LAS VEGAS – Without massive tentpoles on the horizon this year, Paramount Pictures pulled off the impossible and actually created some buzz Tuesday morning on the first full day of CinemaCon. It all began with the Arnold Schwarzenegger kicking things off with a sneak of “Terminator: Genisys.”
“We all know the first three 'Terminators.' The one's I were involved with, the only ones that count made over $1 billion worldwide,” Schwarzenegger says to the delight of the audience. “Script was fantastic when I read it. Great actors. Great producers. Paramount, thank you all for being such passionate people…I can talk about this movie for hours, but you want to see a little action.”
Twelve minutes of the still “work in progress” were then shown and, essentially, it was just extended views of shots or scenes in the latest trailer. The human's future assault on the machines is much grander than what most of the public has seen so far, but we're still wondering why the future looked cooler and more realistic in 2009's “Terminator: Salvation.” That being said, Emelia Clarke's Sarah Connor is growing on us.
Paramount's master of ceremonies, Vice Chairman Rob Moore, eventually segued to what was probably the best part of the company's presentation. In a taped bit, Ben Stiller appeared as Zoolander and, honestly, it was hilarious. Zoolander kept confusing CinemaCon with Comic-Con, but wasn't even sure if it was New York or San Diego Comic-Con. He told everyone “Zoolander 2” would be a documentary about the last 15 years of his life and reminded everyone about the amazing $45 million the first movie made domestically and the $15 million it made internationally (this got a huge laugh from the attendees). And then, Billy Zane popped by. “Hi Billy Zane,” Zoolander says. After about a minute of awkward silence Zane replies, “O.K., I think I'm gonna go now.” Zoolander also made sure everyone knew “Zoolander 2” was coming out on President's Day weekend which is a three day weekend, but the movie is still “Zoolander 2,” not “Zoolander 2 3 day weekend.” He also debuted a new runway look he called Pasaw which is actually spelled PSA which stands for per screen average (and, yes, it was just Blue Steel).
This was one of those great Stiller bits that makes you wish he'd host the Oscars or even the Golden Globes (he's turned down the former previously). Unfortunately, because it's so industry focused the chances of Paramount releasing the video online are slim (we asked), but if you're crossing your fingers “Zoolander 2” will be worth the wait, so far, so good.
A little known actor named Tom Cruise also made an appearance to talk about his new film “Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation.” You can read about it here.
Other highlights included:
“Daddy's Home”
This new comedy reunites Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as a step dad and a dad who – shocker – devolve into a crazy rivalry for their kids affections. It did not get a lot of laughs until the final moment, when Ferrell's character drunkingly throws a basketball by accident at the head of an NBA cheerleader during a game. Yes, we still can't help laughing at people having balls thrown at their heads. You can watch a fan's recording of the scene during a New Orleans Pelicans game here.
“Transformers”
Paramount announced Michael Bay is working on the next film, but did clarify if he was directing and only said it was “coming soon” which means no release date as of yet.
“Monster Trucks”
A quick :30 of footage played on the screen and gave us our first glimpse of the Nickelodeon Films Christmas release. The movie looks very much like “Cars,” but the “faces” of the trucks are less cartoony than that Pixar, um, monster.
“Star Trek 3”
We have a logo and it looks like the previous “Star Trek” font with a “3” next to it! Theater owners were also screened what must have been just a :90 video of producer J.J. Abrams introducing new director Justin Lin, giving him some props and saying they were shooting this summer. That was it (really).
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2”
Moore did not refer to it with the rumored title “Half Shell,” but did reveal that classic characters Bebop and Rocksteady will appear in the sequel.
Upcoming films such as “Rings” and a new “Paranormal Activity” were mentioned in passing, but no details beyond release dates were given.