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Lionsgate is the next Hollywood studio to give its presentation at CinemaCon 2024. Warner Bros. Pictures got the ball rolling yesterday with its presentation, putting CinemaCon 2024 on a great start. The official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), CinemaCon has become one of the top news events for moviegoers since it debuted in 2011. Every year, studios, distributors, exhibitors, industry professionals, and more unite at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to celebrate the communal theatrical experience and discuss what’s coming in the future. This year, Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Paramount Pictures, and more are presenting their upcoming slate of theatrical releases to theater owners at CinemaCon 2024, and Lionsgate is up next.
CinemaCon 2024 is not open to the public, but fear not because DiscussingFilm is on the ground this year reporting the biggest announcements and reveals. From Lionsgate, fans can expect news related to upcoming releases like The Crow reboot, Borderlands, Saw XI, and Renny Harlin’s The Strangers trilogy. There might even be a new tease for the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, from director Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer trilogy) and starring Jackson’s own nephew Jaafar Jackson as the King of Pop. An update from the John Wick Universe is also on the table with the Ballerina spin-off, starring Ana de Armas, slated to release June 2025. Last Year, Lionsgate gave CinemaCon attendees exclusive looks at and more.
Exclusive footage and first-look reveals from CinemaCon are never released to the public, so that’s where we come in. Aside from listing huge updates, we’ll also describe all exclusive footage shown to CinemaCon 2024 attendees. Stay tuned as we cover all the announcements and reveals from the Lionsgate CinemaCon 2024 presentation, and make sure to stay tuned as we report the presentations from Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures, Focus Features, and Paramount Pictures in the upcoming days.
Lionsgate Updates from CinemaCon 2024
New Lionsgate films confirmed at CinemaCon 2024
- Highlander directed by Chad Stahelski.
- A live-action adaptation of the famous Naturo anime directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.
- Now You See Me 3, directed by Ruben Fleischer, starring the original cast with a new generation of magician thieves.
- A remake of The Blair Witch Project produced by Jason Blum and Blumhouse.
- A live-action Monopoly movie produced by Margot Robbie and her LuckyChap Production Company.
The Crow (2024)
Release Date: June7,2024.
Directed by Rupert Sanders.
Screenplay by Zach Baylin & Will Schneider.
Based on The Crow by James O’Barr.
Produced by Edward R. Pressman, Molly Hassell, Victor Hadida, John Jencks, & Samuel Hadida.
Main Cast: Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs, Isabella Wei, Danny Huston, Laura Birn,Sami Bouajila, andJordan Bolger.
Exclusive Footage Description From CinemaCon 2024:
Lionsgate gave CinemaCon attendees a new sneak peek at The Crow remake. They ensured that this new take isn’t meant to compete with the original 1994 movie starring Brandon Lee. The new footage puts a strong focus on the romance between Bill Skarsgård’s Eric Draven and FKA Twigs’ Shelly Webster. Just like in the original movie, their romance blooms until she is unexpectedly killed by a dangerous mob group. However, in this take of The Crow, what motivates Eric is more than simple revenge — he is told by a supernatural guardian that he can actually save Shelly before her soul reaches the underworld.
Shelly’s state of purgatory is visually depicted as her drowning in an endless body of water with her spirit getting closer to being lost forever as she sinks deeper. We see a montage of Eric Draven’s healing powers as he gets shot and cut up numerous times and even gets run over by a massive truck only to get back up again, fueled by his mission to save his lover’s soul. “You have the powers of a God,” he is told by the guardian who guides him as he learns how to use his new powers given to him by the crows. Eric takes this to a new level by dawning a sword and a new version of the iconic face makeup. The footage is grungy in the same vein as the original film and much more gothic than the first official trailer.
Borderlands
Directed by Eli Roth.
Screenplay by Eli Roth & Joe Crombie.
Story by Eli Roth.
Based on Borderlands by Gearbox Software.
Produced by Avi Arad & Erik Feig.
Main Cast: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Haley Bennett, Bobby Lee, Olivier Richters, Janina Gavankar, Cheyenne Jackson, Charles Babalola, Benjamin Byron Davis, Steven Boyer, Ryann Redmond, & Harry Ford.
Exclusive Footage Description From CinemaCon 2024:
The new footage of the live-action Borderlands movie shown at CinemaCon gave more information on the plot. Legend has it that there’s some treasure hidden on the worst planet imaginable. Cate Blanchett says, “Do you know how many people have died looking for this vault?” right before they drive through a giant alien worm. Jamie Lee Curtis teases that the treasure in the vault has the power to change things for the better. Then we get a montage of the colorful action of the film, which includes Jack Black’s Claptrap wheeling around through massive action set pieces and Kevin Hart throwing an explosive stuffed bunny at a gang of goons.
The Strangers: Chapter 1
Directed by Renny Harlin.
Screenplay by Alan R. Cohen & Alan Freedland.
Story by Bryan Bertino.
Based on The Strangers by Bryan Bertino.
Produced by Courtney Solomon, Alastair Birlingham, Mark Canton, Charlie Dombeck, & Christopher Milburn.
Main Cast: Madelaine Petsch, Froy Gutierrez, Rachel Shenton, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath, Ella Bruccoleri.
Exclusive Footage Description From CinemaCon 2024:
Lionsgate presented an extended sneak peek at The Strangers: Chapter 1 at CinemaCon 2024. The film is described as an origin story of how the strangers came to be. We see Madeleine Petch from Riverdale as the movie’s innocent protagonist entering a cabin in the woods. Suddenly, someone appears behind her as she starts to play piano. She and her partner hear strange knocks at the door. When she looks through the keyhole, an axe almost chops her head straight through the door. We then get a montage of the duo trying to escape as the strangers come in, followed by cuts of the strangers tormenting the leads in various horrifying ways. The footage presents a film that is much darker and pulse-pounding than some audiences are probably expecting, ensuring that fans of the original will be satisfied.
