CinemaCon Puts Elvis, Tom Cruise & Harvey Weinstein In Early Oscar Contention – Yes, That’s Right

deadline.com:

After spending the entire week trapped in the bowels of a smoke-filled, maskless, jam-packed Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for CinemaCon, and after sitting through the various studio presentations in search of possible clues to what might be in play for the 95th annual Academy Awards, I can say two of the names we are very likely to hear about might be two of the most unexpected: Tom Cruise and Harvey Weinstein.

I am not hallucinating. I will get to both in a second, but first I have to say Oscar pundits don’t really travel to this annual exhibitors convention with any realistic expectations of seeing major awards contenders.No, this is more to excite those theater owners and managers who crowd the Colosseum to see the likes of Dwayne Johnson or Keanu Reeves tout their next sequels and/or Marvel movies.

The collective takeaway after four days of this thing is more, more, more of the “IP” (a favored phrase at CinemaCon) that serves as comfort food for theaters, and that includes more John Wick, more Jurassic World, more Aquaman, more Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Thor, Black Panther, Fast & Furious and especially way, way more of Avatar, with four sequels and the first one ready to go in December as the short but impressive teaser drew excitement from the collected crowd.CinemaCon 2022: Deadline’s Full CoverageBut potential Oscar discoveries?

Well, not as easy to detect, but based on names involved and their own Academy history, we can offer a brief rundown.So let’s start with Paramount and Top Gun: Maverick.