Cinemacon 2016: 20th Century Fox peeks of Assassin’s Creed, Avatar & more!

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Always the showman, Fox opened up their Cinemacon presentation with a dance number, this time with none other than Vanilla Ice performing “Ice Age Baby”, a take on his most notable tune in order to promote ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE. Because nothing says prehistoric anthropomorphic animals like Vanilla Ice, am I right? Once his performance was done, we got a look at the full trailer for the animated film, which brings back nearly all the characters we’ve seen in the previous films (from what I could tell, anyway), but, most especially, Buck, as voiced by the always great Simon Pegg. That in itself provides some good incentive to see the film, just in case the lovable Scrat chasing his acorn isn’t enough for ya.

DEADPOOL SEQUEL

While it’s far too early to see anything from the already announced sequel to the mega-successful film, it’s still been up in the air as to who would be coming back. It was announced that the entire creative team, including director Tim Miller and star Ryan Reynolds would be back. While that’s obviously expected, it was good to get that aspect squared away so they can get down to business.

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

With two trailers in the bag already, X-MEN: APOCALYPSE has been hard at work selling a film that lives up to its title, but what’s been lacking is a genuine excitement for the upcoming sequel in its marketing. That changed with the Cinemacon trailer, as the music, editing, and additional footage helped give it an energy and pulse that has been lacking thus far. The extra footage shows off a bit more action, including more from Olivia Munn‘s Psylocke, who is quickly becoming my most-anticipated character to see kick some ass on the big screen. In addition, there was quite a bit more of Oscar Isaac‘s Apocalypse and it’s obvious the tinkering of his appearance and voice since the outcry after he was first revealed has helped push the studio to shape him into a cool-looking (and sounding) villain. There’s also more Mystique, as played by Jennifer Lawrence, and I’m still a little concerned that it may be too much, but we’ll see how it all takes shape when it finally hits next month. X-MEN: APOCALYPSE drops on May 27th, 2016.

MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES

Stars Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, and Adam DeVine took the stage to introduce the new trailer for MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES, the raunchy comedy that also stars Aubrey Plaza and Stephen Root. The extended trailer dives deeper into the struggle of two brothers (Efron and DeVine) who need to find suitable dates to their sister’s wedding. When they take their struggle to a talk show (Wendy Williams, no less) it captures the attention of two not-so-refined young ladies in Kendrick and Plaza. The trailer showed off much of what we saw in the first one, but tons of other great gags that, for better or for worse, had me laughing out loud throughout.

They then showed an extended clip that has Kendrick’s character paying for a “special” massage for the bride-to-be with the masseuse being the awesome Kumail Nanjiani (Portlandia, Silicon Valley) who gives the oddest sensual massage ever, but one that works wonders on the bride-to-be, much to the dismay of DeVine’s character, who happens to walk in on it all going down. It’s way funnier to watch than to describe and the audience was rolling, myself included. I don’t think MIKE AND DAVE will ever win an Oscar, but it sure as hell got me laughing. Maybe I’m just a sucker for the low brow stuff, but it does look like a good time. MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES hits on July 8th, 2016.

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

The new trailer for the 20-years-in-the-making sequel from director Roland Emmerich dives straight into the action, addressing the elephant in the room right away by addressing the death of Will Smith‘s character from the first film and setting up a more futuristic world than I anticipated. We see the scope of the scientific advances and defense systems that the world has built since the first invasion and it’s rather impressive. From the ships to the guns to an entire base on the moon it appears that humanity is much better prepared to fend off another alien invasion.

However, we also see that the aliens have returned two-fold and with a vengeance and this puts all the key players into action, including Jeff Goldblum‘s David Levinson, who looks to once again be the man uncovering the truth about the invasion. We see glimpses of some massive sky battles that put the original’s to shame and a look at what may be a giant alien creature that’s seen crushing it’s foot on a bunch of cars. We end with Goldblum and new hotshot pilot Liam Hemsworth piloting a new ship as the world crumbles around them with Goldblum saying “They like to get the landmarks” which is a fun tongue-in-cheek ode to the alien’s choice of targets. As a fan of the original and with such a fun cast and promise of some epic visceral mass destruction and heroic thrills, I just don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to see this. I’m certainly in. INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE invades theaters on June 24th, 2016.

