Universal’s CinemaCon presentation: Michael Bay’s Ambulance, Sing 2, The 355 & more reactions

Last Updated on August 27, 2021

Our own Chris Bumbray has been in Las Vegas covering CinemaCon this week and Universal Pictures just finished showing off their slate of upcoming films during their presentation.

Perhaps one of the more anticipated films of the event was Ambulance, an action-thriller directed by none other than Michael Bay. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as adopted siblings who hijack an ambulance after a bank robbery gone wrong. While Gyllenhaal’s character is a career criminal, Abdul-Mateen‘s character is a veteran who gets roped into the heist after his brother promises him a cut of the score in order pay for his wife’s surgery. A super slick trailer was unveiled that was full of wild car chases, frequent Heat-style shootouts, and everything you expect from a Michael Bay film. Eiza Gonzalez also stars as an EMT treating a cop who was accidentally shot by Abdul-Mateen’s character. Bumbray described the film as Bay’s take on Dog Day Afternoon, but pushed to the max with a hell of a lot more violence. Bring it on!

Sing 2, Universal’s sequel to the 2016 animated musical, was also featured. The film follows Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) as he sets his sight on debuting a new show at the Crystal Tower Theater, but with no connections, Moon and his cast of singers must recruit reclusive rock legend Clay Calloway (Bono) and get him to return to the stage for their show. Universal showed off an extended preview that featured Ash (Scarlett Johansson) singing I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For with Clay in an emotional duet. Sing 2 looks to be another fun animated family film, every bit as big and broad as the first film.

We also got a fresh look at The 355, Simon Kinberg’s spy thriller that features an all-star cast of bad-ass women including Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, Penelope Cruz, and Fan Bingbing. The film follows a CIA agent who teams up with other international agents to recover a top-secret weapon. The new footage included a lot of gunfights with plenty of hand-to-hand action thrown in for good measure. It seems that the women’s families get kidnapped at some point in the film, and Diane Kruger’s character is apparently a little rougher than the others as she’s shown to be torturing the bad guys. Bumbray said that it looks more like Mission: Impossible than The Bourne Identity, which points to a (hopefully) fun action flick.

Next on deck was Marry Me, a new Jennifer Lopez movie that finds her playing a sensational Latin pop star. That sounds familiar. Jennifer Lopez’s character is engaged to another pop star (Maluma), but when he ditches her at what was supposed to be a public wedding at their concert, she chooses to marry a stranger (Owen Wilson) in the audience who happens to be holding a “Marry Me” sign. Cue the usual romantic comedy tropes and you’ve got the makings of a feel-good film just in time for Valentine’s Day 2022.

Getting back to animated content, Universal also screened a clip for The Bad Guys from Dreamworks Animation. The film focuses on a team of misunderstood animal criminals known as Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), and Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina). When Mr. Wolf saves an old lady, she calls him a good boy, which sets him on the road to convincing the rest of his group to live their lives as forces of good. Although the animation in the clip was unfinished, it does look pretty cool and a little different from what we typically see.

Universal also showed off a new trailer for Dear Evan Hansen featuring the song Waving Through a Window. The adaption of the stage musical will debut at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2021.