The China Mail - Tom Cruise shares sneak peek of Inarritu comedy 'Digger' at CinemaCon

The four-time Oscar nominee was unrecognizable in the clip, seen with an older, more eccentric look while cradling a white cat in a mansion filled with taxidermied animals.

"The movie is wild, it's funny," said Cruise, who received a standing ovation from the packed room.

Inarritu said the role "could possibly be the most challenging" for Cruise.

"We know that he's fearless, the stunts, the planes, the jumps, but I have to say embodying this character, this is another kind of fearless," he said.

Warner Bros. gave a splashy presentation on the second day of CinemaCon, riding high on the recent successes of "Sinners," "Weapons" and Oscar best picture winner "One Battle After Another."

But the event did not address rival Paramount Skydance's mega-bid for the legacy studio, which has sent ripples of concern through an industry wary of consolidation and fearful for the future.

Pins bearing the slogan "#BlockTheMerger" were spotted being distributed throughout Caesars Palace, where the cinema trade show is taking place.

An open letter opposing the merger was co-signed by hundreds of Hollywood stars and filmmakers, including Denis Villeneuve and J. J. Abrams -- both of whom showcased upcoming releases during the Warner Bros. event.

Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca, co-chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Pictures Group, recapped achievements from the past year and emphasized the uptick in film productions from six in 2022, when they took over, to 11 last year.

"That is what committing to originality can get you," Abdy said.

De Luca promised 14 releases this year, adding that the studio is aiming for 18 in 2027.

The presentation included footage from "Dune: Part Three," introduced by director Villeneuve alongside stars Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya and Jason Momoa.

Other previews included "Practical Magic 2," starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, "The Great Beyond" from director Abrams, as well as "Supergirl" directed by Craig Gillespie.

- Godzilla in New York -

Earlier in the day, Japan's most famous monster thundered into CinemaCon as theater-owners got their first look at "Godzilla Minus Zero," which sees the creature rampage through New York.

Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, the offering from Japan's Toho studio is a sequel to 2023's "Godzilla Minus One", which became an international sensation with a box office haul of $116 million as it bagged an Oscar for visual effects.

Yamazaki told cinema-owners that "the immense scale and terror of Godzilla, as well as the human struggle to survive... (is) going to push your screens and your audiences to their limits."

The film -- which hits US theaters on November 6 and stars Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe -- is set in 1949, two years after the events of "Minus One," picking up the story of the Shikishima family as they face an even tougher challenge.

Yamazaki, who also wrote the screenplay, offered a behind-the-scenes look at the production, along with clips featuring scenes of destruction and the arrival of the imposing monster in New York.

On Tuesday, attendees at the annual get-together also got their first look at the slate of upcoming releases from indie distributor Neon.

The company -- which handled the Oscar-winning films "Parasite" and "Anora" -- announced it would release "Hope" this year, a South Korean sci-fi thriller starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander.

It also has "I Love Boosters" in the pipeline -- a film by Boots Riley about a gang of clothing thieves that promises to become a fashionista event in theaters -- as well as the thriller "A Place in Hell," which features Michelle Williams and Daisy Edgar-Jones as rivals at a law firm.

W.Tam--ThChM