By George & Josh Bate
After a gravity defying 2024, Universal Pictures proudly presented their slate of upcoming movies at CinemaCon 2025. Alongside Focus Features, the oldest surviving movie studio in the U.S. offered exclusive looks at Wicked: For Good, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, Jurassic World: Rebirth, M3GAN 2.0. and more.
Below you’ll find a comprehensive overview of Universal Pictures and Focus Features’ CinemaCon 2025 presentation….
Universal Pictures had a live orchestra conduct music throughout their presentation. The orchestra, conducted by renowned musical director Rickey Minor, was a highlight of the presentation and added immensely to the emotions elicited from the footage shown. To begin the presentation, Minor conducted a 10 minute piece covering a variety of iconic musical themes from Universal’s library, including E.T., Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, How to Train Your Dragon, Psycho, Jaws, Fast & Furious, Despicable Me, Shrek, Oppenheimer, Conclave and Wicked.
Jurassic World Rebirth
First up for Universal was Jurassic World Rebirth. Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and director Gareth Edwards were present at CinemaCon to discuss the new film.
Beyond the overly-scripted lines from the trio on stage, the Jurassic World Rebirth presentation was among the best of Universal’s presentation.
Scarlett Johansson spoke about how she has wanted to be in a Jurassic Park movie all her life, actively pursuing the opportunity for the past 20 years. Johansson revealed that she got the role in Jurassic World Rebirth after directly calling Steven Spielberg. Johansson even offered to play a character who gets killed in the first five minutes before she was offered the starring role.
Mahershala Ali discussed the demands of shooting in Thailand as Edwards requested that he traverse rivers with snakes. “There’s no f’n way I’m doing that,” Ali said, before Edwards responded, “Which is why we shot Jonathan Bailey’s scenes first.”
Johansson revealed that the team “wanted to put the scares back in Jurassic,” something that was abundantly evident through the trailer that was presented exclusively to the CinemaCon crowd. The footage certainly looks scarier and darker than anything we’ve seen in the Jurassic Park franchise to date. “We wanted to put the scares back into Jurassic, keep the dinosaurs hidden, you turn around no one really sees them,” Johansson said.
Gareth Edwards spoke of his adoration for Jurassic Park dating back to childhood. “I suffered from a rare condition in childhood where I was compelled to watch Jurassic Park ten times a year,” he said.
Jurassic World Rebirth hits theaters July 2, 2025.
Gabby’s Adventure: The Movie
Next up for Universal was Gabby’s Adventure: The Movie. A successor to the popular Netflix series, the film hits theaters on September 26, 2025.
Gloria Estephan plays the titular character, while Kristen Wiig plays a crazy cat lady who steals Gabby’s dollhouse.
A trailer demonstrating the film’s hybrid live-action and animation approach was shown to the crowd.
Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie hits theaters on September 26, 2025.
The Bad Guys 2
Awkwafina (holding a stuffed animal spider) and Craig Robinson (holding an inflatable shark) arrived on stage to discuss The Bad Guys 2.
After joking about the absence of their cast members Sam Rockwell, Anthony Ramos, and Marc Maron due to them being banned from Vegas, the comedic duo spoke about the new film.
Craig Robinson enthusiastically said, “We’ve got a legit franchise now, baby!” before throwing the inflatable shark to a member of the audience.
Awkwafina and Robinson presented a trailer from the sequel. The footage shows the Bad Guys team up with the Bad Girls (voiced by Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, and Maria Bakalova) for a big heist billed as “one last job.” But the Bad Guys have turned good so they decide to sabotage the heist.
The Bad Guys 2 hits theaters on August 1, 2025.
How to Train Your Dragon
After screening the live-action How to Train Your Dragon to the CinemaCon crowd over two months before the film’s theatrical release, Gerard Butler, Nico Parker, and director Dean DeBlois returned to the Caesar’s Palace stage to announce How to Train Your Dragon 2. The live-action sequel hits theaters on June 11, 2027.
We had a chance to catch an exclusive early screening of the live-action How to Train Your Dragon at CinemaCon. Check our our reaction below….
Him
Easily the standout of Universal’s presentation was Him. The new horror film from producer Jordan Peele and director Justin Tipping was previewed by stars Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers in-person at CinemaCon. Withers plays Benny Mathis, a college football player who experiences a traumatic brain injury while playing. In the aftermath of the injury, Mathis’ idol and NFL legend Connor Dane (played by Marlon Wayans) takes Mathis under his wing and takes him on a blood-chilling journey into the inner sanctum of fame, power, and the pursuit of excellence at any cost.
