LAS VEGAS – You never quite know what Walt Disney Studios is going to present at the annual CinemaCon convention. Sometimes the studio known for its popular brands will screen an entire movie two months before its release (“Inside Out” in 2015). Other times their presence will be limited to a short presentation focusing on their upcoming slate with with familiar trailers and no new footage provided. Disney still doesn’t partake in the stars on parade strategy that Warner Bros. and Universal have mastered to get theater owners excited about one release or another, but every once in awhile they’ll surprise and, thankfully, that’s what occurred during their moment in the spotlight this morning.
With chairman Alan Horn, head of distribution current (retiring Dave Hollis) and future (Catleen Taff) on hand to present. the studio hyped “Avengers: Infinity War” (an extended scene where Thor meets the Guardians of the Galaxy), “Mary Poppins Returns” (the montage with the original score that screened at D23), “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” (at least the color timing on the footage looked more expensive this time around), “Christopher Robbin” (do you trust Marc Forster?), “Wreck-It Ralph 2” (another D23 repeat as Vanellope hilariously meets the Disney princesses), “The Incredibles 2” (the first 10 minutes or so which already screened for press), “Ant-Man and the Wasp” (new trailer where Laurence Fishburne references his days as Goliath) and “The Lion King” (the proof of concept to “Circle of Life” that is so moving Disney should just release as a teaser trailer as soon as possible). It was the three other movies they discussed that provided some surprising insight.
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” opens in almost a month and likely premieres at Cannes in less than two weeks, but Lucasfilm allowed Disney to show a complete scene from the movie that just happened to chronicle the historic first meeting between Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) and Lando Calrissian (Donald Globver) so….
…spoilers ahead if you’re that obsessed.
The scene takes place in a bar where Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) guides Solo to Lando who is center stage in the middle of a card game similar to poker with a bunch of unrecognizable aliens. Solo wants Lando’s ship and enters the game hoping to surprise Lando with his gambling skills. The biggest takeaway from the sequence is that Bradford Young’s cinematography may save the film from the awkward directorial changeover to Ron Howard at the last minute. It’s Young so that means it’s gorgeous no matter what the character context [Note: the image accompanying this post is from the scene in question]. The other revelation is how wonderfully Glover has Lando’s swagger and sky confidence down. Ehrenreich’s Solo? That’s still up for debate.
On the other hand, the live action version of “Aladdin” is…something. First off, the very rough footage looks nothing like a typical Guy Ritchie film. There is no way to treat the captured image previewed this so that it won’t look broad and bright like an overly commercial Adam Shankman directed movie from the late ’00s. That’s clearly not any Ritchie aesthetic we’ve seen before. The behind-the-scenes piece did focus on the action sequences Ritchie is known for, but nothing truly popped in that regard. What was memorable was Will Smith’s get up as the Genie. Think hair back in a long ponytail off the top of his head like a male version of Ariana Grande. There was also a shot of Smith, as the Genie, in drag with some other Persian looking women joking something along the lines of “Who doesn’t look like a real woman here?” The irony of Smith in drag is the screen time given to choreographer Jamal Sims whose credits included the “Step Up” movies, Madonna’s tours and, yes, “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
The third film with a special tease was Tim Burton’s live action version of “Dumbo.” Disney provided another behind-the-scenes featurette, but this one featured more footage than “Aladdin.” As you’d expect, Burton’s sets look gorgeous but the look of the actual circus is closer to Francis Lawrence’s “Water for Elephants” than a typical Burton movie. Moreover, it appears this tale takes place right after Dumbo flies in public in the original, animated movie for the first time. There was also a lot of Danny DeVito as the small time circus owner struggling to keep things going and talking head footage of the film’s main stars, Colin Farrell and Eva Green. The studio decided not to reveal what a cg Dumbo looks like until a later date.
And, if you’re curious, “Captain Marvel” was mentioned, but only an artist rendering of Brie Larson in the costume was shown. And, lastly, the fact Disney is in the middle of acquiring 20th Century Fox, who is presenting on Thursday, wasn’t even hinted at.
Look for more coverage from CinemaCon all this week on The Playlist.