The Walt Disney Co. staged a blockbuster-sized presentation for theater owners Thursday at CinemaCon, showing the opening to the new Star Wars film and new footage from “Avengers: Doomsday,” featuring the return of Chris Evans as Captain America.
Robert Downey Jr. was there to introduce the trailer for the film, which brings together the Avengers and the X-Men together in a Marvel Studios film for the first time.
“What I want to do is give away like 30,000 spoilers right now,” Downey said.
He’s returning to the franchise not as Iron Man, but as the main antagonist Victor Von Doom, or Doctor Doom.
Kevin Feige said they’ll be re-releasing “Avengers: Endgame” in September in the lead up to “Doomsday,” which, he said, “picks up where ‘Endgame’ left off.” It opens on Dec. 18.
“I think we might have nailed it,” Downey said.
Evans said he’d only come back if there was a good reason, and Doctor Doom was a good reason.
Grogu and Mando hunt warlords
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” director Jon Favreau showed the audience the opening of the first Star Wars movie in seven years. The film, which opens on May 22, begins with a title card saying the Galactic Empire has fallen and ex-warlords remain scattered throughout and, in the Outer Rim, the Mandalorian and Grogu hunt them down.
The sequence shows a one man, and child, battle against one such ex-warlord, with a big fight on a snowy cliff as they attempt to take down what looks like AT-AT walkers. Later, Sigourney Weaver’s character scolds the bounty hunter for his messy job, which left the target dead and them with no new information.
She also proposes a new mission, which would put him back in the orbit of the Hutts, with Jabba’s heir Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White).
“‘Star Wars’ made me fall in love with movies,” Favreau said. “I hope that our excitement and love and joy of Star Wars translates to a new generation of fans.”
He said that there are over 49 minutes of sequences filmed for large format screens.
Woody and Buzz make their CinemaCon debut
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen made an appearance on behalf of “Toy Story 5,” in what is apparently their first time ever at CinemaCon. The two actors joked about seeing footage of them voicing Woody and Buzz for the original film, which came out in 1995, and saying they look like their grandkids.
Hanks said one of his iconic lines, “you are a toy” and Allen responded with one of his, “you are a sad, strange little man.”
They also showed a new scene showing Woody’s arrival back to Bonnie’s house after his adventures with Bo Peep. The film opens on June 19.
Dwayne Johnson introduces the new Moana
Dwane Johnson helped close out the presentation to promote the live-action “Moana,” in which he reprises his role as Maui.
He said his character was inspired by his grandfather, holding up a picture of him on his phone, describing him as charismatic with a “wicked sense of humor” and a “one of a kind spirit.” He also loved to sing. Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” he said, was a favorite.
The new Moana, Catherine Laga’aia, also appeared on stage with Johnson.
“I grew up watching ‘Moana’ with my family,” she said. “I can’t believe I had this experience.”
A powerhouse studio at the box office
Disney releases dominated the box office in 2025 with nearly $2.5 billion in domestic ticket sales and $6.6 billion globally with hits like “Lilo & Stitch,””Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” A box office driver for many years, it’s fitting that Disney is closing CinemaCon.
Already this year, Disney has boosted the box office with its original Pixar hit “Hoppers,” which has made over $355 million globally to date. Kicking off the summer movie season, which begins the first weekend in May, is not a Marvel movie, however. It’s a legacy sequel from their 20th Century Studios: “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” Gird your loins.
Disney’s impact on the exhibition industry cannot be understated. Last year its releases made up over 27.5% of the annual domestic box office alone. The studio also has a 60-day exclusive theatrical window, the most robust in Hollywood.
The Walt Disney Co. is facing its own challenges too. On Tuesday, the company began mass layoffs in its ranks, expected to total around 1,000 with some of the cuts coming from the movie studio and its marketing department.
Orson Welles once said, “if you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.” And, so, for an exhibition industry that operates on small margins, and with the box office still down around 20% from its pre-pandemic norms, Disney is about as close as the conference can get to going out on a high note.
