Warner Bros. Debuts ‘Wonka’ and ‘Elvis’ Footage During CinemaCon – The Hollywood

Warner Bros. came to Las Vegas to put on a show, and delivered by relying on a parade of stars, from Dwayne Johnson (crowned Entertainment Icon of the Decade) to an animated Baz Luhrmnan, as well as some of its biggest upcoming films, including Black Adam.

“Black Adam is one of the things in my life that gets me out of bed,” Johnson told the crowd before a clip from the film was shown. “I think the hierarchy of the DC universe is about to change.”

Even before that trailer dropped, Warners dropped big news Tuesday from the CinemaCon stage inside the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, first announcing that Matt Reeves, Robert Pattinson and the creative team will be back for a sequel to The Batman.

That announcement was followed by exclusive looks at Black Adam, Elvis, Wonka, The Flash, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Salem’s Lot and Don’t Worry Darling along with appearances by Reeves, Olivia Wilde, James Wan, Helen Mirren, Zachary Levi, and more, in what turned out to be a rallying cry for the strength and future of the theatrical marketplace.

Warners gave Elvis a big chunk of the early part of the program to Elvis for an extensive Q&A featuring Luhrmann and his star Austin Butler. Luhrmann was welcomed to the stage by host Aisha Tyler for a lively chat during which he was asked why he tackled the story of the American icon. “I love biopic[s], this is not really a biopic,” he said. “It’s really about America in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s. At the center of culture, for the good, the bad and the ugly, it was Elvis Presley.”

Directed by Luhrmann, Elvis casts Butler in the title role as the King of Rock ‘n Roll. Debuting the footage in Sin City carries special significance as the town was Presley’s old stomping grounds. Tom Hanks also stars in Elvis as Colonel Tom Parker and the film (shot in Australia by DP Mandy Walker, who also lensed Luhrmann’s Australia) is weeks away from its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, which will deliver a triumphant homecoming for Luhrmann who screened his Moulin Rouge there.

Luhrmann, who confirmed that his film features classics and the story of Elvis translated for a younger generation, said the narrative unfolds through the prism of Tom Parker, played by Hanks, someone he joked was a newcomer. “He’s a bit nervy and stuff, I had to coach him a lot to get him out of his shell,” he quipped. Then he got serious with compliments: “I have worked with everyone, all sorts of icons and my god, Tom Hanks ­— the Rolls Royce of actors.”

Butler was quizzed on his response to getting cast as Presley as well as his process for preparing to both play him and sing his classic hits. Butler said he set out to find his humanity. “The main thing was I set out to find was his humanity. He’s one of those individuals that has been lifted up to such an iconic status that he’s almost superhuman,” said Butler.

Luhrmann praised Reeves and The Batman and said that he thinks of his film like a superhero film. “Elvis is the original superhero. He comes from dirt and in a few blinding moments, rises so high, finds his kryptonite and falls so low.”

During the extended footage, Hanks’ character is heard saying: “In that moment, Elvis the man was sacrificed and Elvis the God was born” during an electric performance of Presley’s “Trouble” after which he was evacuated from the stage in a clash with his audience and police.

Speaking of singing, Timothee Chalamet debuted warbling a few tunes in the exclusive footage of Wonka, the first clips ever seen. Wonka, hitting theaters on Dec. 15, 2023, stars Chalamet as the character created by author Roald Dahl and played by Gene Wilder in the classic Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971). Paddington filmmaker Paul King is directing, with Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Keegan-Michael Key and Olivia Colman also starring.

“Is everybody ready,” Chalamet’s Wonka says via voiceover in the opening moments which show a younger Wonka as he is a burgeoning chocolate maker. What follows appears to be a fantastical adventure filled with singing, dancing, and clashes with authorities in a quest to spread chocolate to the world.

Wild crashes, a bending universe, young Superman, and a throwback Batman — Michael Keaton — drew cheers as a brief trailer for The Flash debuted as well. The biggest reaction came towards the end of the clip, when Ezra Miller’s Flash asks the question “Are you in?” Then we see Keaton, sans mask but in his Batman suit, with grayish hair, who retorts in his deadpan style: “You wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts.”

The Flash, due out in June 2023, is one of the longest gestating DC projects, with Miller first cast as the hero back in 2014 for Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. A number of directors came and went on the project, which finally got off the ground with It filmmaker Andy Muschietti taking the…