Disney put the spotlight on its slate of new releases for the upcoming year Wednesday at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, including a special screening of the first 27 minutes of "Finding Dory." Head of Distribution Dave Hollis began the presentation by thanking the crowd at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, and reflected on how it's a great time for the movie industry, with revenue reaching record numbers. Of course, that includes "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," as the highest-grossing movie of all time in the domestic box office.

Discussion of "The Force Awakens" transitioned into the Star Wars franchise as a whole, as Hollis noted "Star Wars: Episode VIII" has begun production -- and reminded the crowd of earlier arrival of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," opening on Dec. 16.

"We're excited about what it portends for the future of the franchise," Hollis said. He then showed the recently released trailer, which he noted was being seen in a theater for the first time, as it'll be released alongside next month's "Captain America: Civil War."

Mowgli and Baloo on a tree branch



Hollis segued to the new live-action retelling of "The Jungle Book," which, "draws from Rudyard Kipling's source material and Disney's 1967 classic cartoon film." He assured the crowd it "will rival its predecessor in cinematic experience," before screening an extended scene from the film, partially seen in the trailer, where Mowgli is chased by his tiger nemesis Shere Khan before escaping with the helpful assistance of a herd of water buffalo. "The Jungle Book" opens this Friday, April 15.

After the "Jungle Book" footage, Hollis commented how proud he was of Disney being the best at telling "the modern fairytale; modern stories spectacularly retold." Given its upcoming slate, the studio is certainly playing to that strength. "Alice Through the Looking Glass" opens May 27 and features the return of Alice, the Red and White Queens and Johnny Depp's memorable Mad Hatter. "Pete's Dragon," scheduled to open Aug. 12, revisits the 1977 classic, while a live-action reimagining of "Beauty and the Beast," starring Emma Watson is scheduled for release on March 17, 2017.

Director Steven Spielberg will bring "The BFG" -- which stands for "Big Friendly Giant" and is based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name -- to the big screen, along with, as Hollis indicated, "his reunited dream team -- the 'E.T.' team" (including screenwriter Melissa Mathison and composter John Williams). He then ran extended footage of the upcoming movie which showcased not only the titular big friendly giant, but a bunch of not-so-friendly giants, also.

Next was "Finding Dory," director Andrew Stanton's sequel to 2003's beloved Pixar film "Finding Nemo." Hollis called it "a movie we almost forgot to make," since it had been 13 years since the original film. To the surprise of the Colosseum crowd, the first 27 minutes of the movie was screened -- although Hollis prefaced the footage by imploring the crowd to not reveal the big surprise in the opening. But you'll be able to see it soon enough, as the film is scheduled for release on June 17.



After the "Finding Dory" footage, Hollis was ready to discuss "the achievement that is the Marvel Universe." He reflected upon the releases of movies such as "Ant-Man," "Captain America: Winter Solider" and "Guardians of the Galaxy," which "fit seamlessly within the Marvel Cinematic Universe," but couldn't be more different. And "more different" is yet to come with mention of "Doctor Strange" -- Marvel's first foray into its mystical universe upcoming later this year. Hollis introduced the "Doctor Strange" trailer, once again a first viewing in an actual movie theatre, since it premiered earlier this week on television.

In reflecting upon character development, Hollis noted the movies have been particularly successful by illuminating "what makes [the heroes] human when they're decidedly inhuman." The movies have built upon themselves and progressed, with Phase 3 having "transcended what we refer to as the superhero genre," becoming something more than superhero movies, as reflected by "Ant-Man" and "Captain America: Winter Soldier."

Before moving onto the "Captain America: Civil War" (release date May 6) screening which the audience was fervently anticipating, Hollis showed a timeline with Disney releases projected over the next two years. Highlights included "Thor: Ragnarok" (in which Hulk will return to the screen) on Nov. 3, 2017, "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" on May 5, 2017 and "Black Panther" on Feb. 16, 2018.

The audience seemed enthralled by the movie, with the Spider-Man appearances an easy highlight. Reactions to Paul Rudd's Ant-Man were also very positive, and the Colosseum erupted in applause in the film's closing. Disney and Marvel likely have another blockbuster on their hands with "Captain America: Civil War."