Never Let Go
Release Date: September 27, 2024.
Directed by Alexandre Aja.
Exclusive Footage Description From CinemaCon 2024:
CinemaCon attendees got the first look at Crawl director Alexandre Aja’s new horror film Never Let Go, starring Halle Berry. The story centers around only 3 people: Barry’s mother character and her two twin sons, who live in an extremely unique situation in the middle of a remote forest. They lock themselves indoors and try their best to avoid going outside, except for resources and the occasional fresh air.
They have ropes tied around their wastes at all times when they’re outside, which lead back to the house in case they stray too far. The reason why they tie themselves to rope is because there is a mysterious, monstrous force that lives in the forest. The few glimpses we see of the beast make it look like a pale, humanlike demon who can shapeshift. As the two boys are forced to follow their mother’s strict rules to survive, they grow more suspicious of what the forest demon’s motives really are as it’s been toying with them their whole lives. One of the boys says, “Mom has never lied to us” which further ignites their distrust of their overprotective mother.
The boys wonder if they could untether themselves from the rope but as soon as they do, one of them gets dragged into a well by the creature. The look and aesthetics of Never Let Go feel in line with other post-apocalyptic survival thrillers like A Quiet Place and Bird Box, all with a sinister undertone. The footage ends with Berry’s mother heading into the woods to look for her kids and then she sees the demon climbing up a large tree trunk, only seeing the horrifying image of a set of hands multiplying over and over again from the back of the tree as it climbs upwards.
The Grey
Release Date: January 17, 2025.
Directed by Guy Ritchie.
Exclusive Footage Description From CinemaCon 2024:
Lionsgate revealed Guy Ritchie’s new film at CinemaCon 2024, following The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. The Grey stars Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Eiza González as a rag-tag team of misfits who come together for a shared mission of fame and revenge. The film’s tagline is “When billions are stolen, they’re the ones who steal them back.” The team is coming after a notorious kingpin, with funny quips and banter shared between the three leads. The action includes speedboat races and car chases in a tropical setting. Ritchie’s signature comedic charm is present with Cavill and Gyllenhaal’s macho characters chewing up the scenery. We also have a quick glimpse of a mysterious character played by Rosamund Pike.
John Wick Presents: Ballerina
Release Date: June 6, 2025.
Directed by Len Wiseman.
Exclusive Footage Description From CinemaCon 2024:
Lionsgate debuted the first-ever footage from the John Wick spin-off Ballerina. We see the origins of Ana de Armas’ new lead as she’s taken in by the Ruska Roma crime family and trained to be an elite assassin. She admires John Wick from a distance as he grows in notoriety in his own story but doesn’t get to actually meet him face to face until she goes on her own adventure. The snowy setting implies that our Ballerina travels to Russia to dive deeper into her history and connections to another rival crime family whom she is seeking to destroy from the inside out. In this journey, she meets another grungy-looking assassin, played by Norman Reedus, who warns her that she might be in over her head with her ambitions.
The action of Ballerina is on par with the rest of the John Wick franchise, with Ana de Armas clearly being active in her own insane stunts. We see her pop other assassin’s bones out of their elbows with her brute force, burn goons alive with a huge flamethrower while on top of a vehicle driving in the snow, and stuff grenades in her foe’s mouths during fight sequences. Since this spin-off takes place between the third and fourth John Wick films, Ana de Armas gets to share the screen with Keanu Reeves without breaking continuity. She calls for the Bab Yaga while on her quest and he arrives in an epic shot of him coming off a train in the snow. She asks John Wick, “How do I start doing what you do?” and his answer is simple: “It looks like you already have.”
Michael
Release Date: April 18, 2025.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua.
Exclusive Footage Description From CinemaCon 2024:
Lionsgate closed out its CinemaCon 2024 presentation with the very first look at the Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua. Michael’s own nephew, Jaafar Jackson, portrays him in the film. The footage covers all of the iconic eras from Jackson’s career, starting with his humble beginnings in The Jackson 5 with the hit song ‘ABC’ playing in the background. We then see a montage that goes from the Jackson 5 performing on television to Michael Jackson in his ‘Thriller’ era. We see Michael’s iconic white socks and black shoes as he’s dancing while singing ‘Bad’. Fans will be excited to know Jaafar Jackson sounds just like his uncle, nailing all the vocal cadences, when delivering dialogue.
Michael Jackson is then shown, in the late stages of his career after one of his accidents, with visible pale skin, long curly hair, a black fedora, face mask, and sunglasses getting flanked by security. He’s walking towards a car while a crazy crowd of rabid fans and paparazzi scream to get a photo, with some people even jumping on his car to get a glimpse at him. Cut back to his youth when Michael’s mom tells him, as she’s wiping a tear off his face, “You were never like everyone else.” We then get a close-up of Michael’s fingers snapping, performing ‘Man in the Mirror’ to a massive concert crowd. We also get quick shots of a young Michael signing thriller records with his short hair and iconic red jacket.
Then there’s a glimpse of Michael with his face wrapped up in gauze on a stretcher being led into a hospital — assuming this is the big Pepsi commercial incident. The trailer directly confirms that this biopic will address “the controversy” of Jackson’s career. The next image is of Michael on a balcony, which could be the baby dangling incident. There’s a quick shot of Michael sitting at a piano and taking a pill. We see quick glimpses of Nia Long and Coleman Domingo as Michael’s parents in his youth. The trailer ends with a shot of Michael in the white shirt/black pants combo performing in front of hundreds of fans. Jaafar Jackson nails all of the dancing in the footage shown and is seen in various layers of makeup as the film traverses the different stages of Michael’s life.