The trailer sets up the movie well, not revealing much other than the initial premise. The film seems to be very hallucinogenic, featuring a variety of visions and disturbing imagery. One of the world’s best comedian Tim Heidecker briefly appears in the trailer during one of these hallucinogenic, marking another horror collaboration between Heidecker and Jordan Peele.
Withers told the audience that they have never seen Wayans like this before, and the trailer certainly backs that statement up. For as talented of a comedian Wayans is, it is nice to see him take a darker role here.
The trailer features lots of shouting, primarily by Wayans directed at Withers. If anything can be gleaned from the trailer, it is that Him looks to be a decidedly different horror movie than anything we’ve seen before. Sports and horror rarely, if ever, intersect, making Him standout even further.
Him hits theaters September 19, 2025.
Nobody 2
The first trailer for Nobody 2 was presented exclusively to CinemaCon attendees. The sequel to the 2021 action film starring Bob Odenkirk feels like National Lampoon’s Vacation meets John Wick.
The trailer begins by showing Odenkirk’s mild-mannered family man Hutch Mansell take out a bunch of guys in an elevator, before declaring to his wife (played by Connie Nielsen) that he is finished with his life as an assassin.
To mark this occasion, Hutch takes his family on a vacation to a place very much like Walley World. While enjoying themselves at an arcade, the family butts heads with some aggressive security guards, one of whom slaps Hutch’s daughter on the back of the head. After initially walking away, Hutch turns back and lets his violent side get the better of the men, disposing of them with a claw from a claw machine, amongst other deadly items in the arcade.
Little does Hutch know that he has just engaged with members of a brutal mob, who have the local town’s police in their pocket. The mob, led by Sharon Stone, and the police, led by Colin Hanks, relentlessly pursue Hutch and his family, once again dragging this nobody back into a life of killing.
Nobody 2 hits theaters August 15, 2025.
The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson’s next film was presented as part of the Focus Features’ portion of the presentation. A trailer was shown exclusively to the CinemaCon crowd, previewing an espionage thriller about a wealthy man recruiting his nun daughter for the biggest assignment of his life. The ensemble cast includes Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Bryan Cranston, Tom Hanks, Riz Ahmed, Scarlett Johansson, Rupert Friend, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Jeffrey Wright.
The Phoenician Scheme hits theaters May 30, 2025.
Bugonia
A brief trailer for the latest collaboration between Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone was displayed to CinemaCon crowd. The trailer was arguably the most abstract and unusual material shown during Universal’s presentation. The brief footage features a voiceover from Jesse Plemons, who discusses the importance of bees to humanity’s survival. Plemons’ character then kidnaps Emma Stone’s character and shaves her head, before the trailer cuts to black.
The film is about two conspiracy obsessed young men who kidnap the hip-powered CEO of a pharmaceutical company as they are convinced she is an alien determined to destroy Earth (likely by obliterating the bee population).
Bugonia hits theaters on November 7, 2025.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
The purported final installment in the long-running Downton Abbey series hits theaters on September 12, 2025. The trailer previews a dramatic goodbye to Downton Abbey.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale hits theaters on September 12, 2025.
Five Nights At Freddy’s 2
Jason Blum arrived onto the CinemaCon stage dressed as Freddy Fazbear. This continues a tradition of dressing up as all sorts of characters for Blum.
Blum previewed Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 by saying that it “will explore even deeper the mysteries of these homicidal PG-13 animatronics.”
A special look at Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 was presented to the crowd and can be seen below….
Five Night’s At Freddy’s 2 hits theaters December 5, 2025.
Black Phone 2
Blum remained on stage and was joined by actress Madeleine McGraw to discuss the sequel to 2021’s horror smash hit The Black Phone.
Blum said that the film is even scarier than the first, while McGraw joked that, while it was not scary to make the film, watching it is terrifying.
McGraw spoke of a conversation she had with director Scott Derrickson about the fact that he has never made a sequel before. Derrickson broke this trend with Black Phone 2 after he arrived upon a creative direction to take the story in.
A trailer for Black Phone 2 was shown to the CinemaCon crowd and re-introduced audiences to Ethan Hawke’s The Grabber. Now living in a snowy and isolated part of the U.S., siblings Finney (played by Mason Thames) and Gwen (played by Madeleine McGraw) are trying to recover from the horrific events of the first film when The Grabber returns to seek revenge. The trailer features all sorts of low quality, grainy footage reminiscent of Scott Derrickson’s work on Sinister. While the trailer featured plenty of harrowing visuals and jump scares, it didn’t do much to stand out. However, Derrickson is an incredible director, especially when he works within the horror genre.
