CinemaCon, the annual trade show for movie exhibitors, is under way in Las Vegas, and Sony Pictures has just opened it with a bang. As well as announcing a Bloodborne animated film and revealing the title and plot of the third Jumanji movie, Sony showed off two Spider-Man movies (Brand New Day and Beyond the Spider-Verse), the new Resident Evil, Facebook sequel The Social Reckoning, and Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun; revealed a mecha movie from the director of Godzilla Minus One; and gave a production update on next year’s The Legend of Zelda movie.
Most of the trailers and footage shown were just for the audience in the room, as is CinemaCon tradition. The movies that got the biggest reactions were Resident Evil, from Weapons director Zach Cregger, and the long-awaited Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Resident Evil
Cregger has spoken of keeping Resident Evil stripped back and true to the spirit of the games, and the trailer shown sounds pretty straightforward. Star Austin Abrams’ car breaks down in a snowy landscape; he makes his way to an abandoned house and calls his girlfriend, telling her he’s “in a seriously fucked up situation right now.” Cue lots of “shots of horrifying zombies,” according to Variety, including a horde of them falling off rooftops as they chase Abrams and “splattering violently.” IndieWire said the trailer “did not disappoint.” Cregger apparently told the room that he wanted to capture the “resource management” of the games as well as their atmosphere and pacing.
According to recent test screening report, Resident Evil is 90 minutes long, relentless, and like a horror version of Mad Max: Fury Road. Resident Evil will be released on Sep. 18.
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
Sony moved the release date of the third Spider-Verse animated movie up one week, released some still images, and announced the movie is being made in a tall aspect ratio to make the most of IMAX screens — a rarity in animation. The footage shown really wowed everyone who saw it; The Playlist said it was “beautifully composed,” “smart and funny,” and “worth the unexpected wait” until its June 18, 2027 release date.
The Legend of Zelda
The only new information about the live-action Zelda movie, due on May 7, 2027, is that the production has wrapped filming. Director Wes Ball (the Maze Runner films) has clearly completed the shoot in impressive secrecy, since, aside from the actors playing Link and Zelda, we still have no idea who’s in it.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Sony gave the CinemaCon audience an extended look at the fourth Tom Holland Spider-Man movie, due on July 31. The main scene shown, familiar from the recent trailer, sees Peter Parker (Tom Holland) crashing a party attended by his one-time girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and bestie Ned (Jacob Batalon), who have no memory of who he is.
CinemaCon attendees also saw a brief fight scene that was, apparently, quite different from the spectacular, effects-heavy shots seen in the trailer. The Playlist said the action was “very grounded,” looked grainy and filmic, and was reminiscent of the Tobey Maguire/Sam Raimi films. Intriguing!
Jumanji: Open World
The third Jumanji movie in the current series, starring Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, and Kevin Hart, acquired a subtitle at CinemaCon, and it was revealed that the video game characters played by the stars enter the real world. The vibe here was to expect more of the same from the series’ cast and director. “This cast knows these characters, each other, and, most importantly, the tone director Jake Kasdan is looking for,” The Playlist said, reassuringly. Jumanji: Open World is set for release on Christmas Day.
Grandgear
Nothing was shown of this movie beyond a short clip of test footage, and it’s a long way off, but it sounds very exciting. Grandgear is a kaiju/giant robot/mecha movie from Godzilla Minus One director Takashi Yamazaki, and it will be Yamazaki’s English-language debut. Filming starts soon and Sony will release it on Feb. 18, 2028.
The Social Reckoning
2026’s unlikeliest sequel is this follow-up to David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin’s classic 2010 Facebook docudrama, The Social Network. The new story deals with the 2021 Facebook Files leak; screenwriter Sorkin also directs this time, and Mark Zuckerberg is now played by Succession‘s Jeremy Strong instead of Jesse Eisenberg. These are concerning changes, but IndieWire said that Strong’s performance is “inspired” and that the trailer tease shown to the CinemaCon audience was the best thing they saw at Sony’s presentation. “His dead-eyed, intense stiffness… was gripping.” Hmm!
The Social Reckoning is out on Oct. 9.
Klara and the Sun
Taika Waititi adapts the much-loved Kazuo Ishiguro sci-fi novel about an AI companion for a sickly child; Jenna Ortega plays the android, Klara. The Playlist said the footage shown at CinemaCon had a “1950s Hollywood musical future aesthetic” and seemed to veer between fun, crowd-pleasing moments and a more serious “prestige awards movie” style. Inconsistent tone in a Taika Waititi movie? You don’t say!
Klara and the Sun will be released on Oct. 23.
Insidious: Out of the Further
The one trailer shown at CinemaCon that we can all watch at home is for the sixth Insidious film. Fair warning: it goes hard on the dental horror. Out of the Further hits theaters on Aug. 21.