The Big Picture · Discussion · Roundtable
April 17, 2026/ 120 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Matt Belloni
Sean, Amanda, and Matt Belloni report back from three days at CinemaCon: the Sphere's re-cut 'Wizard of Oz,' Disney's 'Infinity Vision' answer to IMAX, the windows détente, and the year Hollywood went all-in on video games. Then each host ranks their most-anticipated movies out of the trade show, five apiece.
18 films across 3 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Our trip to the Spherethe re-cut 'Wizard of Oz' as tourist attraction
Belloni got them in to see the Sphere's version, a 240-degree ScreenX-plus-4DX re-cut of the 85-year-old film. The tornado sequence, all blown leaves and haptics, is the set piece worth the ticket; the rest is AI-upscaled and awkwardly edited, with Dorothy's feet floating above a too-yellow brick road. Verdict: a stunt that works as a stunt, better suited to films made for the room than classics chopped down to fit it.
The tentpoles and the state of the businessthe mood, the windows, and the video-game era
The Russos' Doom movie closed Disney's presentation and drew the loudest (and most skeptical) response. Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom, Chris Evans back as Steve Rogers catching the hammer, a full roster of Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Black Panther characters. Effective for the locked-in, but the hosts found it cynical and ugly, the industry story of the year against 'Dune 3' on the same December 18 date.
Sean's favorite reveal of the Disney block: instead of a big set piece, they showed a college-party scene. Tom Holland's Peter is starting over, MJ has moved on, no one remembers him. Destin Daniel Cretton directs. The grounded character beat sold Sean more than any spectacle.
Spielberg's summer alien movie, discussed after he took the MPA's one-time American 250 Award and sat with Colman Domingo. A new trailer with a late reveal calmed the hosts after a weak first one, but Sean's worry stands: Josh O'Connor and Emily Blunt aren't A-list enough to make it feel as big as it should.
The 15 most anticipated five apiece from Sean, Amanda, and Matt
Her No. 1. Back in the Nolan club after the Trojan Horse sequence: hundreds of men hauling the horse ashore, swords-and-sandals siege warfare that 'looks real.' Matt Damon leads a cast of every movie star alive.
Her No. 2 (Sean's and Matt's No. 1). Villeneuve showed the first seven minutes, 'Saving Private Ryan in space.' Javier Bardem leading an army, a gun unlike any other, the room mesmerized eight months out.
Her No. 3. Michael B. Jordan directs and stars, opposite Adria Arjona (who replaced Taylor Russell). Amazon's centerpiece, March 2027; one of Amanda's sacred 1999 texts, the action expanded toward 'Tenet.'
Part of her No. 4 trio. Will Gluck rom-com with Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner; the premise is two people meeting on the one night a year premarital sex is legal, which the trailer mostly hides.
Part of her No. 4 trio. Michael Showalter's Colleen Hoover adaptation with Anne Hathaway, Josh Hartnett, and Dakota Johnson; more 'What Lies Beneath' spooky thriller than the usual Hoover fare.
Part of her No. 4 trio. Blumhouse, from Rob Savage ('Host'). Jessica Chastain plays a woman and the evil clone that invades her home, 'Single White Female' but supernatural.
Her No. 5. Chris Meledandri's Illumination movie about the minions and the birth of cinema, pitched as 'Singin' in the Rain' with minions, right down to a Babylon riff. Amanda is fully in the Babylon hive.
The primary pick of his No. 3 trio. Zach Cregger's follow-up to 'Weapons,' described as a 'Mad Max: Fury Road' run through a zombie apocalypse with Austin Abrams; a launch point rather than a faithful game adaptation.
Part of his No. 3 trio, and his birthday movie (July 24). Gross enough that Amanda checked out and played Words With Friends; Sam Raimi producing, on the heels of the last film's business.
Part of his No. 3 trio. A 20th film adapted from the novel: a scuba diver caught inside a whale, fighting a squid to get out. Brian Duffield directs and confirmed on Instagram that there is gravity inside the whale.
His No. 4. Na Hong-jin's ('The Wailing') first film in a decade, closing the Neon presentation: a post-apocalyptic action movie set in Korea with Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. The footage was 'just fucking sick.'
His No. 5, and a sacred childhood totem. Rick Moranis returns to acting after 30 years; Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, and Louis Pullman are in; Josh Greenbaum directs, Josh Gad writes with Mel Brooks. The promo material actually landed.
His No. 5. Aaron Sorkin writes and directs the 'Social Network' follow-up, with Jeremy Strong as a mimicry-level Zuckerberg (Oscar or Razzie, no in-between), Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison on the whistleblower track, Alexandre Desplat scoring instead of Reznor and Ross.
His No. 2, out of perverse curiosity. Iñárritu's 'comedy of catastrophic proportions' with Tom Cruise as an old, fat, bald oil man covering up an Arctic disaster, John Goodman as the President. 'Birdman at scale,' and the reason Cruise showed up to CinemaCon.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Honorable mentions from the floor The Great BeyondMr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle StoryI Play RockyWerwulfSupergirlClayfaceA Place in HellThe Beekeeper 2Practical Magic 2The Mandalorian and GroguMasters of the UniverseGrand Gear
Studio slates and franchise talk Toy Story 5Zootopia 2MoanaHoppersEncanto 2Coco 2Shrek 5The Super Mario Bros. MovieThe Devil Wears Prada 2Sense and SensibilityMortal Kombat IISonic the Hedgehog 4Street FighterCall of DutyThe Angry Birds Movie 3A Minecraft MovieProject Hail MaryArtificialAfter the HuntSend HelpFocker-In-Law
The Sphere and its what-ifs WickedOcean's ElevenTitanicStar WarsE.T. the Extra-TerrestrialJurassic ParkPostcard from Earth
Comps and touchstones in passing AnoraThe Social NetworkBirdmanBardoAmores PerrosThe RevenantDon't Look UpThe WailingJoker: Folie à DeuxNosferatuAnyone but YouThe HousemaidHostMamaWeaponsFinal Destination BloodlinesFair PlayLonglegsWar MachineRed OneBabylonSingin' in the RainWhat Lies BeneathSingle White FemaleFatal AttractionDisclosureThe PurgeTroy300Ben-HurThe BeekeeperPractical MagicHocus PocusHocus Pocus 2CluelessThe Devil Wears PradaSpaceballsGodzilla Minus ZeroOne Battle After AnotherBlack WidowThunderbolts*Deadpool & WolverineAvengers: Infinity WarAvengers: EndgameSpider-Man: No Way HomeThe Electric StateCherryThe Gray Man
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The MandalorianAliasLostThe CrownThe Handmaid's TaleSuccession
Video games The Legend of ZeldaBloodborneHelldivers
Ads TremfyaFIFA World Cup Launch Edition (Netflix)Boar's HeadCarvanaWhite ClawBlinds.com