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CinemaCon 2018 is ushering in the summer blockbuster season with some of the year’s most anticipated movie trailers. This year, eleven major studios – including Warner Bros, Disney, and Paramount Pictures – will be present to discuss their respective roles in the film industry, while also highlighting their standout releases for 2018.

In the past, brand new footage from movies like Blade Runner 2049, Inside Out, and The Dark Tower debuted at CinemaCon, and this year will be no different; there’s expected to be some major debuts for movies that have offered little more than on-set photos and teaser posters (see: Aquaman, Halloween 2018).

However, as an industry event primarily for theater owners, that means a lot of the new trailers will be CinemaCon exclusives and not released to the general public just yet. While some trailers do come out of the event and get released online – somewhat likely this year as doing so allows studios to pair them with Avengers: Infinity War – many of these are for industry and press only. This means there could be a wait to see the CinemaCon footage. But worry not: we’re here to not only tell you what’ll play, but when you’ll eventually get to see it.

THE PREDATOR

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Writer/director Shane Black (Iron Man 3, The Nice Guys) is tackling a suburban-set take on The Predator, pitting a ragtag team of soldiers and civilians against the extraterrestrial hunter. Black announced that the teaser trailer will be released in CinemaCon earlier this month, which will likely show up on April 26 during the 20th Century Fox panel. Zero footage has been revealed prior to the teaser’s premiere, and with recent reshoots that allegedly saw Black scaling back on his previously promised darkly comedic tone, it’s unclear what to expect.

There are no specifics as to when exactly the teaser trailer will be available for the public, but it sounds like it won’t be until next month, possibly with Deadpool 2, given the tone, rating and studio.

VENOM

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Audiences already got a sneak peek at Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock in the upcoming Spider-Man spinoff Venom, and CinemaCon will play host to the second (and more than likely, longer) trailer for the movie (hopefully actually revealing the symbiote this time).

Hardy confirmed that the second official trailer for Venom will debut at CinemaCon; he will be present during the Monday night panel, and the trailer will debut some time between 6:30pm and 8:30pm. It’s still unclear whether the trailer will be available to the public simultaneously with the convention’s debut or afterward, although it is expected to arrive at some point this week ahead of Avengers: Infinity War.

HALLOWEEN

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Everything about Halloween 2018 is under wraps. Aside from the positive feedback from Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum, some behind-the-scenes photos, and an official poster, the upcoming sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic is as mysterious as Michael Myers himself. So, while there is no official word on Halloween 2018 getting a trailer reveal at CinemaCon, the odds are in its favor. Universal will be unveiling some trailers during its panel on April 25, making it a perfect opportunity.

However, given the aforementioned secrecy, and the fact it’s still six months out, don’t expect this to make its way online just yet.

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AQUAMAN

For a character that has been presented as one of the boldest and confident in the current DC Extended Universe, James Wan’s upcoming Aquaman is being surprisingly coy. That said, the film may well start showing its colors as early as April 24, when Warner Bros hosts their panel during the convention between 4:00pm and 5:45 pm. Wan and his lead star Jason Mamoa recently revealed the start of the film’s press, making their appearance at CinemaCon with footage highly likely. However, the director has also made clear in the past that a trailer for Aquaman is a way out yet, so this won’t be online straight afterward. It may be as late as SDCC when we get our first look.

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As for what other DC news to expect, Shazam! is currently shooting and Wonder Woman 2 is in pre-production, so could both potentially have a presence.

BUMBLEBEE

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Transformers is getting its first official spinoff with the December 21 release of Bumblebee. Taking place in 1987 (well before the events of Michael Bay’s first Transformers movie, and just a year after the animated Transformers: The Movie), Bumblebee has its titular character hiding out in a junkyard, when he’s eventually discovered by a troubled teenager played by Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld.

A Bumblebee trailer is all but confirmed to be released during the convention; according to Fandango Editor Erik Davis, the movie “has promos everywhere”. It will debut sometime between 4:30pm and 6:00pm during Paramount’s “Summer and Beyond” presentation, although considering how far off the release date is it probably won’t be made available online just yet. This is another mid-Summer bet.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD

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The third (and final) How to Train Your Dragon movie won’t be hitting theaters for another year (March 1, 2019), but it may be getting an early tease at CinemaCon this year. Officially subtitled The Hidden World, the film will revisit the franchise’s core characters as Hiccup and Toothless do battle against the villainous Grimmel (voiced by F. Murray Abraham) in order to maintain peace in their dragon utopia.

The film has a presence at CinemaCon, so it would definitely make sense for a teaser or some other form of footage. While being almost a year away may make it seem unlikely this would be released to the public any time soon, the first teaser for How To Train Your Dragon 2 actually debuted eleven months ahead of time, so it’s possible we’ll get it online in the near future.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT

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On April 25, Tom Cruise will be presented with the 2018 Pioneer of the Year award at CinemaCon. Given that he’ll be present, it wouldn’t be shocking if Paramount use this as an opportunity to promote Mission: Impossible – Fallout by dropping another trailer either during the presentation itself or their “Summer and Beyond” panel. This seems quite probable as director Christopher McQuarrie will be there for Cruise.

However, there’s nothing to definitively say this will be the case. Whatever happens, though, with the film mere months away, a new trailer has to be released in some form soon.

KEY RELEASE DATES
Mission: Impossible – Fallout release date: Jul 27, 2018
The Predator release date: Sep 14, 2018
Halloween release date: Oct 19, 2018
Venom release date: Oct 5, 2018
Aquaman release date: Dec 21, 2018
Bumblebee release date: Dec 21, 2018