring Josh O’Connor and Emily Blunt, which has just commenced production and opens in June 2026; and Christopher Nolan’s July 2026 release of The Odyssey starring Matt Damon, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway, and Tom Holland.
The 2026 animation slate comprises Illumination and Nintendo’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 in April, following 2023’s $1.4bn global smash; and Illumination’s third Minions film in July, following the $940m global performance of 2022’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru.
DreamWorks Animations’ Shrek 5 will open in the December 2026 holiday period, marking the first entry from the core franchise in 16 years since Shrek Forever After earned $752m worldwide in 2010. As previously announced, the original voice cast of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy are returning, alongside Zendaya.
Orr and his colleagues whetted appetites in advance of the 2025 treasures. Jurassic World: Rebirth director Gareth Edwards joined stars Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali (minus Jonathan Bailey, who is on stage in London playing Richard II) at The Colosseum to tee up first footage from the July Fourth weekend release.
Gerard Butler, Nico Parks and director Dean DeBlois announced that ahead of the worldwide June release of Universal and DreamWorks Pictures’ live-action How To Train Your Dragon, the studio has greenlit and dated a sequel for June 11 2027.
As Orr pointed out in the session, horror is an integral part of Universal’s DNA. Producer Jason Blum appeared on stage in various costumes and masks from his upcoming films for his classic segment. He showed a teaser from Blumhouse’s Five Nights At Freddy’s 2, the December 5 sequel to 2023’s $291m global horror breakout that will open exclusively in cinemas – unlike the original that opened day-and-date on Peacock.
Blum brought on stage Madeleine McGraw to talk up her return opposite Ethan Hawke as The Grabber in Scott Derrickson’s Black Phone 2 and cued up a first-look. The October 17 horror is the follow-up to the 2021 hit that earned $161m worldwide. McGraw’s younger sister Violet is in the cast on M3ghan 2.0 and introduced a trailer to the June 27 release and follow up to the 2022 $180m global hit. Blum and James Wan showed a teaser to M3ghan spin-off Soulm8te, which opens on January 2.
Margie Cohn, president of DreamWorks Animation, announced that Kristen Wiig and Gloria Estefan have joined September family animation Gabby’s Dollhouse The Movie, which opens on September 26.
Awkwafina and Craig Robinson talked up the animation heist comedy The Bad Guys 2 that also stars Sam Rockwell and opens on August 1, while Marlan Wayans and Tyriq Withers were on hand to promote Him from Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, a horror film set against the world of American Football that opens on September 19. Last and by no means least, Universal will open obscure comedy action sequel Nobody 2 starring Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, and Sharon Stone on August 15.
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