With “Project Hail Mary” still legging out spectacularly in theaters, Amazon MGM has proven that with the marketing reach of a global e-commerce conglomerate and the distribution network of one of Hollywood’s oldest studios, it can be a major play in a still recovering box office.
Now it’s time to show exhibitors what’s next.
Last year, Amazon MGM made their main stage debut at CinemaCon, showing off a 2026 slate that would mark their first year as a major distributor with a full slate of wide releases. After some initial missteps with “Mercy” and “Crime 101,” “Project Hail Mary” set a studio record with $525 million worldwide and counting, leading the film’s star Ryan Gosling and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller to come back to Vegas with flowers and a thank you note for exhibitors…along with an extension of the film’s theatrical window.
“‘Project Hail Mary’ is fundamentally about two beings from completely different worlds who don’t speak the same language, they don’t look alike, they don’t think alike, but they find a way to connect. That is what theaters do,” Miller said.
But looking to the future, the studio kicked off the presentation not with a 2026 film, but with a 2027 film: a remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair.” That’s because it stars newly minted Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan, who came out to a rock star ovation with co-star Adria Arjona. Thanks to “Sinners,” Jordan’s star power is through the roof, and Amazon MGM showed its belief in the film by kicking off the show with a performance from the film’s composer, Jon Batiste and a trailer that showed Jordan as a Bond-esque action star, fitting considering that Thomas Crown was previously played by Pierce Brosnan.
Afterwards, the head of Prime Video, Mike Hopkins, promised to exhibitors that his company’s theatrical plans were only “in the top half of the first inning.”
“While some of our competitors have dipped their toes in and out of the theatrical waters, for us, this isn’t a test. It’s not an experiment. We’ve made a commitment to release at least 15 films every year into your theater, and that is on schedule,” Hopkins said. “And to support that commitment, we are building an international distribution organization, one we hope to have up and running later this year.”
The next big blockbuster play for Amazon MGM will be this summer’s “Masters of the Universe,” which is also the first IP tentpole on the studio’s slate. Lead star Nicholas Galitzine came out onstage wielding the Eternian Sword of Power alongside director Travis Knight and co-star Camilla Mendes to unveil new footage of a film that will try to introduce a piece of 80s pop culture to a new generation.
Galitzine came back out with Hugh Jackman to show an extended trailer for the family comedy “The Sheep Detectives,” in which a group of talking sheep try to find out who murdered their shepherd who read murder mystery novels to them every day.
Then Amazon MGM showed off some gun-heavy trailers to Gareth Evans’ upcoming remake of the 1967 yakuza drama “A Colt is My Passport” and the David Leitch action dramedy “How to Rob a Bank,” in which Nicholas Hoult plays the leader of The Pack, a group of wolf mask-wearing bank robbers who turn their heists into livestreams that make them into YouTube superstars.
The studio’s specialty wing, Orion, touted “Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother,” which stars 2-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as Lateef, a devoted father who sells oils and perfumes out of his van in Houston but has a deadly secret life as a vigilante who kills those he believes are a threat to his community.
A trailer was revealed for “Verity,” the next Colleen Hoover adaptation that could be the breakout autumn hit of 2026. And in a fitting send-up of Hollywood, the cast of “Spaceballs: The Next One,” revealed the first footage of the Mel Brooks sequel not with a trailer, but with an epic narration lampooning how studios in Hollywood are merging “like middle-aged swingers.”
And to cap off the show, Peter Farrelly showed an extended trailer of “I Play Rocky,” a retelling of how Sylvester Stallone gave up a life-changing sum of money for the chance to play the character he created and would turn him into a Hollywood icon: Rocky Balboa.
Along with all of these films, plus Denis Villeneuve’s still developing James Bond film, Amazon MGM’s next big step as a distributor is to expand the North American distribution network inherited from the 2021 merger of Amazon and MGM to a global network. While the studio’s 2026 slate, including “Project Hail Mary,” was released worldwide with the help of Sony Pictures handling overseas release, international distribution chief Helen Moss promised to work with global theatrical circuits in the years ahead.
“We’re connecting local efforts into a unified global strategy, harnessing full scale momentum and local expertise, because success today is about building momentum, market by market, and creating a global conversation that carries a film well beyond its first weekend,” said Moss. “That’s the kind of theatrical experience audiences deserve, and it’s the kind of partnership you can expect from us.”
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