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BARCELONA — Continuing his long tradition of aggressively courting international theater owners, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg was the first Hollywood executive to present his upcoming slate at this year’s edition of CineEurope — including treating exhibitors to upcoming family film Turbo.
Katzenberg is not the only one determined to put on a good show at the annual convention of international theater owners, which got underway Monday in Barcelona’s beachside convention center and comes two months after CinemaCon, the annual gathering of U.S. exhibitors in Las Vegas.
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All the major Hollywood studios are turning out in full force this year. In addition to presenting reels of their upcoming films throughout the week, they’ll be screening a slew of movies in full, from Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim to The Lone Ranger to Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudekis‘ raunchy comedy We’re the Millers.
Joining Katzenberg onstage to help introduce Turbo, about an ordinary garden snail whose dreams of becoming a speed racer are realized, were Ryan Reynolds, who voices the title role and director David Soren.
“This is an underdog story,” said Soren. “And we found the perfect match in voice and in persona in Ryan.”
DreamWorks Animation filled out the audience for Turbo‘s premiere with kids from Barcelona and Madrid.
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The voice cast of Turbo, which 20th Century Fox and DWA begin rolling out in mid-July, also includes Paul Giamatti, Samuel L. Jackson and Snoop Dogg, who plays a snail named Smoove Move. On Tuesday night in Barcelona, Reynolds and Jackson will host a party at CineEurope with a musical performance by Snoop Dogg. There’s also a press junket on Tuesday.
“It will be quite a night,” said Katzenberg.
Before the Turbo presentation, Katzenberg praised 20th Century Fox International co-presidents Paul Hanneman and Tomas Jegues, his new partners (DWA previously had a distribution deal with Paramount).
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He then shared exclusive new clips from How to Train Your Dragon 2, opening in summer 2014, as well as footage from Mr. Peabody & Sherman, which hits theaters next spring. Both drew strong applause.
CineEurope is run by the Film Expo Group, which is owned by The Hollywood Reporter‘s parent company, Guggenheim Digital Media.
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