(Las Vegas) Disney stuck strictly to script Wednesday at CinemaCon in Las Vegas: The entertainment giant unveiled footage from its upcoming blockbusters, Indiana Jones and The Little Mermaid, without commenting on the legal battles and mass layoffs that will take place. punctuate its news.
The group has just filed a lawsuit against Governor Ron DeSantis, whom it accuses of waging “political revenge” by removing Disney World’s special status in Florida and appointing a new committee to oversee the future of the amusement park. .
The company also began a new wave of layoffs this week, as part of a plan announced in February that should see it cut 7,000 jobs.
But faced with the elite of movie theater owners gathered in Las Vegas, the group focused on its catalog of cinematic releases. Starring a new episode of Indiana Jones, of which Disney revealed an extract of a breathtaking chase in the alleys of Tangier, Morocco.
Playing the adventurer for more than forty years has meant a lot to me “”, explained in a video message Harrison Ford, who finds his hat and his whip in this fifth installment entitled Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
“These films are full of adventure, of heart,” continued the actor, who will present the new version of Indy at the Cannes Film Festival in May before a summer release on the big screen.
In this new opus, actress Phœbe Waller-Bridge plays the goddaughter of Indiana Jones, who does not hesitate to upset the archaeologist by calling him “an aging grave robber”.
Disney also unveiled new clips from its remake of The Little Mermaid, which it chose live action over cartoon.
It features sea witch Ursula, played by Melissa McCarthy, manipulating heroine Ariel – African-American actress Halle Bailey – into agreeing to take on human form for three days in a diabolical bargain. .
“She’s attractive, she’s a dishonest chick. Maybe that’s why I identify with her,” said McCarthy, the only actress on stage for the entire Disney presentation.
Besides these two blockbusters, the group discussed a new science fiction film in which humans fight against an artificial intelligence in a post-apocalyptic future.
Renamed The Creator, the feature film due out in September benefits from “very timely timing” according to Disney, as the capabilities of software like ChatGPT and Midjourney generate widespread public debate around artificial intelligences.
The group also presented Elemental, a new Pixar cartoon, a new adventure by detective Hercule Poirot titled A Haunting in Venice, and Haunted Mansion, a fantasy film starring Owen Wilson.
As for its Marvel superheroes, the group is due to release the third installment of Guardians of the Galaxy in May and The Marvels in November.
Finally, that same month, Wish will mark Disney’s 100th anniversary with “an original animated musical adventure inspired by the classics.”
The film stars Ariana DeBose as a young woman who lives in a magical kingdom “just off the Iberian Peninsula”, where “wishes do come true”.
CinemaCon runs through Thursday in Las Vegas.
