Archive April 2, 2025

Embattled Hollywood studio Warner Bros on Tuesday unveiled footage from its make-or-break “Superman” reboot and a lavish new Leonardo DiCaprio film at the CinemaCon event in Las Vegas.

Warner, which has suffered several recent costly flops like “Joker: Folie a Deux,” brought stars including DiCaprio on stage to promote its latest high-budget efforts to movie theater owners at the annual summit.

“Superman,” hitting US theaters in July, is the studio’s attempt to totally relaunch its line of superhero movies, which are based on the popular DC comics but have long been overshadowed by Disney’s rival Marvel films.

Director James Gunn said he was determined to reinvigorate a character “who’s perceived as old fashioned by many” for modern audiences.

Superman will be played by actor David Corenswet, but a key ingredient in the film appears to be the superhero’s dog Krypto, who played a starring role in much of the new footage.

Based on Gunn’s own badly-behaved rescue pooch, Krypto frequently nips at Superman’s heels and destroys his Fortress of Solitude base, rather than helping his master.

The footage indicated a lighter, more humorous approach, in contrast with many of Warner’s previous “Superman” movies which earned poor reviews and relatively disappointing box office returns with their ultra-serious tones.

“This is a movie that celebrates kindness and human love,” promised Gunn.

Variety’s Brent Lang dubbed the film Warner’s “last, best chance to make a movie that rivals Marvel.”

‘Fried my brain’

The launch comes as the studio attempts to shrug off multiple reports that it is considering parting ways with its movie chiefs Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca.

The pair have approved a number of high-budget, original films from award-winning filmmakers, including last month’s flop sci-fi “Mickey 17” from “Parasite” director Bong Joon-ho.

All eyes are now on Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” starring DiCaprio.

Loosely based on post-modern novelist Thomas Pynchon’s “Vineland,” the film cost more than $140 million to produce — meaning Warner is banking heavily on DiCaprio’s star power to lure audiences.

DiCaprio, who has been one of Hollywood’s top A-listers for decades, said he had been wanting to work with “There Will Be Blood” director Anderson for “almost 20 years now.”

Extensive yet cryptic new footage showed DiCaprio playing Bob — a man who was once a “revolutionary” but has “fried my brain” by having abused drugs and alcohol for decades — struggling to remember a secret passcode that will help him locate his daughter.

The original novel is set in California during the conservative 1980s backlash to the previous decades’ hippie movements.

“I think with this film, he’s tapped into something politically and culturally that is brewing beneath our psyche,” said DiCaprio.

“But at the same time, it’s an incredibly epic movie and has such scope and scale.”

‘Baseline’

Also on Tuesday, Warner and Apple presented footage from “F1,” a new racing drama starring Brad Pitt from the director of “Top Gun: Maverick,” out in July.

Lionsgate flew in singer The Weeknd for a surprise musical set to delight movie theater owners and promote “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” a new psychological thriller film based on his latest album. The film is set to be released in May.

The day began with US movie theaters’ trade organization calling for new films to play exclusively on their big screens for at least 45 days before becoming available on streaming.

Cinema owners say box office profits have been undercut by shorter theatrical-only “windows” brought in during the pandemic, in part as audiences now assume — sometimes correctly — that they can watch new movies at home within weeks.

Veiled women ululated as the blare of trumpets and booms of hunting guns filled the air, heralding the approach of the emir in a huge procession of horseback riders draped in colourful robes and turbans.

Durbar, a festivities-filled procession held each Eid, saw Emir Hameem Nuhu Sunusi, of the Jigawa state capital Dutse, ride through his city as traditional leaders across the rest of Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north did the same.

In Dutse — also the capital of the Dutse emirate — the UNESCO-recognised fete had residents dressed to the nines as they lined the streets, raising clenched fists in homage to the emir amid drumming, singing and dancing by royal troupes and thousands of horsemen.

Drenched in sweat, the troupes Monday danced to the drums in a frenzy, while royal guards dressed in their hallmark robes of red and green flanked the emir, seated on a white stallion under a blue parasol to shield him from the scorching west African sun.

On Tuesday, the festivities marking the end of the austerity of Ramadan continue, with the emir making a tour of the city to meet residents.

Durbar “spices up the Eid celebrations,” spectator Awwal Adamu, a 27-year-old undergraduate said, one of the thousands in the throng.

It also showcases Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage — often overshadowed by the north’s myriad armed conflicts, Emir Sunusi told AFP afterwards in his palace.

Airing of grievances

Durbar takes place twice a year, on the Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha holidays celebrated worldwide in the Islamic calendar.

The festival dates back to the 15th century, originating in Kano, the north’s largest city.

But this year, Sunusi stole the show from Kano, which cancelled its Durbar for the second time in a row due to a legal tussle between two rival royals contesting the emir’s throne.

Traditional rulers have no constitutional powers but are important cultural custodians, wielding enormous influence that is crucial for politicians wishing to win election to the country’s secular federal government.

Monday’s procession culminated with the governor, Umar Namadi, receiving the emir and his entourage outside his office — as daring young men perched on gnarled boughs of baobab trees overlooking the pavilion to watch.

Seated next to Namadi, Sunusi received homage from his 26 district heads, who took turns to greet the monarch by squatting on all fours in royal obeisance.

Each contingent of the procession led by the district heads “has its own different system of decoration for the horses and the horse riders,” Wada Alhaji, the chief of staff to the emir, told AFP.

“The different displays showcase the rich diversity within the emirate.”

Durbar is not just a cultural festival — it is also an avenue for the emir to lodge his people’s complaints to the government.

The emir told Namadi about the menace of erosion and flooding affecting some areas in the emirate, and the people’s call on the government to expedite work on a new police training college.

Pride of the north

Dutse resident Khadija Ibrahim called the Durbar “the most interesting part of the Eid festivity”.

“I can’t imagine the Eid without the Durbar,” said the 45-year old-mother of eight.

The event, which draws onlookers and well-wishers from across Nigeria, as well as foreign tourists, “is part of the things we are proud of”, Emir Sunusi told AFP.

“In lots of places when you talk about Nigeria, it is negative things that come to mind,” the 46-year-old monarch said. “I feel we are not judged fairly.”

Sunusi said he hopes the Durbar can change the negative perception of Nigeria abroad and help attract more tourists who would be able to see the “good people, peace-loving, honest people” of the country’s north, where the rural hinterlands have been beset by years of armed conflict.

Durbar, added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage, tells a fuller, more complex story of the north.

“Once UNESCO recognises you it means you will be known all across the world,” Sunusi said.

“This will help us a lot in making other people know us more.”