Sony sat out CinemaCon in April this 12 months, however was the primary main studio to current at CineEurope in Barcelona at this time, culminating in a screening of Apple Authentic Movies’ Scarlett Johansson/Channing Tatum-starrer Fly Me to the Moon which Sony is releasing theatrically.
Earlier than the screening, Sony President of Worldwide Theatrical Distribution, Steven O’Dell, cautioned, “Good is now not adequate. Now we have to ship greatness to audiences. The onus is on all of us.”
O’Dell was bullish on the longer term. Sony, whose Columbia Footage is celebrating its centenary this 12 months, is “dedicated to the business,” he stated, noting Sony Footage Leisure’s latest “daring transfer” to acquire the Alamo Drafthouse, in addition to its 2021 $1.2B acquisition of Crunchyroll. O’Dell continued that the studio can also be “positioned to make some large bets on the way forward for our business.”
This reiterated one thing the exec had stated throughout a CineEurope panel earlier within the day: “The thrilling factor is, if anyone needs to doubt that we consider in our future, to put money into cinema is the largest assertion we might make. And we don’t do it to make an announcement, we do it to make cash, so we’re doing it as a result of we consider within the business.” O’Dell added, “We belief the present (Alamo) management and couldn’t be extra enthusiastic about it.”
The transfer to accumulate Alamo Drafthouse places Sony, which nonetheless has its eye on buying Paramount World, within the exhibition enterprise as soon as once more after proudly owning the Loews Theater chain again within the Nineties.
Because it seems to be for alternatives to develop, Sony can also be betting on content material.
Through the studio presentation at this time, O’Dell ran down a various slate forward, highlighting quite a lot of titles together with Danny Boyle’s upcoming 28 Years Later, Margot Robbie-starrer A Large Daring Stunning Journey, Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing starring Austin Butler, Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Solar with Jenna Ortega and the live-action Legend of Zelda collaboration with Nintendo.
The exec additional promised a “distribution sample by no means earlier than seen” for Sam Mendes’ 4 separate theatrical movies in regards to the members of The Beatles and added, “We’re additionally in growth on a few of Sony’s most prized IP together with a sequel to Tom Holland’s Uncharted and naturally our crown jewel franchise, Spider-Man.” Holland in April discussed the latter challenge with Deadline.
In Cannes final month, Sony Movement Footage Group Chairman Tom Rothman told Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr that he was “very optimistic” Quentin Tarantino‘s remaining characteristic can be at Sony. At the moment, O’Dell stated, “We’re hopeful to have Quentin Tarantino make his subsequent and sure final characteristic movie with us.”
On the finish of the presentation, O’Dell launched Fly Me to the Moon director Greg Berlanti who famous he grew up within the 70s and 80s going to see “large, unique, spectacle films on the cinema.” When he learn Rose Gilroy’s Fly Me to the Moon script, Berlanti stated it “jogged my memory of these movies” and that he thought he’d “by no means get one other alternative like this.”
The CineEurope viewers was the largest to see the movie to this point, Berlanti stated. “If I’m handed out within the again, step over me gently.”
Fly Me to the Moon follows Johansson as advertising and marketing specialist Kelly Jones who’s introduced in to pump up NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon touchdown. Interoffice romance shenanigans fly with Tatum’s launch director Cole Davis. Upping the stakes: Jones is tasked with staging a faux moon touchdown as backup because the countdown begins.
