After lighting up CineEurope with a feast of tulips final yr after which once more the Caesars Colosseum at CinemaCon in April, Universal returned to Barcelona at present with a presentation heavy on its upcoming two-part musical Wicked. The jam-packed present additionally highlighted its 30-strong movie slate and concluded with a shock first-look at a scene from Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, centering on the making of the long-lasting “Thriller” video. It positively wowed the viewers.
Michael producer Graham King offered the five-minute clip which had been preceded by the identical footage we noticed at CinemaCon. He mentioned the seven-years-in-the-making movie had simply wrapped and that director Antoine Fuqua is presently in L.A. modifying.
“Unpacking the lifetime of the King of Pop has been a frightening job,” mentioned King. The Bohemian Rhapsody producer added, “There are biopics — after which there’s Michael Jackson.” He famous there will probably be greater than 30 songs within the film and that he felt honored to have been trusted by the household to inform the story.
Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson leads the ensemble as Michael, with Colman Domingo, Nia Lengthy, Miles Teller, Laura Harrier and Juliano Krue Valdi amongst others in key roles. Lionsgate is distributing domestically and in Japan, with Common set to deal with all different worldwide territories. Pic’s slated for launch worldwide on April 18, 2025.
Earlier, life-sized Depraved dioramas lined the doorway to the CCIB auditorium right here as plumes of smoke, multi-colored bubbles and streamer cannons celebrated the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical phenomenon contained in the auditorium. The primary a part of the Jon M Chu film releases domestically on November 27 this yr, with Depraved Half Two scheduled to reach in theaters on November 26, 2025.
Behind-the-scenes footage was proven in addition to the “Ardour Venture” clip that was just lately posted on-line by Common. Julien Noble, President of Worldwide Advertising (and sporting a pastel go well with in honor of the movie’s colour palette) later got here to the stage to tout the mega-promotional marketing campaign and companions working with the studio on the movie. He mentioned a one-hour tv particular is in growth which is able to characteristic stay performances.
Different movies offered with footage included DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robotic and the live-action adaptation of Methods to Practice Your Dragon; Blumhouse’s Wolfman and Converse No Evil; Focus’ Nosferatu from Robert Eggers and Piece by Piece, the animated Pharrell Williams biopic. There was additionally a trailer for Maxxxine which is eyed as counterprogramming when it releases in July. In fact, there was additionally a spot from Illumination’s Despicable Me 4 which begins early abroad rollout over the following weeks and goes domestically on July 3.
Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of Distribution, Common Photos Worldwide, additionally highlighted the large yr Common had in 2023 together with Finest Image Oscar winner Oppenheimer and animated smash The Tremendous Mario Bros Film.
She famous, “From established franchises to dramatic occasion movies, animated blockbusters and unique horror – we’re devoted to filling your screens with a spectrum of films that reinforce the truth that we’ve got essentially the most compelling and wide-ranging studio slate within the enterprise at present.”
Commented Niels Swinkels, EVP and MD, Common Photos Worldwide: “Whereas we have a look at our business within the rearview mirror, I want to take a short second to acknowledge that we’re nonetheless in unprecedented occasions. Extra just lately, uncertainty has resurfaced about cinemagoers’ selections and the state of the theatrical market. However let’s not let that get in the way in which of striving for progress. We’ll show the naysayers fallacious once more. Now could be the time to spend money on the theatrical expertise, have religion, double down, take dangers and chase success. I imagine this progress mindset will result in an thrilling and affluent future stuffed with limitless risk.”
