Sony always gets the distinction of kicking off CinemaCon<\/a> on opening night because it is a studio without a streaming service of its own \u2014 leading it to frequently claim that it\u2019s more dedicated to theatrical than its peers. This year the studio had footage from both of its \u201cSpider-Man\u201d films, Zach Cregger\u2019s \u201cResident Evil<\/a>,\u201d and even Aaron Sorkin\u2019s \u201cThe Social Network\u201d companion film.<\/p>\n In these Daily Dispatches from CinemaCon<\/strong>, we\u2019re sharing the highlights of what we saw, what was announced, what we didn\u2019t, and what was the overall vibe. <\/p>\n Zach Cregger\u2019s \u201cResident Evil\u201d trailer did not disappoint, and we wrote more about the trailer tease we got in the room here<\/a>. But the true highlight was \u201cThe Social Reckoning<\/a>,\u201d which showed a trailer and the first look at Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg, which looked truly inspired<\/a>. His dead-eyed, intense stiffness as he prepared to give a deposition and argued with someone played by Bill Burr was gripping. It also showed Jeremy Allen White playing a journalist trying to get details out of a whistleblower played by Mikey Madison, who is very far from her \u201cAnora\u201d performance and accent. The trailer ends with a character played by Billy Magnussen asking White what Madison\u2019s character thinks she\u2019s doing, and he replies, \u201cshe\u2019s disrupting.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s safe to say a large contingent of the crowd wanted to see what the new \u201cSpider-Man\u201d film, \u201cBrand New Day,\u201d had in store. The studio showed a scene from the film in which Peter attends a party hosted by MJ and Ned. Ned has for some time now been copiously tracking Spider-Man\u2019s whereabouts and trying to figure out who he is, just to \u201chopefully thank him face to face,\u201d saying this all to Peter without knowing who he is. The clip concludes with Peter witnessing MJ kissing a new guy. We also got a brief tease at a fight scene in the film not seen in the trailer in which Spidey, who says he\u2019s not in high school anymore, needs to do a little stretching before taking out some bad guys. <\/p>\n As for \u201cSpider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse<\/a>,\u201d which is still over a year away, Sony showed the opening scene from the film, which picks up right where the second film left off, with Miles Morales being captured by himself in an alternate universe, who in this other world is the Prowler. There\u2019s a fun exchange of dialogue in which the Prowler-version of Miles says his prisoner isn\u2019t pronouncing \u201cMorales\u201d correctly, all leading up to Miles using his electricity to break free. <\/p>\n Though we\u2019ve already heard some news about \u201cHelldivers\u201d from Justin Lin (starring Jason Momoa), the director was on hand to talk about, saying it balances \u201csatire with humanity and feels so fresh and timely.\u201d And that wasn\u2019t the only Playstation news that was announced, as we also got word there will be a \u201cBloodborne\u201d animated feature from YouTuber and gamer Jacksepticeye, and it will be rated R. The third-person action RPG was first released for the PS4 in 2015.<\/p>\n The Beatles! Sam Mendes\u2019 four films were the capper to last year\u2019s ceremony, with Sony announcing the big news that it would release all four films in the same month in 2028<\/a>, as well as trotting out the Fab Four cast members themselves. And though production has begun and we even got our first look at each of the cast members in character<\/a>, we didn\u2019t get any other teases on stage this year. Perhaps they\u2019ll go all out with the Beatlemania beginning in 2027. <\/p>\n Also no dice on any \u201cLegend of Zelda\u201d news. That\u2019ll probably be reserved for some sort of Nintendo Direct, but Sony did say the film has now wrapped production. <\/p>\n SPE Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman made the prediction that 2026 will exceed the box office of prior years, which seems like a safe bet because the box office is already over 20 percent above what it was at this same point last year. But he also called on theaters to do their part to make the theatrical experience \u201clonger, shorter, cheaper.\u201d He called for theaters themselves to enforce longer windows, i.e. being willing to hold movies on their screens longer, even at the expense of losing out on other movies. He asked for theaters to \u201csubstantially shorten\u201d the long pre-shows before films of advertisements, specifically saying, \u201cGet off the ad crack.\u201d And he finally called for movies to be cheaper, saying that \u201cgoing to the movies must be affordable again.\u201d His remarks got some muted, scattered applause from the exhibitor audience that has heard some of these claims before.<\/a><\/p>\nThe BEST Thing We Saw<\/h2>\n
![\"Zach](\"https:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1410405867.jpg?w=300&h=168&crop=1\")
<\/div>\nThe BIG News in the Room<\/h2>\n
What We EXPECTED to See but Didn\u2019t<\/h2>\n
What We LEARNED<\/h2>\n
Other Bullets<\/h2>\n
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