CinemaCon 2026 Just Showed Us Hollywood's Next Two Years — Here Are the Winners and Losers

23 hours ago by Riley Vox 6 min read

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Sony went all-in on gaming adaptations and Spider-Man. Warner Bros. dropped seven minutes of Dune 3 and announced a Game of Thrones movie. Two studios down, two to go — and CinemaCon already has a clear winner.

Look, CinemaCon is Hollywood's annual exercise in collective self-delusion — studios parade trailers in front of theater owners while pretending the theatrical experience isn't in an existential crisis. But every once in a while, the footage is so good it shuts everyone up.

This year, Sony and Warner Bros. shut everyone up. Multiple times.

Universal, Amazon, Paramount, and Disney still have their slots this week, but after what we've seen from the first two presentations, here's who's winning and who's fumbling through Hollywood's biggest showcase.

The Winners

Denis Villeneuve and the Seven Minutes That Silenced a Room

Warner Bros. showed seven minutes of the opening of Dune: Part Three — arriving December 18 — and by all accounts, it floored everyone. Fremen soldiers deploying on a stormy planet, the full scope of Paul's holy war, mechanical turrets versus shield piercers. Villeneuve described his trilogy arc: "Part I was meditative, Part II was a war movie, Part III is a thriller — more action-packed, faster paced, more emotional."

Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Jason Momoa took the stage. Florence Pugh and Robert Pattinson join the cast. This isn't a sequel — it's an event. After Dune proved sci-fi can print money and Part Two proved it wasn't a fluke, Part Three looks like the payoff we've been building toward for five years.

Sony's Gaming Empire

Four gaming IP adaptations in a single presentation. Four. Bloodborne (R-rated animated), The Legend of Zelda (live-action, May 2027, already wrapped), Helldivers (Justin Lin directing, Jason Momoa, November 2027), and Resident Evil (Zach Cregger of Barbarian fame, promising to actually be faithful to the games this time).

Sony isn't just adapting games anymore — they're building a gaming studio within a movie studio. After the success of the PlayStation Productions model, this is a studio that looked at the landscape and said: we own these IPs and we're not going to waste them. Whether all four land is another question, but the strategy is undeniable.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day's Cast Reveal

Tom Holland. Zendaya. Jacob Batalon. That was expected. Then the names kept coming: Sadie Sink. Jon Bernthal. Tramell Tillman. Michael Mando. Mark Ruffalo.

Mark Ruffalo. In a Spider-Man movie. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman called it "as big as anything we have ever made" — and based on that cast, he's not exaggerating. The footage showed Ned using a Spider-Man tracker app to narrow the origin to Queens, Peter introducing himself to MJ as "Maynard," and MJ kissing a new boyfriend. July 31 can't come fast enough.

Plus, Beyond the Spider-Verse showed footage described as a "finale of epic proportions" with multiple animation styles — Lord, Miller, and the team are going for the emotional knockout.

The DCU Is Actually Cooking

Clayface got a teaser that looks genuinely dark — Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagan, bandaged in a hospital, a mysterious clay experiment, his face transforming in neon-lit Gotham. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow has Milly Alcock and Craig Gillespie directing. And then Jason Momoa rode a motorcycle through actual flames to announce he's playing Lobo.

Three DC properties, three different tones, all looking like they know what they are. After years of false starts, the James Gunn era might actually be delivering.

Bradley Cooper, Director-Star-Writer

An Ocean's 11 prequel set at the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix. Cooper is writing, directing, and starring alongside Margot Robbie. After Maestro proved he's a legitimate filmmaker, this is the kind of swing that makes you lean forward. June 2027.

Practical Magic 2's Pure Nostalgia Play

Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock took the stage together for Practical Magic 2 — 28 years after the original. Bullock said she felt like she was "returning to a home." Kidman joked about her AMC ads. Sometimes nostalgia is just... correct. September 11.

The Losers

The Warner-Paramount Merger Elephant

Every WB filmmaker smiled through their presentations while the $111 billion Warner-Paramount merger deal hung over the entire event. Patton Oswalt hosted and the vibes were professional, but the industry tension was palpable. You could feel filmmakers wondering which of their projects would survive a corporate merger. CinemaCon is supposed to be a celebration of theatrical filmmaking. This year it felt like a farewell party for independence.

The Social Reckoning's Timing Problem

Here's the thing: a Social Network sequel about Mark Zuckerberg in 2026? Aaron Sorkin is writing and directing, and Jeremy Strong as Zuck is genuinely inspired casting. But the internet moved on from caring about Facebook years ago. Meta is an AI company now. The original captured a cultural moment — lightning in a bottle. This feels like trying to bottle the same lightning twice. I hope I'm wrong.

Mid-Tier Franchise Fatigue

Mortal Kombat II showed Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, which is great casting, but the footage was... fine. Evil Dead couldn't decide if it was called "Burn" or "Wrath" (it's Burn, arriving July 24). Insidious: Out of the Further exists. Final Destination 7 is coming in May 2028, which tells you everything about where franchise horror is right now — there's always another one.

None of these are bad. But when you're following seven minutes of Dune and a Spider-Man cast that includes the Hulk, "fine" feels like a loss.

The Theatrical Window Fiction

Every studio told exhibitors they love theaters. Every studio is shortening theatrical windows. CinemaCon is where this polite lie gets told most enthusiastically every year, and this year was no exception. The exhibitors clapped anyway.

Everyone Waiting for the Second Half

Universal has Nolan's The Odyssey. Amazon has Spaceballs 2 with Rick Moranis coming out of retirement. Paramount and Disney haven't shown their hands yet. Half of this week's real excitement is still in the pipeline — which means Sony and Warner Bros. set a bar that the remaining studios now have to clear.

The Verdict

Warner Bros. won Monday on sheer spectacle — seven minutes of Dune and a Game of Thrones movie announcement will do that. Sony won Sunday on strategy — the gaming empire play is the most forward-thinking studio move since Marvel built the MCU out of B-list heroes.

But CinemaCon isn't over. Universal and Amazon still have Nolan, Moranis, and whatever else they're hiding. I'll be back with part two.

For now: if you're a moviegoer, the next two years look genuinely exciting. If you're a theater owner, you might actually sleep tonight.