By George & Josh Bate
On the second day of CinemaCon 2025, Lionsgate blew the roof off the house with a slate of exciting releases culminating in an epic concert described by Lionsgate head Adam Fogelson as a “religious” experience.
Below you’ll find a comprehensive overview to the entire Lionsgate presentation at CinemaCon 2025….
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
Kicking off the presentation was an in-depth look at Ballerina, the new John Wick spin-off film starring Ana de Armas. Billed as “an extended look,” the exclusive preview began as a trailer repeating many of the beats of the previously released trailer before transitioning to a full scene from the movie.
The scene takes place in a quaint cafe / restaurant, seemingly in a snowy European country. Ana de Armas’ Eve Macarro enters the cafe and orders a coffee when a man (played by veteran stunt coordinator and actor Daniel Bernhardt) enters. Detecting something deadly is about to go down, a mother and her young child quickly exit the cafe before de Armas and Bernhardt’s characters start shooting at one another.
The scene continues as the two brutally battle across the restaurant. The fight involved all sorts of intricate choreography reminiscent of action from the four John Wick movies. Eventually, de Armas’ character is able to defeat Bernhardt when she breaks his arm over a booth and then shoots him three times, with the last bullet hitting him straight in the head.
After finishing off Bernhardt, de Armas’ Eve walks up to the second floor of the cafe. While there, she encounters a seemingly harmless cook holding a knife. Eve assures the woman that she won’t hurt here, but the woman quickly shows her true intentions by attacking Eve. The two engage in a brutal battle across a kitchen setting. The highlight of the fight and the footage more broadly came about as Eve pushes a cart at the woman, knocking her over. On the cart are numerous plates that crash onto the ground. The two women then proceed to smash plate after plate after plate against one another, an action sequence with the perfect blend of brutality and levity that the John Wick franchise has developed a reputation for. Eventually, Eve gets her hands on a pistol and shoots at the woman, who retreats into a storage freezer.
The Ballerina footage then continued as a trailer. Lots of Ana de Armas kicking ass was showcased, but the prominent presence of Keanu Reeves was the standout. Many believed that Reeves’ appearance as John Wick in the spin-off film would be little more than a cameo, although his role seems to be more substantial. Wick and Eve share several dialogue scenes, including one in which Eve questions when Wick will get out of the business. Eventually, Wick is shown to be targeting Eve and the two engage in a battle with firearms.
Ana de Armas and director Len Wiseman were present at CinemaCon to discuss Ballerina. de Armas said that working on the film was “the most physically demanding challenge” she’s ever experienced, surpassing the demands of working on the James Bond film No Time to Die. de Armas trained for 4-5 hours per day for 3.5-4 months for the role and became proficient in fight choreography, strength training, and marksmanship.
Director Len Wiseman spoke about the quality he loves most about the John Wick franchise. Wiseman explained that he loves the unpredictability of the action sequences, such that the audience never knows what will come next. “The thing I love about the series is the kind of reverence and importance it puts on the cleverness and wit of the action,” Wiseman said. “Right when you go for your popcorn, that’s when we abuse you.”
To accompany the new footage of Ballerina at CinemaCon, Lionsgate opened The John Wick Experience in Las Vegas. We had a chance to attend The John Wick Experience and found it to be an immensely entertaining and immersive opportunity. The Continental Hotel was entirely recreated with incredible detail. Drinks and food were offered. Actors playing members of the hotel (manager, tailor, gunsmith, switchboard operator, etc.) walked us through key parts of a John Wick movie, including picking guns, choosing a suit, training on a shooting range, and avoiding incoming bad guys out to get us for assisting John Wick.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina hits theaters on June 6, 2025
The Long Walk
Next up during Lionsgate’s presentation was The Long Walk. The adaptation of the Stephen King novel is directed by The Hunger Games veteran Francis Lawrence.
