Posted in: Movies | Tagged: cinemacon, Focus Features, Universal Pictures

CinemaCon 2025: Universal And Focus Features Presentation Liveblog

Welcome back to another day at CinemaCon. Today, we are liveblogging the extra-long presentation from Universal and Focus Features.

Published Wed, 02 Apr 2025 17:34:07 -0500

by Kaitlyn Booth

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CinemaCon is upon us once again. Every year, Cinema United [the new name for NATO, the National Association of Theater Owners] gathers in Las Vegas to look ahead to the rest of the year. Ever since the pandemic, the vibes of CinemaCon have shifted considerably, and, in many ways, it still feels like the industry is recovering and leveling out from a shift that will be felt for generations to come. However, the people here very much still believe in the theatrical experience, and studios come to show off their slate of new releases to get people hyped up for the new year. Sometimes, that means some trailers; sometimes, that means entire movies; and sometimes, we get confirmation that new movies are in the works. These presentations are usually massive and cannot be found anywhere online, so we here at Bleeding Cool would like to provide you the chance to attend CinemaCon without having to deal with Las Vegas with liveblogs of the presentation for you to follow along with. Universal and Focus Features is the first presentation of the day.

Universal presentation at CinemaCon 2025. Photo by Denz.

This post is being pre-written the night before, so when it goes up, it will be after the premiere of How To Train Your Dragon, which is how the morning is kicking off. The reaction to that film could help set the tone for the rest of the Universal presentation, but the reality is this is Wicked: For Good's show, and we're just here for the ride. The movie was a massive success across the board for Universal, with multiple standees and posters hanging around. Rumor is the first trailer will be seen, but who knows if it's getting released. Jurassic World Rebirth is another massive Universal title and there are some more Fast and Furious movies hanging out in the sidelines.

Those are just some of the big tentpoles. There are smaller and less well-known films out there, too, like the new one from Jordan Peele, simply titled HIM. Nobody was a rare pandemic hit, and a sequel is on the way. A sequel to the most underrated movie at Dreamworks is also coming out with The Bad Guys 2, and you can bet everyone is crossing their fingers and toes that M3GAN 2.0 somehow goes viral as the first film did. This presentation will be a victory lap for Universal, if nothing else.

And that's not to say Universal is the only one taking a victory lap. While Focus Features has had a few stumbles out of the gate early this year, even though Black Bag was really good it couldn't find an audience, they are coming off the excellent end of 2024 and Nosferatu. There is another Robert Eggers movie in the works that I need in front of my eyes immediately, and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is all over the show floor. They also have the new film from Yorgos Lanthimos titled Bugonia, which is coming out this fall. So, while the Focus slate for 2025 is smaller, it has massive potential.