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Sony rallies big-screen hopes with 'Spider-Man' and 'Ghostbusters' at CinemaCon

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Andrew Marszal, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Spider-Man" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/entertainment/08/24/20210824-spider-man.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption><em>Courtesy of Marvel</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>LAS VEGAS -- Spooked by the pandemic and streaming platforms, the embattled movie theater industry called on new &quot;Ghostbusters&quot; and &quot;Spider-Man&quot; films as it vowed to fight back at a major trade summit in Las Vegas Monday.</p><p>CinemaCon -- which typically sees Hollywood studios bring glitzy stars and never-before-seen footage to a Las Vegas casino to woo theater bosses -- did not take place at all last year as the pandemic shuttered cinemas around the world.</p><p>But with nearly 90 percent of domestic theaters now back open, Sony Pictures used its opening night presentation slot at Caesars Palace to set the tone for a returning event that is determined to prove the future of the big screen.</p><p>Studio bosses showed a new trailer for its much-anticipated &quot;Spider-Man: No Way Home&quot; superhero sequel, before previewing &quot;Ghostbusters: Afterlife&quot; -- a heavily nostalgic follow-up to the 1984 supernatural comedy classic -- in full to a rapturous crowd.</p><p>&quot;Over the last 19 months, there&#x27;s been a lot of doom and gloom,&quot; said Josh Greenstein, president of Sony&#x27;s motion pictures division.</p><p>&quot;But we know movie theaters, and the theatrical movie experience, will triumph,&quot; he added.</p><p>The presentation also squeezed in brief footage of &quot;Bullet Train&quot; starring Brad Pitt, and future superhero fare including a sequel to &quot;Venom,&quot; and &quot;Morbius.&quot;</p><p>Clips from Denzel Washington&#x27;s &quot;A Journal for Jordan&quot; and a movie adaptation of bestselling novel &quot;Where the Crawdads Sing&quot; produced by Reese Witherspoon were also shown, before a longer &quot;Spider-Man&quot; trailer teased how the film will tie in with other popular Marvel characters including Benedict Cumberbatch&#x27;s &quot;Doctor Strange.&quot;</p><p>Attendees then settled in for &quot;Ghostbusters: After Life,&quot; introduced by its director Jason Reitman and his father Ivan, who directed the original. </p><p>Plot details are under strict embargo, but the film, set almost 4 decades after the first movie, finds young descendants of the original&#x27;s wise-cracking ghoul hunters picking up the mantle -- and vacuum backpack.</p><div><strong>&#x27;NOT TOO BRIGHT&#x27;</strong></div><p>CinemaCon is taking place despite fears about the Delta variant that have caused some pandemic restrictions to be reimposed on Hollywood in California, and glitzy A-listers have largely stayed away from the Las Vegas event.</p><p>Organizers have forged ahead with COVID-19 protocols in place, including proof of vaccination or a recent negative test for attendees.</p><p>While Disney is largely absent, other traditional major Hollywood studios showing their wares this week include Warner, Universal and Paramount.</p><p>Each of those studios has experimented in some form during the pandemic with using streaming platforms to launch their movies -- an ever-growing concern for big-screen movie theater chains.</p><p>Sony, the only major Hollywood studio without its own streaming service, drew loud cheers with its &quot;commitment to preserving and protecting the exclusive theatrical window&quot; -- referring to the traditional time-period in which movies can initially only be shown in theaters.</p><p>&quot;Viewing movies simultaneously in theaters, and in the home, is devastating for our collective industry,&quot; said Greenstein.</p><p>Sony movies CEO Tom Rothman pointed to the recent success in movie theaters of &quot;Free Guy,&quot; a comedy from a rival Disney-owned studio.</p><p>While other recent releases have flopped, &quot;that film has done great business, because, number 1, it&#x27;s terrific, and number 2, you actually can&#x27;t watch it at home on television,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re not too bright out in Hollywood, but we&#x27;ll figure it out,&quot; he added.</p><p>CinemaCon runs until Thursday.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1740670" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Studio bosses showed a new trailer for its much-anticipated 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' superhero sequel, before previewing 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife'.

Sony rallies big-screen hopes with 'Spider-Man' and 'Ghostbusters' at CinemaCon

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Sony rallies big-screen hopes with 'Spider-Man' and 'Ghostbusters' at CinemaCon

Andrew Marszal,

Agence France-Presse

Published Aug 24, 2021 03:41 PM PHT

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