Brad Pitt movie 'going to be the cinematic event of the summer'

Hollywood is counting on this summer to reverse a downward trend. Tickets sales in the United States and Canada are running 11% behind the same point last year, according to Comscore data, and remain below pre-pandemic levels. Cinemas face competition from at-home streaming services such as Netflix.

This week, movie studios previewed their biggest summer bets at CinemaCon, an annual gathering of theater owners in Las Vegas. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer reminded the crowd that "Top Gun: Maverick" brought in $1.5 billion worldwide in 2022.

"We're here to tell you that we're ready to do it again," Bruckheimer said, with Warner Bros (WBD.O), opens new tab action movie "F1" starring Brad Pitt as a Formula 1 driver. "We believe this is going to be the cinematic event of the summer."

"F1," scheduled for June, is among the few big-budget original movies in a slate of sequels, reboots and franchises.

Walt Disney's (DIS.N), Marvel Studios previewed "Thunderbolts," the story of an irreverent team of superheroes starring Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. "Thunderbolts" will kick off the summer movie season in May, and Marvel will follow-up with "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" in July.

Warner Bros (WBD.O), touted its new "Superman" directed by "Guardians of the Galaxy" filmmaker James Gunn. Actor David Corenswet will don the famous red cape for the first time, part of the studio's latest attempt to reinvigorate the DC Comics movies.

Comcast's (CMCSA.O), Universal Pictures promoted a new dinosaur movie, "Jurassic World: Rebirth," starring Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey.

One of cinema's biggest champions, Tom Cruise, teased "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning," the film that may be his last in the action franchise.