Welcome to CinemaCon!

Sony Pictures Classics has had another good year with 2 Oscar nominations for Blue Moon for Best Actor (Ethan Hawke) and Best Original Screenplay and major success at the box office led by Nuremberg starring Russell Crowe (at 15 million domestically), the award winning documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin (at 10.4M), the Oscar winner I’m Still Here at (6.3M), Penguin Lessons (3.3M) Eleanor The Great directed by Scarlet Johansson at (2.6M), and Merrily We Roll Along (2.5M).

This year promises even greater success. On April 24 we open the UK box office hit I Swear Directed by Kirk Jones (Waking Ned Devine, Nanny McPhee), winner of 3 BAFTA awards including Best Actor for Robert Aramayo, (triumphing over Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael B. Jordan, Timothee Chalamet and Ethan Hawke!). This Rocky- like true story, told with understanding and humor, is about a young man diagnosed with Tourette’s at age 15 and the challenges of his journey. With Peter Mullen (Braveheart, The Magdalen Sisters) and Maxine Peake (Silk) and Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) in this crowd-pleasing winner!

On June 5 we have the 30^th Anniversary,4K restoration re-release of Trainspotting, supervised and approved by director Danny Boyle. With the cast of Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle and Kelly Macdonald.

Also in June will be the contemporary feminist murder mystery, Unidentified, stunningly shot in never seen before locations in Saudia Arabia, directed by Haifaa Al Mansour (Wadjda, The Perfect Candidate). This story of a young female police detective in search of the killer of an enigmatic beauty was a big hit at the Toronto International film festival.

On July 10, in theaters nationwide we will release the raucous, outrageous and surprising

Gail Daughtry and The Celebrity Sex Pass. Directed by David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models) and written by Wain and longtime collaborator Ken Marino (The State), this original comedy premiered to rave reviews and enthusiastic audiences at the Sundance Film Festival. The film, shot entirely on location in Los Angeles, stars Zoey Deutch (Nouvelle Vague), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), John Slattery (Nuremberg), Ken Marino (The Residence), Miles Gutierrez-Riley (Smile 2), Ben Wang (Karate Kid: Legends), Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus), along with a cavalcade of celebrity cameos. Guaranteed to be the independent success of this summer.

In late summer comes the re-release of the new 4K UHD restoration of The Piano which was supervised and approved by Jane Campion and her director of photography, Stuart Dryburgh. This multiple Oscar winner stars Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel.

Going into the fall 2026 season we will have several acclaimed films that premiered at the 2026 Sundance film festival. Bedford Park, written and directed by Stephanie Ahn, took home the US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Debut Feature. The film stars Moon Choi (A Girl with Closed Eyes, Anarchist From Colony), Son Sukku (Nine Puzzles, Heavenly Ever After), Won Mi Kyung (Our Unwritten Seoul, My Unfamiliar Family), Kim Eung Soo (2009: Lost Memories, Once Upon A Time), and Jefferson White (Yellowstone, Civil War). The film follows Audrey's struggles between loyalty to her Korean immigrant family and her own American identity, as a child raised in New Jersey.  A fateful meeting with Eli, an ex-wrestler, a South Korean with his own fractured past leads to a sensual and unexpected love story. Critics have raved about this one. 

Then there’s the multi-cultural, richly magical dance movie, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!  directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka. (Best Director winner at Sundance). Shot in Tokyo, starring Academy Award and Golden Globe ® nominee Rinko Kikuchi (Babel). Inspired by the spirit of the director’s mother, the film follows Haru and Luis who love competing in Tokyo’s ballroom dance scene. After tragedy strikes, Haru withdraws into isolation and then emerges with a new life in this vibrant and uplifting movie.

In October comes another Sundance hit, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, written and directed by Noah Segan starring John Turturro (Severance, The Batman) in what many are already calling the finest performance of his career. This is a major New York movie featuring Giancarlo Esposito (Captain America: Brave New World, Breaking Bad), Will Price (After the Hunt, A Complete Unknown), Tatiana Maslany (The Monkey, Orphan Black), Victoria Moroles (Ballard, Never Have I Ever) and Steve Buscemi (Wednesday, Boardwalk Empire). Harry Lehman (John Turturro) an aging pickpocket, who plies his trade with ever-diminishing returns in a drastically changed New York City.  

We also have much anticipated new work by Pedro Almodovar, Bitter Christmas. A new personal Almodovar film that promises new colors, fresh characters (played by a new array of actors) and energizing plot twists that will keep you guessing between reality and illusion.

And that’s just a taste of what Sony Pictures Classics has for you to play. There’s more to come and EVEN more titles to be announced in the coming months!