Carl Roberts 
The return of The Baba Yaga, The Expendables, plus details about more content from Lionsgate roars loud at CinemaCon 2022!
Lionsgate has a brilliant track record with the content they produce. But by their high standards, this year’s offerings at CinemaCon are enough to blow anyone away. Not only did they drop some terrific footage from two films in their arsenal that are now on their fourth movies. Not only did they deliver some footage from their upcoming movie of a videogame franchise. They also managed to bring us news of a spin-off from one of these films but also news of a prequel to one of their biggest success stories. But of course, we have to start with the return of The Baba Yaga himself.
JOHN WICK CHAPTER 4
The world can’t get enough of the dog-loving assassin, John Wick. And we eagerly await his fourth big-screen outing. Keanu Reeves alongside director Chad Stahelski took to the stage to unveil the first trailer for ‘John Wick Chapter 4.’ Reeves once again portrays Wick. And is again joined by Laurence Fishburne as The Bowery King. Lance Reddick as Charon, the concierge of The Continental Hotel. And the ever-present Ian McShane as Winston, the manager of The Continental. This time, it looks as if Bill Skarsgard will be playing the villain in the film. And he will be joined by Clancy Brown and Hiroyuki Sanada. Scott Adkins, Rina Sawayama. And the legendary Donnie Yen.
The trailer shows Wick having to retrain himself after his near demise at the climax of the third film. He takes refuge with The Bowery King before emerging again, appearing in France. The footage boasts an impressive-looking Yen during a sword fight. But the highlight comes in the form of Wick attacking and defeating several villains while wielding Nunchucks. March 24th, 2023 cannot arrive fast enough!
BALLERINA
In John Wick-related news, the film ‘Ballerina’ was mentioned during proceedings. The spin-off is said to be set around a young female assassin. Her mission is to seek revenge against those who murdered her family. It has been confirmed that the talented actress, Ana De Armas will be taking on the lead role in the film.
BORDERLANDS
A small amount of footage was shown from the live-action version of the classic videogame ‘Borderlands.’ The film stars Cate Blanchett as Lilith, an infamous treasure hunter with a very mysterious past. She returns to her home planet with great reluctance. She is tasked with finding the missing daughter of the most powerful man in the entire universe. Blanchett was shown fighting her way through a cityscape. Also making an appearance in the footage was Kevin Hart as Roland. And the voice of Jack Black as Claptrap.
THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES
The ‘Hunger Games.’ franchise earned Lionsgate a fortune in revenue at the box office. Starring the up and coming (at the time) Jennifer Lawrence, the films managed to entertain the fans of the books while also providing great entertainment. Now though, Lionsgate has decided to go back into the writings of author Suzanne Collins by adapting her prequel novel. Announced to hit screens on November 17th, 2023 is the film version of her novel ‘The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes.’ No Katniss this time around. The book and the film follow the young Coriolanus Snow, later to become President Snow. The character was played by Donald Sutherland in ‘The Hunger Games.’ movies but no casting announcements have been made as of yet.
THE EXPENDABLES 4
We end with the first footage from the upcoming ‘The Expendables 4.’ or ‘Expend4bles’ as it is now known, to give it its proper title. The footage that was shown stated that the previous three films in the franchise were just a “warmup” for what we can expect in this fourth film. Jason Statham leads the team in this new movie with original star Sylvester Stallone taking on a smaller role. Stallone has also confirmed that the film will be his last as the character of Barney Ross. The film looks to be back to its R-rated best after toning down for the PG-13 rated third film.
The footage shown included shots from the previous three entries before we come across the new cast in the film. Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson and Megan Fox are the new big stars of the film. And Andy Garcia makes his debut, shown wearing an Expendables beret. Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture also return for the fourth go-around with the all-action team. They will be joined by the other newcomers to the franchise, Tony Jaa and the superb Iko Uwais.
CinemaCon 2022 is starting to wind down. Check back here at The Future Of The Force for any updates on the films listed!
Sources: CinemaCon 2022/ Lionsgate
Carl Roberts is the News Editor for The Future of the Force. Aside from being our horror genre aficionado, he is also passionate about Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and the Indiana Jones movies. Follow him on Twitter where he uses the force frequently!
