Movies

Fox CinemaCon 2017 Presentation: 'War For The Planet Of The Apes,' 'Kingsman 2,' 'Alien: Covenant' And More

Fox CinemaCon Presentation
By /Film Staff/

Our own Peter Sciretta has spent the past week in Las Vegas for CinemaCon 2017, where he has been reporting on trailers, clips, and even full screenings shared by Hollywood's biggest studios. Today, he attended 20th Century Fox's presentation, where he saw footage from War For the Planet of the Apes, Alien: Covenant, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Murder on the Orient Express, Red Sparrow, The Greatest Showman, and more. His thoughts, in video and written form, can be found below.

First of all, Peter sat down with Collider's Steven Weintraub to discuss the Fox panel in detail. You can listen to their conversation in the video below.

And now, here's a quick rundown of the footage screened during the Fox panel, courtesy of Peter's Twitter feed.

Captain Underpants

First off, Peter was not a fan of what he saw from Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, DreamWorks Animation's upcoming adaptation of Dav Pilkey's long-running children's book series. However, he later admitted that he enjoyed the basic look of the animation and the character designs.

Based on the worldwide sensation and bestselling book series, and boasting an A-list cast of comedy superstars headed by Kevin Hart and Ed Helms, DreamWorks Animation brings audiences the long-awaited global movie event, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. This raucously subversive comedy for the entire family tells the story of two overly imaginative pranksters named George and Harold, who hypnotize their principal into thinking he's a ridiculously enthusiastic, incredibly dimwitted superhero named Captain Underpants.

Snatched

The red band trailer for new comedy from director Jonathan Levine won Peter over. He was especially happy to see Goldie Hawn in a movie again.

After her boyfriend dumps her on the eve of their exotic vacation, impetuous dreamer Emily Middleton (Amy Schumer) persuades her ultra-cautious mother, Linda (Goldie Hawn) to travel with her to paradise. Polar opposites, Emily and Linda realize that working through their differences as mother and daughter – in unpredictable, hilarious fashion – is the only way to escape the wildly outrageous jungle adventure they have fallen into.

The Mountain Between Us

Although no one was sure what kind of movie it's supposed to be (Mainstream thriller? Awards contender?), The Mountain Between Us won over the room, including Peter.

Stranded after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must forge a connection to survive the extreme elements of a remote snow covered mountain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a terrifying journey across hundreds of miles of wilderness, pushing one another to endure and igniting an unexpected attraction. The film is directed by Academy Award nominee Hany Abu-Asad and stars Academy Award winner Kate Winslet and Idris Elba.

War For the Planet of the Apes

If you saw the new trailer today, you may already be pretty excited for War For the Planet of the Apes. The character-driven clips screened at CinemaCon were also very impressive.

In War for the Planet of the Apes, the third chapter of the critically acclaimed blockbuster franchise, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel.  After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.  As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.

Red Sparrow

Jennifer Lawrence has re-teamed with her Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence for a thriller that couldn't be more timely (and sounds a little bit like the Black Widow movie we're never going to get):

Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is drafted against her will to become a "sparrow," a trained seductress in the Russian security service. Dominika learns to use her body as a weapon, but struggles to maintain her sense of self during the dehumanizing training process. Finding her power in an unfair system, she emerges as one of the program's strongest assets. Her first target is Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton), a CIA officer who handles the agency's most sensitive infiltration of Russian intelligence. The two young operatives fall into a spiral of attraction and deception, which threatens their careers, allegiances and the security of both countries

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

The first Kingsman movie was a pleasant surprise and from the sound of things, the sequel will follow suit. This time, the survivors of the first movie (which literally wiped out a chunk of the world's population with its spy antics) are joined by an American spy agency. Here's Peter's reaction to the first footage:

"Kingsman: The Secret Service" introduced the world to Kingsman – an independent, international intelligence agency operating at the highest level of discretion, whose ultimate goal is to keep the world safe. In "Kingsman: The Golden Circle," our heroes face a new challenge. When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, their journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the US called Statesman, dating back to the day they were both founded. In a new adventure that tests their agents' strength and wits to the limit, these two elite secret organizations band together to defeat a ruthless common enemy, in order to save the world, something that's becoming a bit of a habit for Eggsy...

Murder on the Orient Express

Kenneth Branagh directing one of Agatha Christie's most famous murder mystery stories with a deep bench of movie stars playing the many, many suspects? That sounds good...and Peter liked what he saw.

What starts out as a lavish train ride through Europe quickly unfolds into one of the most stylish, suspenseful and thrilling mysteries ever told.  From the novel by best selling author Agatha Christie, "Murder on the Orient Express" tells the tale of thirteen strangers stranded on a train, where everyone's a suspect. One man must race against time to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again. Kenneth Branagh directs and leads an all star cast including Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley and Josh Gad.

Alien: Covenant

We've seen a lot from Alien: Covenant over the past few weeks, but CinemaCon was treated to a scene explaining exactly what happened to the Engineers, the villains introduced in Prometheus. Peter was impressed by the bloody sizzle reel that followed.

Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created, with ALIEN: COVENANT, a new chapter in his ground-breaking ALIEN franchise. The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.

The Greatest Showman

Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, and Rebecca Ferguson in a musical biopic about P.T. Barnum? With music from the people behind La La Land? Peter says it looks like it could be something special.

"The Greatest Showman" is a bold and original musical that celebrates the birth of show business and the sense of wonder we feel when dreams come to life. Inspired by the ambition and imagination of P.T. Barnum, "The Greatest Showman" tells the story of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a mesmerizing spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. "The Greatest Showman" is directed by exciting new filmmaker, Michael Gracey, with songs by Academy Award winners Benji Pasek and Justin Paul ("La La Land") and starring Academy Award nominee Hugh Jackman. Jackman is joined by Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams, Zendaya, Zac Efron and Rebecca Ferguson.

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