Although CinemaCon is a commerce conference for exhibitors, it has more and more functioned extra like Comedian Con in the way it offers the studios a platform to point out off their slate, take a victory lap on the previous yr, and schmooze with theater homeowners from the Midwest. Fan bloggers and movie journalists attend to get an early take a look at superhero stuff, a complete film or two will get screened, and it’s gotten large enough to the purpose that “The Studio” devoted its whole season finale to a presentation on the Caesar’s Palace Colosseum stage.
So it’s good to see that the conference shouldn’t be completely for the large studios. For the 2026 version, kicking off April 13 in Las Vegas, CinemaCon will host its first ever “Movie Showcase,” which is able to give three totally different distributors the prospect to current their slate on the large stage. These this yr are Angel Studiosupstart distributor Row Okay Leisure, and Studiocanal.
More and more, theater homeowners need to a few of these rising gamers as a option to diversify their screens away from the identical outdated studio tentpoles and provides patrons extra choices within the hopes that they hold coming again extra frequently. So it is sensible that CinemaCon would give these gamers a platform on par with what the studios can supply.
Along with these three, Neon can also be going to have an opportunity to current, and Amazon will attend the conference for the second time. The “Movie Showcase” trio of displays will happen on the afternoon of Monday, April 13, that means that technically, these three indies would be the first presentation of the week, even forward of Sony on opening night time. Although it additionally means that maybe some theater homeowners will solely simply be moving into city and checking into their accommodations at the moment.
Angel Studios completed 2025 because the tenth most profitable distributor on the home field workplace by market share, bringing in $167 million throughout 10 movies, most notably the animated “The King of Kings” from final Easter. It simply launched the Kevin James movie “Solo Mio,” and it has been at CinemaCon earlier thanhowever for the final two years it offered throughout a breakfast session away from the Colosseum.
Row Okay is a captivating addition, as so far it has solely launched one movie, Gus Van Sant’s “Lifeless Man’s Wire,” which has solely made $2.2 million worldwide. We’ve written at size, nonetheless, about how they’re a distributor with one thing to show and a few cash to throw round. It’s upcoming releases embrace Maude Apatow’s “Poetic License,” the Emilia Jones and Nick Robinson romance “Charlie Harper,” and Jaume Collet-Serra’s “Cliffhanger” remake starring Pierce Brosnan and Lily James.
Studiocanal has been round for some time however is a giant title on the worldwide distribution market. This yr it is going to be releasing the Glen Powell drama “Learn how to Make a Killing,” the sci-fi “Chilly Storage,” and the horror movie “Silent Night time, Lethal Night time.”
“As a world business that depends upon a various pipeline of films from a big selection of distribution companions, we’re extremely excited to welcome Angel, Row Okay Leisure, and Studiocanal to be a part of this essential new program on Monday afternoon,” mentioned Michael O’Leary, President and CEO of Cinema United in an official assertion. “Film theatres around the globe in cities and cities of all sizes depend on these films 52 weeks out of the yr. They’re important to our business, and by shining a lightweight on these corporations, we have fun their significance in bringing nice films to followers of all ages throughout the globe.”