Universal and Focus presented their upcoming slate full of blockbusters, sequels, auteur-driven films and more with a live orchestra on hand. Chairman of Universal Pictures Donna Langley took to the stage and immediately mentioned the studio has released 65 films to theaters since the pandemic hit, more than any other studio, however, she did not mention theatrical windows. Universal’s theatrical windows are the shortest of all the major studios between drops on PVOD and their streaming platform, Peacock. 

Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and director Gareth Edwards were up first to present footage of Jurassic World: Rebirth. Johansson spoke at length about her lifelong desire to be in a Jurassic film and how thrilled she was to finally be in one. Edwards joked about what a relief it was Steven Spielberg wasn’t available to direct this installment and that as a child he spent many years watching the original film over and over. The new trailer shown was definitely a call back to the original terror of the first film with the ‘worst’ of the original experiments shown with the dinosaurs wreaking havoc.

Jurassic World: Rebirth will be in theaters this summer, July 2^nd.

As a mother of a toddler, I’m well aware of the dominating Gabby’s Dollhouse and the next film presented was Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie. The film is a mix of live-action and animation with a pink Golden Gate Bridge, Gloria Estefan and Kristen Wiig bringing Gabby’s world to the big screen. The film will definitely appear overwhelming if you’re not aware of the hit children’s program but for anyone with anyone under 10 years old in their life, you know this will be a dominating title and huge success to the kids. The Bad Guys 2 was up next with Awkafina and Craig Robinson on hand to present a trailer of the titular bad guys being brought back into a life of crime. They ended their animation presentation with confirmation on The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2, Minions 3, and Shrek 5 all dated for 2026, but no look or peak at them. Earlier that same day, CinemaCon attendees were treated to the first screening of the live action remake of How to Train Your Dragon. At the Universal presentation director Dean Deblois, Gerard Butler, and Nico Parker all came out to announce that the sequel live action film will hit theaters in 2027. 

Horror at Universal has always been a big genre and 2025 through early 2026 will continue their commitment to the genre. Him, produced by Jordan Peele, is a sports horror film directed by Justin Tipping and stars Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers. Him follows an up-and-comer quarterback (withers) who is mentored by an aging player (Wayans). The film looks like a new entry in the Black Swan and Whiplash genre of doing anything in the name of perfectionism. With an intense score, what appears to be some shots in infrared and tons of blood, Him looks like a horrific time at the movie theater (complimentary). Up next in their horror presentation, Universal brought out Jason Blum (in costume) to drop the trailer for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. The first film was a day-and-day release on Peacock; however, the second installment will be exclusive in theaters on December 5^th. 

M3GAN 2.0 was up next with a presentation kicked off with 30 M3GANs dancing to ‘Oops I Did it Again’ by Britney Spears, a song featured heavily in the trailer. The trailers for both Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and M3GAN 2.0 were both immediately dropped online, showing some confidence by the studio in both. The first trailer was dropped for The Black Phone 2, which is much bloodier and leaning far more into the supernatural aspects than the first one.  Following three sequels being pushed, James Wan joined Blum on stage to drop the first trailer for SOULM8TE, which releases in January. SOULM8TE is very similar to this year’s Companion but seems much more male driven. 

Up next was my most anticipated segment of the presentation, Focus Features Chairman Peter Kujawski was on hand to discuss their upcoming slate and how the specialty sector pollinates the film business, but it’s movie theaters that help audiences find resonance in those stories. Focus has always been a filmmaker driven studio and this year is no different. With established filmmakers, from Academy Award Winner Chloé Zhao to Wes Anderson to Ethan Coen to Yorgos Lanthimos and newcomer Ronan Day-Lewis. While Zhao’s Hamnet, Coen’s Honey Don’t and Anemone, the return of Daniel Day-Lewis, were all mentioned, no footage was shown. The trailer for the finale of a beloved franchise, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, was showcased and displayed the massive worldbuilding and goodbye to the familiar world. Up next was a look at Anderson’s latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, which stars an all-star cast full of his regulars, with Benicio del Toro as the lead, where he’s an international businessman who has a close call with death and is managing his affairs. The production design, score, costume design and editing all are peak Anderson and we’re in for a great treat when it hits the big screen on May 30^th. One of the highlights of the entire week of CinemaCon for me was the teaser for Bugonia, the latest film from Lanthimos. Bugonia reunites Lanthimos with Academy Award Winner Emma Stone and Academy Award Nominee Jesse Plemons. While we were only shown a brief teaser, the film stars Stone as a powerful executive who is kidnapped by a conspiracy theorist (Plemons) who believes she is an alien. Lanthimos’ take on the loose remake of Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 sci-fi satire Save the Green Planet is written by “Will Tracy (The Menu) and produced by Ari Aster. The brief footage shown was of a honeybee pollinating flowers, which Plemons’ character in a voiceover uses as a metaphor about how if pollen isn’t gathered, the flock dies. The footage shows him tackling Stone before she is restrained and has her head shaved. Bugonia will hit theaters in November. 

Before ending their presentation, both Steven Spielberg’s upcoming UFO film and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey were mentioned as can’t miss films from Universal. The studio is clearly very excited to have both filmmakers in their 2026 slate. Their presentation ended on the same note as the last two Universal CinemaCon presentations, with Jon M. Chu, Academy Award nominee Ariana Grande, and Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo on hand to present a debut Wicked trailer. The team described the film as one that asks audiences go deeper and that it will astonish people. The footage shown gave us a look at Glinda and Fiyero’s golden wedding, the famous four from The Wizard of Oz, and a reunion between Glinda and Elphaba. “For Good” was the song used throughout the trailer and gave us both ladies singing. The trailer didn’t showcase too much as we all know everyone will be seated but rest assured, this will be another press tour for the ages as both ladies are eager to talk all about the wonderful world of Oz again. Wicked: For Good will be in theaters exclusively on November 21^st. 

Follow us along on Twitter for live coverage throughout the CinemaCon presentations the rest of the week, both at @kenzvanunu and @offscrncentral.