The studio’s motion picture group chairman made his first on-stage appearance at the annual gathering of theater owners since rising to the top of the studio’s food chain.
Reflecting his current clout at the studio which has seen major change within its executive ranks over the past year, Warner Bros. picture group chairman Toby Emmerich took charge of the studio’s CinemaCon presentation for the first time ever when he appeared on stage at the exhibitor’s convention this afternoon.
Last year, Sue Kroll, then the studio’s president of worldwide marketing and distribution, was the top Warners executive on stage in Las Vegas, where Hollywood studios and theater owners meet up each year. But Kroll left the top job in January, with Blair Rich taking over as marketing chief, while on the distribution side, Ronald Sanders was named worldwide president of theatrical (he also heads up home entertainment).
“This is my first time addressing all of you at CinemaCon,” Emmerich said. “2017 was our best year ever with more than $5.1 billion at the global box office, led by Wonder Woman, It and Dunkirk.” It was also the first time on stage for domestic distribution president Jeff Goldstein, who joined Emmerich.
Emmerich’s boss, Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara wasn’t at CinemaCon this year — or last. And the convention comes as the Trump administration continues to battle in court to block AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner, the studio’s corporate parent.
But Emmerich, who ran Warner’s New Line unit before moving over to the studio proper in 2017, was ready to make the case for the studio, saying, “We pride ourselves on our varied slate. We love making all kinds of movies for all audiences. And that will continue to be our business plan going forward. The broad scope of our slate gives us an advantage. And we have built our reputation on being filmmaker-driven.”
He continued, “We’ve made some changes to the motion picture group and some of these names might be new to you. I believe our team is the best in the business.”
In keeping with tradition, the Warners presentation included a parade of stars tied to its upcoming movies, with Will Arnett serving as master of ceremonies. (Arnett and other talent had to deal with technical difficultlies, repeatedly noting that there was a bad echo when taking the stage inside The Colesseum theater at Caesars Palace).
Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling and Awkwafina appeared to promote their female-fronted heist pic, Ocean’s 8 (June 8), while Jeremy Renner, Ed Helms, Jon Hamm, Hannibal Buress, Isla Fisher, Annabelle Wallis and Leslie Bibb showed up for the comedy, Tag (June 15).
Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu joined Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan and other cast members to discuss that film, opening Aug. 17, which separately had an early screening in downtown Los Angeles on Monday.
Looking past summer, Eddie Redmayne was among the castmembers who introduced footage from Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Nov. 16).
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