By George & Josh Bate
Fresh off the record-breaking and critically lauded Project Hail Mary, Amazon MGM Studios confidently approached its second CinemaCon 2026 with a commitment to theatrically released films and blend of original projects and established IP.
In a presentation headlined by Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, and head of theatrical distribution Kevin Wilson, the studio provided the crowd at Caesar’s Palace exclusive first looks at a number of its upcoming releases, including Masters of the Universe, The Thomas Crown Affair, I Play Rocky, Spaceballs: The Next One, and more.
Keep reading for a comprehensive breakdown of every reveal, announcement, preview, and first look during Amazon MGM Studios’ presentation at CinemaCon 2026.
The Thomas Crown Affair
Amazon MGM Studios’ presentation kicked off with an unexpected bang in the form of Michael B. Jordan’s The Thomas Crown Affair.
Jon Baptiste treated the crowd with an incredible performance, after which he was announced as the composer of the film.
Jordan, a recent Academy Award winner for his role in Sinners, is directing, producing, starring in, and (according to co-star Adria Arjona) even writing some of the remake of the iconic heist movie.
A world exclusive trailer for the film was presented to the CinemaCon crowd and previewed a movie that looks sleek, sexy, sophisticated, and superb. The tension, action, cinematography, and score all feel like they’re straight out of a Christopher Nolan movie. Jordan has definitely drawn inspiration from films like Tenet in crafting this film.
The footage showed plenty of steamy sexual tension between Jordan and Arjona’s characters. For those unfamiliar with the story, Jordan will play Thomas Crown, a billionaire who undertakes a daring art heist. Arjona will play an insurance investigator who begins to fall in love with Crown.
Kenneth Branagh features in the trailer as the film’s menacing villain. The tagline “Revenge is an Art” and dialogue from Jordan suggests that Crown is targeting Branagh’s character in a pursuit of vengeance.
The trailer concludes with a brilliant, Nolan-esque moment of an immaculately dressed Jordan using a rope to sprint up the exterior of a building. As he makes his way from the wall of the building to the roof, the camera re-orients and he leaps up, giving way to the film’s logo.
Michael B. Jordan was at CinemaCon to discuss his upcoming film. Jordan spoke about his fascination with The Thomas Crown Affair ever since seeing the Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo movie when he was 12 years old, stating, “I’ve been daydreaming about making this movie for years.”
His love for the film led him to discover Steve McQueen’s original, which imbued him with a newfound appreciation for the story and its characters.
Michael B. Jordan then welcomed co-star Adria Arjona on stage as “the newest addition to the DC family.” This is confirmation of recent trade reports that Arjona has been cast in James Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow as Maxima (although rumblings suggest she may be playing a certain iconic character known for wielding a lasso of truth).
Arjona spoke fondly on working with Jordan and gave him immense credit for overseeing every aspect of production. She joked about wearing a black suit, just like Jordan did, as being reflective of her character in the film always being one step ahead of her counterpart.
Jordan explained why he chose to cast Arjona in the role. He wanted someone who could go toe-to-toe with Crown but also believably seem like she is slowly falling in love with him.
The Thomas Crown Affair is in theaters March 5, 2027.
Masters of the Universe
Amazon MGM Studios will soon bring one of pop culture’s most beloved properties back to the big screen in the form of Masters of Universe.
Director Travis Knight and stars Nicholas Galitzine (wielding the sword of power) and Camila Mendes were at CinemaCon to talk about the movie.
The trio presented an exclusive scene from the movie, followed by a brand new extended trailer.
The trailer begins as Galitzine’s Adam is in the back of a cop car. A male and female police officer in the front of the car awkwardly joke about how handsome their detainee is before their car comes to a halt in a massive line of traffic.
4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up” slowly starts playing as the police officers exit the vehicle and investigate. Tons of people run in the other direction away from some unknown danger, which soon reveals itself as a massive hairy creature.
The creature is in pursuit of Adam and jumps on top of the vehicle. Adam uses his sword to break out of the cop car and flee, but he’s thrown around and beaten up by the creature.
Just in the nick of time, Camila Mendes’ Teela shows up to save Adam. Adam recognizes Teela from childhood.
The footage then transitioned to an extended trailer, depicting all sorts of fun spectacle. It’s refreshing to see a movie based on an established IP like this be unafraid and unashamed to embrace the more vibrant and even silly elements of its source material.
The plot will seemingly follow Adam as he is brought back to Eternia to save his home from the evil Skeletor. We get to hear more of Skeletor’s voice, and it becomes clear that the iconic villain is voiced by Jared Leto.
Overall, the footage looked fun and seems like it will effectively bring the world of He-Man to a new generation.
