CinemaCon 2025 – which took place from March 31, to April 3 – is a special, annual event where major Hollywood actors, producers and other industry professionals gather to present their upcoming projects. This varies from films, trailers and exclusive new footage.
One of this year’s most notable moments was the release of the 2026 movie slate, which displayed many of the upcoming films expected to be releases next year. The movie slate of the year presented an interesting lineup, showcasing a wave of many popular box office hits consisting of either remakes, adaptations, prequels, sequels or new installments in their seemingly never-ending series.
“Avengers: Doomsday” was one of the first of these reveals. Last summer, it had already been announced that Marvel would be bringing back major actors from the original Avengers Phase Three movies. This is seemingly due to marketing reasons – Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the franchise being a perfect example of that. Along with this, another feature was Sir Christopher Nolan’s “Odyssey” adaptation, which will be starring the same rotation of A-list actors we see in nearly every high-profile film today.
Additionally, a new Minions movie, “Mega Minions,” and another “Star Wars” movie, “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” – which is the continuation of the Disney Plus show “The Mandalorian” – are now transitioning onto the big screen. To the surprise of many, “Toy Story 5” was also one of the prime suspects for many who grew up with Andy, Woody and Buzz. The franchise felt like it had the perfect ending in the third movie, when Andy went off to college and passed his toys on to a new home. Many feel there was no real need for a fourth, let alone the now-upcoming fifth film. Still, the creators seem intent on playing the nostalgia card to win back audiences.
“Fast and Furious,” notorious for its never-ending series, revealed the upcoming release of Part 2 of their 10th movie, which just feels excessive at this point. The rebooted “Jumanji” is also getting a third installment, though many felt the original worked perfectly fine as a standalone. “Scream” has secured a spot on the 2026 slate, with yet another sequel, likely thanks to the franchise’s long-standing popularity.
The returning titles include “Super Mario Bros 2,” “Shrek 5,” “Spiderman: Brand New Day,” “Scream 7,” “Jumanji 3,” “Toy Story 5,” “Ice Age 6” and “Fast and Furious X: Part 2.” Anyone can sense the pattern and constant repetition of these films. Even if you aren’t a film fanatic, you must admit there is an obvious sense of repetition. It feels as though most of these franchises clearly don’t need to continue, yet major studios are consistently recycling the same formula, repackaged as “new” content.
The only genuinely original film among all these announcements appears to be “Hoppers,” an animated Pixar film, which, unlike the rest, isn’t connected to any pre-existing movie franchise or book series. It seems to many individuals that Hollywood is either running out of ideas or simply losing its sense of creativity. Studios seem to cling to familiar franchises that are guaranteed to make money and have begun avoiding riskier projects that might not perform as well.
This formulaic repetition of rehashing the same stories with slightly different plots is becoming a growing controversy among film enthusiasts. It’s raising concerns that there may no longer be anything exciting to look forward to when it comes to movie releases.
So, this begs the question: is originality dead?