TROLLS

I have to say, upon hearing that they were making a TROLLS film, based on those creepy dolls with bright-colored hair, there was zero excitement. The first teaser gave me a distinct SMURFS feeling (just with more colors), so that didn’t help much. However, we got a look at a clip from the film and I have to say I was a bit relieved. The humor was much smarter and playful than the bodily functions stuff I expected and the animation is quite nice with a vibrant color palette. Anna Kendrick‘s character belts out some tunes in the clip, which certainly doesn’t hurt if you’re a fan of her and/or her PITCH PERFECT singing voice. Overall, it left me with a better impression of the flick. TROLLS hits on November 4, 2016.

ASSASSINS CREED

The coolest thing to come out of Fox’s panel was without a doubt the first peek at ASSASSIN’S CREED. Now, I know many of you are skeptical of any videogame adaptation and rightfully so, but this one has got some serious creative force behind it, most notably with Michael Fassbender (starring and producing) and director Justin Kurzel at the helm. The style, action, and visual acuity to the source material is all on the screen. A look at the film version of the Animus Machine is there, as is a an explanation into how the whole thing works (especially good for those who aren’t familiar with the game). It’s got the look and feel of the game in every way, from your rooftop leaps, wrist swords, hard-hitting fights, and time-spanning storyline. It looks sharp as hell and I think everyone will be happy when they get a look. This could end up being a big step forward for the genre if it works and I have a very good feeling that it will. ASSASSIN’S CREED hits on December 21st, 2016.

WHY HIM?

Before he was Heisenberg, star Bryan Cranston was pulling out laughs through seven seasons of Malcolm in the Middle and he’s returning to comedy with WHY HIM?, which co-stars James Franco, Zoey Deutch, Keegan-Michael Key, and Megan Mullally. The premise is simple: Cranston’s daughter, played by Deutch, is engaged to a crass, arrogant, and obnoxious guy in the form of none other than James Franco. This causes Cranston’s straight-laced dad into a bitter rivalry with Franco, resulting in a series of embarassing, awkward, and even dangerous situations. The real strength here is Franco and Cranston just going toe-to-toe and having fun with their respective roles and it looks like this could be nice change of pace for Cranston and another notch in the comedy belt for Franco. WHY HIM? opens on December 25th, 2016.

THE BIRTH OF A NATION

We next got a look at the first full trailer for Nate Parker‘s THE BIRTH OF A NATION, a film that has gained some serious notoriety after making a huge splash at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s a very impressive-looking film and one that’s sure to cause some controvery along the way. The film is being marketed as a more inspirational tale, despite the darker aspect of the real events, but it still looks no less absorbing. You can check out the 90-second version of what we saw HERE. THE BIRTH OF A NATION opens on October 7th, 2016.

MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR GIFTED CHILDREN

The presentation for Tim Burton‘s new film, MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR GIFTED CHILDREN, began with a retrospective of his filmography that surmised all of his work was building towards this latest venture. We saw a new extended trailer that showed more of the various “gifted” kids on the island as well as more of the creatures, including Samuel L. Jackson‘s villainous Barron who look like the stuff of nightmares to be sure. It’s was a more intense look at the film, that’s for sure, seeing the kids in action and really displaying their powers; I couldn’t help but get the feeling that this is Tim Burton‘s version of X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, which isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, it’s kind of cool. In the end, it looks like a fitting Burton feature and I’ll give it a look. Plus, Eva Green. MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR GIFTED CHILDREN opens on September 30th, 2016.

JAMES CAMERON and the future of AVATAR

The last thing on Fox’s agenda was a visit from some indie filmmaker named James Cameron. I jest, of course, although Cameron is certainly a man that does what he wants and it appears that hasn’t changed as he announced an update to his AVATAR sequels. Instead of three sequels we will now get FOUR sequels, all of which will stand on their own, yet connect in the end. He also showed off some concept art for the in-development flicks, which showed some new creatures, new weapons, new vehicles, and new settings, including some futuristic urban cities. While I’m not exactly frothing at the mouth for more AVATAR, seeing that gave me a bit more incentive to get excited. The first sequel is expected in December 2018 with the others to follow in a successive suit starting in 2020.

Cameron was also very clear about where he stood on the controversy over movies potentially getting their first run theatrically AND at home, saying that he felt it should be exclusive a theatrical experience. “We’re going to continue to make this industry the greatest show on earth.”

And that’s it for FOX and that wraps up our presentation coverage for Cinemacon 2016! We hope you’ve enjoyed our reports and interviews and look forward to covering the event again next year.

For more of our Cinemacon coverage, including interviews, videos, and more, click HERE!