Masters of the Universe is in theaters June 5, 2026.
The Beekeeper 2
Jason Statham then appeared in a pre-recorded video to talk about his upcoming sequel to The Beekeeper.
Statham presented a first trailer exclusively to the crowd, which looks like a massive upgrade from the routine action film from the 2024 film.
The footage showcased Statham kicking all kinds of ass, in increasingly creative ways. One of the highlights of the trailer was Statham putting himself in a locker chamber to be stung by hundreds of bees in order to benefit from their healing properties. Another highlight capped the trailer off and showed Statham show an ignited flamethrower in the mouth of an enemy. Taking a page out of Arnie’s book of one-liners, Statham tells the man, “Don’t be so hot-headed.”
Timo Tjahjanto (Nobody 2) takes over directing duties from David Ayer and appears to bring a different kind of flair and style to the franchise.
The film co-stars Jeremy Irons and Pom Klementieff.
The Beekeeper 2 is in theaters January 15, 2027.
James Bond
Much speculation ahead of Amazon MGM Studios’ presentation surrounded the prospect of the studio announcing the new James Bond.
That was not the case, ultimately. The studio made it clear that it is taking its time to develop the film and cast Daniel Craig’s successor.
Denis Villeneuve, fresh off his work on Dune: Part Three, will direct the film from a screenplay by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight.
The upcoming James Bond does not currently have an official release date.
The Sheep Detectives
Hugh Jackman and Nicholas Braun were welcomed onto the The Dolby Colosseum stage to talk about their charming whodunit comedy The Sheep Detectives.
The two were later joined by He-Man himself Nicolas Galitizine, who joked that he’s “in all the movies.”
Jackman and Braun made tons of corny sheep puns, which were followed by loud “baas” from the Colosseum speakers.
Jackman made note that the film is written by Craig Malzin, head writer of Chernobyl and The Last of Us. The Sheep Detectives is a decidedly different task for the acclaimed screenwriter, although he does come from a background in comedy.
A new trailer for the film was shown and teased a lovely film that will appeal to children and adults alike. The footage shows Jackman’s sheep herder read murder mystery novels to his flock of sheep. The sheep then depart to discuss the intricacies of the mysteries together.
Their exposure to mystery novels comes in handy when Jackman’s character is killed and the sheep take it upon themselves to investigate the crime and uncover the identity of the murder.
Molly Gordon, Emma Thompson, and Hong Chau co-star. Bryan Cranston, Julia Louise-Dreyfus, Chris O’Dowd, and Regina Hall voice various sheep in the movie.
The Sheep Detectives in theaters on May 8, 2026.
A Colt Is My Passport
The Raid director Gareth Evans is back with another pulse-pounding action movie filled with action only he could oversee.
A Colt Is My Passport is a remake of the 1967 Japanese yakuza film and stars Sope Dirisu, Tim Roth, Jack Reynor, and Lucy Boynton.
A world exclusive first trailer for the movie was shown to CinemaCon attendees. Evans seems to heavily lean into noir and stylized visuals in the action film. Reynor’s antagonist appears in striking black and white. A particularly memorable shot shows our lead shoot a gun through a basketball being held by a child, with the camera tracking the bullet through the hole in the ball.
The story doesn’t seem to be particularly groundbreaking, although it’s certainly exciting to see an action filmmaker of the caliber of Evans helm a reimagining of an often overlooked classic of Japanese cinema.
A Colt Is My Passport does not currently have an official release date.
How to Rob a Bank
The Dolby Colosseum came alive with people driving motorcycles, music pumping, smoke flowing, and images flashing. All of this was in anticipation of David Leitch and Pete Davidson coming on stage to provide a world exclusive first look at their new movie How to Rob a Bank.
How to Rob a Bank follows a group of bank robbers who films their heists and posts them on social media for instructional purposes. The film stars Nicholas Hoult as the lead bank robber, who goes up against John C. Reilly’s law enforcement age and his reluctant collaborator played by Zoë Kravitz.
“The movie is totally fucking insane,” said Davidson.
Leitch described the movie as a modern day Robin Hood given that the characters in the film give some of their proceeds to the poor.
The trailer for the film was energetic, chaotic, and clearly intent on satirizing our social media-obsessed society. The tone seems frivolous, but with a dramatic undercurrent through Hoult’s motivation for committing all the robberies (i.e., getting back at the banks responsible for killing his son).
How to Rob a Bank co-stars Anna Sawai and Christian Slater. The film is produced by Brian Grazer.
How to Rob a Bank is in theaters on September 4, 2026.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
Mahershala Ali and director Bassam Tariq were then welcomed on stage to talk about their gritty, grounded new action movie Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.