The Long Walk was described as “Misery meets The Hunger Games,” and the footage shown certainly lived up to that billing.
In addition to director Lawrence, stars David Jonsson and Mark Hamill were in attendance to talk about the film. Hamill, who is the recipient of this year’s Cinema Icon Award, will play the antagonist in The Long Walk. Hamill described the experience of playing a villain. “As the antagonist, none of these young actors wanted to meet me, because they stayed in character.”
The endearing and humble Daniel Jonsson, who earned praise for his role in Alien: Romulus, stars in the film and spoke of how close he and his co-stars, including Cooper Hoffman, became while working on the “intense” film. In a humorous moment, Hamill joked, “I’ve never worked with facehuggers. That’s on my bucket list.”
The footage shown from The Long Walk was easily the most intense screened during Lionsgate’s CinemaCon presentation. The footage introduces the audience to a rather simple premise: a group of men are directed to walk on a road and not drop below a certain speed. If you stop or fall below this speed, after several warnings, you are killed. The last person alive wins. Mark Hamill appears to be a terrifying villain from the footage shown, more understated than his villainous turn as The Joker. The footage concluded with a harrowing shot of a person waking with one foot mangled and an ankle broken.
The Long Walk hits theaters on September 12, 2025.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Francis Lawrence remained on stage to discuss the next installment in The Hunger Games franchise. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping begins shooting this July and will hit theaters in November 2026.
An animated logo for the film was revealed to the crowd and can be seen here.
After the presentation, attendees were given free copies of Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, which hit bookshelves last month.
John Wick 5
Ballerina was far from the only news about the John Wick franchise. Lionsgate announced that John Wick 5 is officially in development after Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski “landed on an idea.”
Animated John Wick prequel
An animated prequel to John Wick set before the events of the first film was also announced. The prequel will depict “the impossible task” Wick undertakes that is referenced in the first film.
Caine
Donnie Yen will star in and direct a John Wick spin-off movie about his character Caine. Yen first played the blind assassin in John Wick: Chapter 4 and quickly became a fan favorite.
The Caine spin-off film begins shooting this summer.
Good Fortune
A new trailer for Good Fortune was presented during Lionsgate’s panel at CinemaCon. Good Fortune comes from writer, director, and star Aziz Ansari and is about an angel named Gabriel (played by Keanu Reeves) who attempts to show a struggling man (Ansari) that money doesn’t solve one’s problems by body swapping him with his wealthy employer (played by Seth Rogen). Gabriel fails, however, in that Ansari’s character soon realizes just how much easier life gets with a bit of money.
Good Fortune hits theaters on October 17, 2025.
Now You See Me Now You Don’t
A third installment in the Now You See Me franchise was unveiled at CinemaCon. Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, and Morgan Freeman will reprise their roles, while Ariana Greenblatt, Dominic Sessa, and Justice Smith join the cast.
Venom and Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer was present at CinemaCon to discuss the new film, which is aptly titled Now You See Me Now You Don’t. Fleisher spoke of his love for the previous two films and his joy at getting to work with Eisenberg and Harrelson again after the trio made the two Zombieland movies together.
Fleischer said that Now You See Me Now You Don’t will feature “globe trotting,…practical in-camera magic,” and a big final act twist.
A trailer for Now You See Me Now You Don’t was presented to the CinemaCon crowd. Based on the footage, it seems this third installment will very much mirrors its predecessors tonally and narratively. There are all sorts of quick maneuvers, sleight of hand, and clever fight sequences. Jesse Eisenberg’s Atlas tells a new trio of Greenblatt, Sessa, and Smith that the other Horsemen are dead. No, they are not actually dead. They are just dead to him as they have moved on from a life of magic. In one of the trailer’s more shocking moments, Isla Fisher’s Henley Reeves can be seen drowning in a tank. Some may know that Fisher nearly drowned during filming of the first film when a safety mechanism malfunctioned and trapped her in an underwater tank.
