Dear Gossips,
CinemaCon concluded yesterday—at least, the studio presentation bit did—by bringing out the big guns. Literally Tom Cruise, who might as well be christened Mr. CinemaCon at this point, turned up for Paramount’s presentation, as did Edgar Wright and the stars of his new adaptation of The Running Man: Glen Powell, Colman Domingo, and Josh Brolin.
What I love about Tom Cruise at CinemaCon is that every photo looks like he’s giving a motivational speech, which in a way, he is. What I don’t love is that haircut. We are in year three of Tom Cruise’s deeply tragic hair.
Paramount is in a very awkward spot, which cast a pall over their presentation. Their merger with Skydance is not yet complete, with accusations of fraud flying, and a slow review process courtesy the FCC, which might be probably definitely enacting Trump’s anti-DEI agenda through their review. Still, they put Tom Cruise on stage, and later his protégé Glen Powell, who got a huge reception from theater owners as the face of the next generation of movie stars, to charm the room and distract from Paramount’s precarious business deal.
The day concluded with Disney-Marvel’s presentation, which included Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong for the Bruce Springsteen biopic, Deliver Me From Nowhere; Ke Huy Quan for Zootopia 2; Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis for Freakier Friday; and the Thunderbolts—minus Sebastian Stan but plus Julia Louis-Dreyfus—for Thunderbolts*. Marvel continues going big for Thunderbolts*, doing a stunt arrival with the Red Guardian limo, and having the team enter the theater like they were prying Wyatt Russell away from the tables.
It’s giving STRONG The Studio vibes. They also released a behind-the-scenes featurette for Thunderbolts*, touting the film’s stunts and the cast’s chemistry—the real selling point.
There’s a lot riding on Thunderbolts*, but my new gossip question is for the press tour is whether or not David Harbour’s divorce mess will be an issue. He was allegedly engaged in a long-term affair while married to Lily Allen, will the internet still accept him as zaddy when he’s been caught behaving so badly? The Thunderbolts* cast seems like a lot of fun, they’re giving original Avengers vibes, but will the Harbour gossip affect them?
Finally, during Paramount’s panel they released a teaser for The Naked Gun, starring Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin, Jr.:
After seeing him on Derry Girls, I am ready for Liam Neeson to enter his comedy era. And gods, do we NEED a big studio comedy to hit this summer. Like a real comedy, not a superhero movie with jokes, or an action movie with jokes, or a dramatic movie with jokes, or a scary movie with jokes. An actual comedy that isn’t trying to be anything other than a comedy. Like its little cousin the rom-com, studio comedies have been a victim of the streaming era, as they rarely get released into theaters anymore. 2023’s Bottoms is the last studio comedy I remember, and it wasn’t exactly a hit (because we live in the darkest timeline).
Here’s hoping The Naked Gun hits and maybe gives comedies a fighting chance in theaters again. Between the must-succeed pressure put on the summer’s trio of superhero movies and the potential to bring back the studio comedy, I can’t help but feel like 2025 has an awful lot riding on it.
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Live long and gossip,
Sarah
