Despite being one of the youngest major Hollywood studios, Lionsgate has built up a reputation the past quarter-century of being one of the most popular, prolific, and diverse companies in today’s movie industry. Over the course of the past decade, Lionsgate has given the world incredible stories like the JOHN WICK franchise, KNIVES OUT, LA LA LAND, the HUNGER GAMES movies, and so much more. And that tradition of bringing a variety of genres – along with 14 wide releases – to the big screen will continue this year.
With big-budget action movies like THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES and THE EXPENDABLES 4, sprawling dramas like WHITEBIRD: A WONDER STORY, horror comedies like THE BLACKENING, and the debut of SAW X, there’s a lot in store for moviegoers this year. But don’t feel left out If you weren’t among the attendees at CinemaCon 2023, as we have the inside scoop on everything that was announced by Lionsgate in the studio’s CinemaCon 2023 closing presentation.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES, one of the most anticipated upcoming projects from Lionsgate, was also one of the titles to get the most attention during the studio’s CinemaCon 2023 presentation. With the debut of the trailer for the long-awaited prequel to the HUNGER GAMES franchise, appearances by members of the cast, and new details about the story set 64 years before Katniss Everdeen changed the world of Panem, there was a lot going on.
The impressive trailer for THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES is full of spectacle, and sets the stage for the war that is to come while also introducing the star-studded cast at the center of the story set around the 10th Hunger Games. Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Viola Davis, and Jason Schwartzman as Hunger Games host Lucky Flickerman, all make appearances throughout the visually-stunning video hyping up the next chapter in the popular cinematic franchise.
And if the footage shown at CinemaCon 2023 is any indication of what’s to come, then fans of the franchise are in for another unforgettable experience when the movie opens November 17th at AMC Theatres locations nationwide.
Joy Ride
The CinemaCon 2023 crowd was also treated to a presentation on Adele Lim’s upcoming raunchy comedy JOY RIDE, which stars “Emily in Paris” actress Ashley Park as a woman who travels with her best friend Lolo (Sherry Cola) to China in hopes of finding her birth mother. During the presentation, which also featured other members of the cast like Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu, screenwriters Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao, and producer Seth Rogen, the cast and crew went into great detail about the wild and debaucherous R-rated comedy, with Chevapravatdumrong, who described the movie as a “breath of fresh air,” touching on the importance of a film like this and what it means for the Asian community:
“We have been stereotyped for being quiet and not rocking the boat. This film is the definition of rocking the boat, rocking the train, rocking the plane.”
Director Adele Lim spoke about wanting to make a comedy featuring characters "with faces like ours," who make wild, vulgar jokes, which is something she hadn't seen before. Rogen, who is no stranger to debauchery on the big screen, told the crowd that JOY RIDE was the first comedy he’d seen in theatres since the pandemic, and he was so glad someone attempted to make a movie like this again.
JOY RIDE opens on July 7th.But THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES and JOY RIDE aren’t the only movies from Lionsgate’s numerous theatrical offerings discussed during the studio’s CinemaCon presentation. In fact, studio executives spent some time talking about upcoming comedies like the Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro-led ABOUT MY FATHER and Tim Story’s raucous THE BLACKENING, which has lit up the internet with its premise that turns one of the horror genre’s biggest tropes on its head to create a fresh and unique comedy. Those movies are set to be released May 26th and June 16th, respectively.
Also, audiences can expect to see movies like THE EXPENDABLES 4, ORDINARY ANGELS, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET, and multiple others before the end of the year.
And with this, AMC Theatres’ coverage of CinemaCon 2023 comes to an end. But be sure to follow us on Twitter and check out AMC Scene for breakdowns of presentations from Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, Universal, Warner Bros., and Paramount that shared information on all the highly anticipated movies coming to AMC Theatres later this year.