Lionsgate are so impressed with what they’ve seen from Now You See Me Now You Don’t that they’ve already commissioned a fourth film in the franchise.
Now You See Me Now You Don’t hits theaters on November 14, 2025.
Power Ballad
John Carney, the director of Once and Sing Street, is helming a new drama comedy starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas called Power Ballad.
A trailer was shown to the CinemaCon crowd, which revealed details of the plot. Rudd plays a wedding singer and aging aspiring musician, who meets Nick Jonas’ struggling former boy band singer at a wedding. The two hit it off and become fast friends, with Jonas’ character taking a particular liking to a song Rudd’s character comes up with on the spot. One day later, Rudd’s character is walking around a mall when he hears Jonas’ character singing that very song on the radio. Angered that his song has been stolen from him, Rudd pursues legal action against Jonas, tries to win the support of his family, and eventually makes a trip from Ireland to L.A. to confront Jonas. The trailer was a lot of fun, although it seemed to feature far too much footage from the film.
Power Ballad hits theaters on September 11, 2025.
The Housemaid
Paul Feig, Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, and Brandon Sklenar were all in attendance at CinemaCon to discuss their upcoming psychological thriller The Housemaid. Based on the book of the same name by Freida McFadden, The Housemaid sees Feig dabble in the genre he loves the most – thrillers. Feig said that he doesn’t watch many comedies in his free time as he is often occupied by thrillers.
Sydney Sweeney discussed that she was drawn to The Housemaid as she is a big reader and, once she picked McFadden’s novel up, it was difficult to stop reading. “I couldn’t put it down,” Sweeney said. “I ended up reading all three in one week…I love fucked up characters who make you question your own morals.”
Sweeney bonded with star Amanda Seyfried on the set of the film, as evidenced by an on-set video of the two singing a song from Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again together.
Seyfried spoke glowingly of her work on the film and said that they were allowed to exercise their creativity on set. “We created some wacky shit,” Seyfried said.
Brandon Sklenar also spoke of his work on The Housemaid. “We took it to 11,” he said. “We spinal tapped it…[My character] Andrew is pretty fucking unhinged.”
A first trailer for the film that Feig described as “a big hit” was presented to the CinemaCon crowd. The trailer definitely had a flavor of A Simple Favor to it, which makes since given that was a film also directed by Feig. The trailer shows Amanda Seyfried’s character Nina hire Sydney Sweeney’s Millie as a housemaid for their family. Not much is revealed of the plot of the movie, but fans of the book will know that things definitely get out of hand.
During the presentation of The Housemaid, Lionsgate announced that Paul Feig has signed a first-look deal with the studio.
The Housemaid hits theaters on December 25, 2025.
Hurry Up Tomorrow
The Lionsgate presentation closed out with Hurry Up Tomorrow. The new film directed, co-written, and edited by Trey Edward Shults (Waves, It Comes At Night) hits theaters on May 16, 2025 and is a companion piece to Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s album of the same name.
Shults described the film as unlike anything that has ever been made (quite the ambitious statement). He elaborated that it is “a singular, visceral cinematic experience. I think it is very soulful.”
Jenna Ortega, who also stars in the movie, accompanied Shults on stage to discuss Hurry Up Tomorrow. Ortega said that she joined the project after she received an email with the script and was drawn to a scene that reminded her of the horror classic Possession. Ortega initially thought that she was up for the role of a side character, before being pleasantly surprised that she was offered the role of the co-lead.
A new trailer for Hurry Up Tomorrow as presence to the CinemaCon crowd and can be seen below….
After the trailer, Lionsgate concluded their presentation in resounding fashion with a live performance from The Weeknd. The CinemaCon crowd went wild as The Weeknd, backed by a full band, delivered an incredible and immersive performance that Lionsgate head Adam Fogelson said was akin to a “religious” experience for him.
Hurry Up Tomorrow hits theaters on May 16, 2025.