Black Phone 2 hits theaters on October 17, 2025.
M3GAN 2.0
Thirty performers dressed as M3GAN came onto the CinemaCon stage and danced to “Oops! I Did It Again” by Britney Spears. Black Phone 2 star Madeleine McGraw’s sister Violet McGraw played the killer robot doll in the first film and reprises her role in the new film. Madeleine welcomed her sister Violet to the stage, who introduced the audience to a trailer for M3GAN 2.0.
The trailer shows that, since the events of the first film, M3GAN’s intelligence has been trapped inside the body of a harmless plastic display. When a new high-tech robotic intelligence (played by Ahsoka’s Ivanna Sakhno) escapes and starts causing mayhem, Allison Williams’ Gemma and Violet McGraw’s Cady decide to put M3GAN’s intelligence back into her old body in order to take down this new threat.
The trailer definitely has a campy blend of horror and humor, much like the original film. Sakhno’s character seems to add a spin to the proceedings and puts M3GAN in the novel position as a good guy.
The trailer for M3GAN 2.0 was later released to the public and can be seen below….
M3GAN 2.0 hits theaters on June 27, 2025.
SOULM8TE
The success of M3GAN has led producers James Wan and Jason Blum to commission a spin-off movie titled SOULM8TE. Wan was at CinemaCon to preview the film, which he described as like an adult M3GAN.
The trailer shown depicts a man (played by David Dysdahl) buying a companion robot (played by Lily Sullivan). Over time, the companion robot grows to love the man to such an extent that she becomes jealous and violent when another woman (played by Claudia Doumit) comes on the scene.
Releasing less than one year after Companion, comparisons to the other robot companion movie seem inevitable for SOULM8TE, although it is clear from the trailer than this sci-fi erotic thriller is leaning into the fun and sexiness of the story more than the 2025 film.
SOULM8TE hits theaters on January 2, 2026.
The Super Mario Bros. 2
There was no way Universal’s higher ups were not going to mention The Super Mario Bros. 2 during their presentation. A sequel to the $1.3 billion grosser was inevitable and, while the first film left a bit to be desired, there are so many great tales to tell with Mario, Luigi, and more.
No footage from The Super Mario Bros. 2 was unveiled.
The Super Mario Bros. 2 hits theaters on April 3, 2026.
Minions 3
Universal’s Jim Orr also spoke of Minions 3. After Minions: The Rise of Gru released in 2022, the door was left open for the Minions to return and, given the immense box office success of this franchise, a return was bound to happen.
Like the Mario sequel, no footage from Minions 3 was screened to the CinemaCon crowd.
Minions 3 hits theaters on July 1, 2026.
Shrek 5
Another animated sequel that is part of a multi-billion dollar franchise was also discussed at CinemaCon. Universal were proud to boast that Zendaya has joined returning titans Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz for the new film.
Shrek 5 hits theaters December 23, 2026.
Steven Spielberg’s upcoming movie
Universal Pictures announced that a new movie from Steven Spielberg is currently in production. It was described as “a return to form in the spirit of his monumental classics.”
Spielberg’s next movie, which is rumored to involve UFOs, hits theaters on June 12, 2026.
The Odyssey
The most anticipated film in Universal’s slate is The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of the epic poem. Universal president Jim Orr said that Nolan’s The Odyssey “would make Homer himself proud.”
The Odyssey hits theaters July 17, 2026.
Wicked: For Good
For the third year in a row, Wicked closed out Universal Pictures’ CinemaCon presentation.
To discuss the film, stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, producer Marc Platt, and director Jon M. Chu were all in attendance.
Alluding to the notorious promotional campaign for Wicked, Erivo promised that there will be “less waterworks” on the promotional tour for the film, while Grande assured the crowd that she will “pack her tissues” ahead of time.
The first trailer for Wicked: For Good was screened exclusively to the CinemaCon crowd and left quite the impression. Elphaba writes ‘The Wizard of Oz Lies!’ in the sky and there were first looks at Dorothy, the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Scarecrow.
Members of the audience were roaring with cheers and crying after the trailer concluded, a reaction seldom seen from a trailer alone.
Wicked: For Good hits theaters on November 21, 2025.