Sony brings Spider-Verse, Denzel, 'Napoleon' to CinemaCon

Sony chairman and CEO Tom Rothman did not hold back Monday on the opening night of CinemaCon in Las Vegas, reminding a crowd of theatre owners and exhibitors that Sony is and was the 'only major studio dedicated entirely to theatrical.'

Sony chairman and CEO Tom Rothman did not hold back Monday on the opening night of CinemaCon in Las Vegas, reminding a crowd of theatre owners and exhibitors that Sony is and was the "only major studio dedicated entirely to theatrical."

The studio's motion pictures group president Josh Greenstein added that while other studios experimented with streaming and shortened theatrical windows over the past few years, Sony stayed the course.

"Just two years ago in the throes of the pandemic, there was a lot of noise, a lot of talk about the death of exhibition," Greenstein said on stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. "The future, everyone said, was streaming."

Now some of those studios who pivoted are "realizing the value of exclusive theatrical windows and reversing course," he said. Some streamers are even getting into the theatrical game in a meaningful way.

"Oh how the times have changed," Greenstein said. "I say come on in, there's room for everyone, the water is fine."

One of those streamers is Apple TV, who partnered with Sony to give Ridley Scott's "Napoleon," starring Joaquin Phoenix, a robust theatrical release in November, before it goes to its small screen subscribers. Rothman excitedly previewed the first ever footage from the film from the 85-year-old director.

"Old school, big screen," Rothman said. "Epic is the only proper description of that Apple original film."