It’s already been an eventful week for Walt Disney Studios. The long-promised layoffs hit the company’s theatrical divisions yesterday and this morning Disney filed a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claiming a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power.” In Las Vegas, however, the studio had a job to do, convince the world’s theater owners and managers that their upcoming slate was something to get excited about. The CinemaCon audience was already excited for “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3” next week, but new footage of Pixar’s “Elemental,” the live-action “The Little Mermaid” and Gareth Edwards’ newly christened “The Creator,” gave them even more to think about.
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Here’s a quick reaction rundown of what was mostly a talent-free morning.
“Wish”
Disney Animation’s November release doesn’t have a trailer yet, but the studio showed the first clip of the Ariana DeBose voiced Asha singing the new song “This Wish.” The Julia Michaels, Benjamin Rice, and Dave Metzger composed tune is very much in the “Frozen” vein and the staging of the number could easily have been lifted from that film or even “Pocahontas.” Perhaps it will pop more in context. Notably, it was announced Chris Pine will voice the role of King Magnifico.
“Elemental”
Recently selected as the “last film” at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, this 20-minute preview pretty much explained why. The Peter Sohn-directed tale is rooted as an allegory for immigrants and misunderstandings between different ethnic communities. The film introduces us to the Lumens, a fire elemental family who have come to Elemental City, but keep to their own fire kind in a neighborhood outside the city. In fact, young Ember (voiced by Leah Lewis) has kept her focus on helping run her father’s store (essentially a grocery for the fire elements) and has never ventured into the city. When Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie),a water elemental who works for the city, discovers numerous permit violations in the shop, Ember is forced to jump on the water-powered metro to try and stop him from reporting it. The footage was much more captivating then the initial trailer and even by Pixar standards, the world-building is sort of incredible. If you weren’t excited about this one previously, you should be now.
“The Little Mermaid”
Melissa McCarthy was the only star on hand for Disney on Tuesday and there was a reason for it. As the first live-action Ursula, McCarthy has big tentacles to fill. The late Pat Carroll’s vocal performance in the original animated feature is one of the most beloved of all time. The good news is not only does McCarthy pull it off, but the “Poor Unfortunate Souls” number is the best thing anyone has seen so far from the Rob Marshall-directed production. It also helps that the darker the water, the better all that CG looks. McCarthy is absolutely having a blast in the role, though, and that’s definitely not a bad thing.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
There wasn’t much to take away from the over-long car and cart chase scene screened from the James Mangold-directed action flick. Do Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridges bicker at the most inopportune of times? Sure. Can Ford still make you believe Indiana Jones is an action star at the age of 79 (when he filmed it)? He certainly can. The rest? Well, we’ll find out at Cannes.
“Haunted Mansion”
We’re big fans of director Justin Simien, but we’re not sure the clip played for the CinemaCon crowd was the best for the crowd on hand. What appeared to be a new trailer afterward pivoted the film to a slightly more scary tone (and we emphasize “slightly”) and featured more of Danny DeVito stealing the show.
“Next Goal Wins”
The long, long, long delayed Searchlight Films flick finds Michael Fassbender playing Thomas Rongen, a real-life soccer coach who took over the underdog American Samoa football team in 2011. The Taika Waititi-directed comedy is one of the last films shot completely before the pandemic hit in March 2020 and wasn’t edited until after Waititi finished all his obligations to “Thor: Love and Thunder.” Set to a remix of Abba’s “The Winner Takes It All,” the trailer had very funny title cards noting it was from the writer and director of “JoJo Rabbit” who lost the Best Picture Oscar and who also lost a Teen Choice Award for “Thor: Ragnarok.” The preview completely played with audiences and Searchlight and Disney are obviously hoping it will be the sort of uplifting tale to hit a double or triple at the box office over Thanksgiving.
“The Creator”
The highlight of the morning was an unexpected first look at Gareth Edwards‘ next endeavor. Now titled “The Creator,” the New Regency financed Sci-Fi flick appears to take place in the somewhat far future. John David Washington plays a character attempting to protect a young sentient robot who looks completely human from the front, but not the back. The futuristic production design isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, but the visuals were still absolutely stunning. We’re slightly concerned Disney pushed the release date back to Sept. 29 (not a great sign for a film expecting strong reviews), but we’d still be stunned if the epic doesn’t debut at either Venice or TIFF before its wide release. We’d also expect (hope?) for the trailer to be in front of “Guardians” next week.
Already screened trailers and clips for “Guardians” and “The Marvels” were also presented and anyone who stayed in the theater was treated to an early screening of “The Boogeyman.”