Deadline scooped the news that Sony Pictures has decided not to present at the upcoming CinemaCon conference for exhibitors, which will take place in less than three months from April 8-11.
While some may conclude that this indicates Sony’s lack of confidence in theatrical releasing, sources at Deadline indicate that the move is an attempt to limit the expense of presenting at the conference and instead direct those funds to the “logjam” of film shoots underway after the forced shutdown to production during last year’s labor strikes.
Typically, all major studios present their upcoming film slate to exhibitors at CinemaCon to create excitement among theatre owners for their upcoming releases. One recent example was Paramount’s presentation of TOP GUN: MAVERICK at CinemaCon 2022, which was a bit hit with exhibitors before going on to become the top-grossing film of the year.
After exhibitors saw the appeal of the film with their own eyes, they did their part to promote it for its Memorial Day opening. It was scheduled on multiple screens for many weeks, including virtually all IMAX and other premium large-format auditoriums. This support was crucial to the film’s success.
However, presentations at CinemaCon come with a hefty price tag. The cost of the producing trailer, VFX, and sound mixing, plus coordinating the participation of filmmakers and actors is an expensive line item for studios, especially a somewhat smaller studio such as Sony.
This is not the first time Sony has sat out of CinemaCon, as they chose not to present at the 2019 conference as well. If other major studios were to make the same decision, that could be taken as a pessimistic attitude from the studios overall on the outlook for theatrical release.