Universal Pictures and Focus Features have taken the stage at CinemaCon. We're expecting new looks at major upcoming films like Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day, Minions & Monsters, Shrek 5, Violent Night 2, Focker-In-Law, and Werwulf.
The presentation isn't being livestreamed, but we've got full coverage from inside the room. We'll keep updating this article as new announcements are made.
The Snoop Dogg Biopic Still Doesn't Have a Title
Universal's untitled Snoop Dogg biopic was the first film featured at the presentation, with Snoop himself showing up to perform "Drop It Like It's Hot." The film stars Jonathan Daviss as Snoop (who also joined his inspiration onstage) and is directed by Craig Brewer.
"After my brothers told their story in Straight Outta Compton, it’s my turn," Snoop told the audience. The rapper also revealed that he has a bungalow on the Universal lot next to Spielberg, and joked that the fire department has been called twice due to all the smoke in the area.
Universal chairwoman Donna Langley also emphasized the Straight Outta Compton connection, calling this new film "the spiritual cousin" to that NWA biopic.
Christopher Nolan Talks The Odyssey
Christopher Nolan's hotly anticipated adaptation of The Odyssey was up next, opening with a sizzle reel of Nolan's previous films before Nolan appeared onstage. Nolan remarked that The Odyssey is a story that's fascinated generation after generation of listeners and readers for the last 3000 years. The director has wanted to film an epic movie in IMAX format since he was 16. He even approached IMAX with a request to create new cameras that could both capture the scope of the action and record dialogue.
Nolan also noted that The Odyssey is a story about family and homecoming above all. He praised the film's cast and crew, calling Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, and Tom Holland the central trio that anchors the film.
Nolan then presented some footage of the film, which was largely the same as the Trojan Horse IMAX sequence released a few months ago. However, this version contained new shots, including some very violent scenes of battlefield carnage and one with Charlize Theron as Calypso where Damon's Odysseus says he has no memory of his life before the Trojan War and can't remember if he has a wife and son.
Minions & Monsters: The Minions Get Meta
The presentation then shifted to animation studio Illumination, with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's Jack Black stopping by to thank theater owners for their support. Illumination boss Chris Meledandri then introduced the next Minions movie, Minions & Monsters, which is set in the 1920s and focuses on a group of Minions in Los Angeles searching for a new master.
New Minions & Monsters footage was shown. We saw a group of cowboys on horseback pursuing a thief, only for Minions to roll up and replace the cowboys. The thief flees the Minions atop a train and tries to escape on a plane, but the Minions end up pulling the plane down and crashing in the streets of LA. They meet an aspiring director voiced by Cristoph Waltz.
Another scene shows the Minions being brought to a Hollywood studio lot. They dress up as a medieval army battling Viking invaders. As the film rolls, the Minions pull out various crazy weapons, treating the battle like a real fight. The Minions become movie stars, at least until the advent of talkies when it becomes clear they can't handle dialogue.
The Minions are then shown losing their studio jobs, but not all is lost. Their human friends James and Henry decide to make thier own movie, Minions & Monsters (it's all very meta). From there, somehow the Minions place the world in jeopardy.
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