Sony Pictures had the honor of hosting opening night festivities at CinemaCon 2025 by way of a presentation that offered up a couple of surprises, one of the more disappointing ones being the discouraging news that SPIDER-MAN: BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE isn’t slated to hit theaters until June of 2027. While this is a bummer to hear, you’ve got to applaud the filmmaking team and the folks at Sony for not forcing the issue and doing all they can to get this thing right. Beyond that, Peter Parker fans won’t have to wait too long to get their webslinger fix in other ways as the next live action SPIDER-MAN movie will open in summer 2026 and it comes with the subtitle BRAND NEW DAY. The film is just about to go into production and it’ll be helmed by SHANG-CHI director, Destin Daniel Cretton.
What else did the Sony Pictures presentation have to offer?
28 YEARS LATER
Director Danny Boyle was on hand at CinemaCon to talk up 28 YEARS LATER, the long awaited new chapter in a series that began with 28 DAYS LATER and continued with 28 WEEKS LATER. It’s been over two decades since this franchise started and it looks like the wait is going to be worth it! Boyle shared a trailer and it delivered the goods by way of a montage of epic shots of the European countryside, images of the infected busting into a church, and clips of new-to-the-series Aaron Taylor-Johnson and a young boy hunting in the wilderness all set to a haunting reading of Rudyard Kipling’s “Boots” on the audio. Boyle spoke about the making of the film and revealed it’s part of a planned trilogy. Cooler still, the follow-up is called THE BONE TEMPLE and it’s already well into production. Whether or not a third movie gets made will depend on how these two films do. Here’s hoping they’re successful. If 28 YEARS LATER is even as half as good as it looks, that’ll be good enough for me. Sidenote; No solid confirmation as to whether or not Cillian Murphy might show up in these films but you’ve got to believe he will at some point. 28 YEARS LATER opens on June 20th, 2025 with THE BONE TEMPLE (directed by Nia DaCosta) slated to hit theaters in 2026.
KARATE KID: LEGENDS
I have to be honest…I was pretty excited for this portion of the Sony presentation as I’m a massive fan of the first two KARATE KID films. I’m an even bigger fan of the streaming series, “Cobra Kai” even if it did slip a bit in the final season. Despite the slip, that final episode worked its magic on me and while the series didn’t exactly set the stage for this movie specifically, it certainly has me re-invested in this universe as a whole. And the very idea of bringing original KARATE KID, Daniel LaRusso, into the same movie as Mr. Han (Jackie Chan reprising his role from the KARATE KID reboot) has me positively giddy. I’m so looking forward to this movie, in fact, that I was actually somewhat hopeful that Sony would screen the whole damn thing like they did with the KARATE KID reboot at CinemaCon back in the early 2010s. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. That said, Ralph Macchio was on hand this year with new Karate Kid Ben Wang. They talked a bit about the process of making the movie and treated us to footage from the film. In the extended clip, Mr. Han tries to persuade Daniel LaRusso to help him train Wang’s Li Fong for a tournament. It was an amusing clip and while this movie doesn’t exactly look to break any new ground, “Cobra Kai” really reinvigorated this whole franchise for me and I’m hopeful that KARATE KID: LEGENDS will continue this trend. Admittedly, I’m irritated that Johnny Lawrence isn’t expected to be part of this outing but again, I’m still hopeful this movie will keep that sports underdog spirit alive.
THE BEATLES
Talk about ambitious! Director Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY, ROAD TO PERDITION) was on hand to reveal the news that he will deliver not one, not two, not three, but four fabulous Beatles biopics, each one focusing on each member of the iconic British rock band. Not only that, but these four films are all slated for release in April, 2028. That’s right! A binge-worthy collection of films that you’ll have to binge in movie theaters. Yes, please! Following this insanely ambitious bit of news, CinemaCon attendees were then treated to the cast in person; Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr! What a spectacular, most unexpected note for Sony to end their impressive presentation on.
*CinemaCon is an annual convention held in Las Vegas, NV. Formally ShoWest, this get-together is designed to give cinema exhibitors from around the world a peek at upcoming movie theater tech, theater cosmetics (seats, screens, etc.), snack bar upgrades, concession goodness, and of course, big studio product. The convention takes place at Ceasar’s Palace with the majority of the studio presentations taking place in the luxurious Colosseum.
