As in previous years, I attended CinemaCon this year (April 24-27), the annual convention of theater owners at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas where Hollywood studios present trailers of their upcoming movies, parading stars and directors on stage. Everyone celebrated the triumphant return of the theatrical experiences and the box office results of 2022 and 2023, when audiences returned to watch movies on the big screen, after the COVID global pandemic had closed movie theaters all over the world.
I paid special attention to the beautiful movie stars that have already established their talent and some new faces on their way up.
Zendaya
Zendaya, 26, received the Star of the Year award and said: “In a theater, that’s where someone can feel seen and less alone, escape and build a new dream.” A couple of days before she had stood on the stage of the giant Colosseum theater to present Dune Part Two (WB, November 3) with French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve and Timothée Chalamet.
Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya
A few minutes before that moment Chalamet, 26, had introduced a trailer for Wonka (WB, December 15) directed by Paul King from the 1964 novel by Road Dahl Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and paid homage to Gene Wilder who had starred in the cult classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971). He said: “I’m something of a magician, inventor and chocolate maker.”
Ryan Gosling, Margot Robbie
Ryan Gosling, 42, wore a hot pink jacket when he came out on stage with Margot Robbie, 42, star and producer of Barbie (WB, June 21) directed and co-written by Greta Gerwig. He joked: “”I only knew Ken from afar and I doubted my Ken-ergy, I didn’t see it, but Margot and Greta conjured this out of me somehow. It came on like a scarlet fever. I was living my life and then one day I was bleaching my hair, shaving my legs and wearing bespoke neon outfits rollerblading down Venice Beach.”
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence, 32, introduced a hilarious clip of No Hard Feelings (Sony, June 23) a R-rated sex comedy by Ukrainian-born director Gene Stupnitsky
Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback
Anthony Ramos, 31, star of In the Heights (2021) directed by Jon Chu from the stage musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, stood on the stage with Dominique Fishback, 32, who had played Fred Hampton’s girlfriend in Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) by Shaka King. They presented a trailer of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (Paramount, June 9). On closing night they both received the Rising Star of the Year award.
Xolo Maridueña
And here’s two up and coming actors that may go places. They star in Blue Beetle (DC Comics-WB, August 18) by Puerto Rican director Angel Manuel Soto. Xolo Maridueña, 21, born in Los Angeles, plays the first Latinx superhero. Bruna Marquezine, 29, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, plays Jenny Lord. Soto said that he created Palmera City so Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle could have his own location like Clark Kent/Superman has Metropolis and Bruce Wayne/Batman has Gotham City.
Bruna Marquezine
Text by Elisa Leonelli
Photos by Alberto Rodriguez/Getty Images for CinemaCon