Tariq and Ali spoke about their long-standing desire to work with one another, and that they finally found a project to work on in the form of Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.
Ali described feeling a palpable excitement upon reading the script for the first time, a sensation he said every actor wishes to experience.
A trailer for the film was shown to the CinemaCon crowd. A stark contrast to the more heightened and stylized The Beekeeper 2 and A Colt Is My Passport. Ali plays a devout family man and oil salesman who moonlights as a hitman. There appears to be more dramatic weight to the film compared to the average, generic action movie, largely due to Tariq’s serious approach to the material and the unparalleled caliber of Ali’s acting.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother does not currently have an official release date.
Verity
Colleen Hoover’s best-selling psychological thriller novel will soon be brought to the big screen by director Michael Showalter (The Big Sick, The Eyes of Tammy Faye).
The film stars Dakota Johnson as Lowen Ashleigh, a writer in need of work when she is contacted by Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett) Jeremy’s wife is bestselling author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) and due to a mysterious accident, she is unable to finish her successful book series. Jeremy asks Lowen to complete the series, and while working on it, she discovers a manuscript that raises questions regarding Verity’s psychological well being and possible links to her publications.
A trailer for the film was shown at CinemaCon. The movie looks like a twisty, pulpy female-led psychological thriller in the vain of The Housemaid and The Girl on the Train.
Verity is in theaters October 2, 2026.
Spaceballs: The Next One
The highly anticipated sequel to Mel Brooks’ classic parody movie was showcased at CinemaCon.
A video message from Dark Helmet himself began the showcase. He poked fun at the upcoming merger between Warner Bros. and Paramount.
On stage to discuss the film were director Josh Greenbaum and stars Josh Gad, Bill Pullman, Lewis Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, and the one and only Rick Moranis, who will make his first movie appearance in 30 years when the film hits theaters.
A running gag throughout the presentation had Moranis about to speak, only to be interrupted by the likes of Josh Gad and, via video messages, Keke Palmer and Mel Brooks.
A special look was presented to the CinemaCon crowd. The film seems to perfectly recapture the unique style of humor the original film became beloved for. There’s parodies of the Star Wars sequel trilogy and Avatar, the latter of which closes the footage out with a funny bit about how much the Navi urinate. Dark Helmet’s new helmet resembles Kylo Ren’s helmet from the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
Prior to the footage, a compilation of news reports and videos showed just how anticipated and speculated about a Spaceballs sequel is. John Campea and Grace Randolph appear in the footage.
At the end of the footage, the team on stage that the film is not titled Spaceballs 2, nor is it titled Spaceballs: The Search for More Money. Ultimately, they went for a more streamlined yet similarly satirical title: Spaceballs: The New One.
Spaceballs: The New One is in theaters April 23, 2027.
Highlander
Although only halfway through production currently, Chad Stahelski’s remake of Highlander also featured during Amazon MGM’s presentation.
A battle-worn and dirt-covered Henry Cavill appears in a pre-recorded video to talk about his excitement for the film and to preview a special early look.
The footage spliced together moments from the movie and behind the scenes interviews and footage. If it wasn’t abundantly clear already, Chad Stahelski and Highlander seem like a match made in heaven. The movie is drenched in unique lighting and a mood/tone reminiscent of the John Wick movies. Cavill seems like he was born to step into this franchise, while we hear Russell Crowe’s accent as Ramirez. Industry star Marisa Abela also appears in the footage, kicking tons of ass, and is interviewed about how demanding and rewarding the role was. Dave Bautista, meanwhile, appears with a distinctive wig in the footage as he takes on the role of The Kurgan.
We were incredibly impressed by the footage shown from Highlander, to say the least. Even as movie fans without particular reverence or nostalgia for the original movie, the CinemaCon reel propelled Stahelski’s upcoming film to among our most anticipated of next year.
Highlander does not currently have an official release date.
I Play Rocky
Last up for Amazon MGM Studios was I Play Rocky, a biographical drama depicting the tumultuous making of Rocky.
Director Peter Farrelly and stars Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone, Stephan James as Carl Weathers, AnnaSophie Robb, and Kiki Seto.
Exclusive footage from the film was shown to the CinemaCon crowd. Ippolito embodies the role of Sly with uncanny accuracy. He looks, sounds, and feels just like Stallone in every sense. There’s a few shots in the trailer that genuinely seem as if it’s a young Stallone, rather than Ippolito.
The movie has awards written all over it. The ultimate underdog story about the making of the ultimate underdog story. We wouldn’t bet against Ippolito snagging a Best Actor nom. The film’s Thanksgiving release date is also pitch perfect.
I Play Rocky is in theaters November 13, 2026.