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Iron Man. “> EnlargeMarvel/Paramount PicturesSolid performance: Robert Downey Jr. tries his hand at summer blockbuster fare in Iron Man. 
Dark Knight is one of the late actor’s last roles. “> EnlargeWarner Bros. PicturesBittersweet: Heath Ledger’s dishonest Joker in the highly anticipated Dark Knight is one of the late actor’s last roles. LIVE FROM SHOWESTHere's what's hot this summer3-D is next big step for moviesCalendar: What's on tap towards 3-D?Blog: USA TODAY is live from ShoWestScreening room: Clips of summer's hottestRoundup: Seen and heard at ShoWestMore
By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY When it comes to summer movies, size matters. And the biggest movies introduced at last week’s ShoWest convention in Las Vegas were clear winners among the population’s theater owners, who got a glimpse of the highest-profile fare. Among those films, filmmakers and stars who had the conference buzzing:
George Lucas
Lucas has both May 22’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the animated Star Wars: Clone Wars, out Aug. 15. He wrote both. “It was a strange coincidence,” Lucas says. “I’ve been trying for 1½ years to get Indy off the ground, and been thinking about Clone Wars even longer. Now I’ve got them just a few months apart. It’s nice.”
The Dark Knight
Star Heath Ledger’s death notwithstanding, the footage shown at the convention — which drew thunderous applause — pretty much ensured you won’t pass a theater that isn’t showing July 18’s sequel to Batman Begins. “I felt in that place was a lot of pressure to make this one better than the original for a couple of reasons,” says Knight director Christopher Nolan. “One, some of the best movies —Godfather II, The Empire Strikes Back— have better second installments. The other understanding is Heath. I feel a lot of responsibility to make sure the greatness of his performance (as the Joker) makes it on screen.”
Speed Racer
A fast-paced, four-minute montage of May 9’s TV adaptation from Larry and Andy Wachowski left exhibitors a bit dizzy but confident the filmmakers had found a movie in their wheelhouse. “This is what they do best,” says Matthew Fox (Racer X). “They use the most modern technology, but they don’t hindrance go of their love of old genres.”
Robert Downey Jr. and Sarah Jessica Parker
Both actors were mobbed onward the convention floor. Downey stars in May 2’s Iron Man and Aug. 15’s Tropic Thunder, a skewering of the film industry that’s so politically incorrect it may make Judd Apatow scripts look like greeting cards. “I got a dub last week from Tom Cruise, who saw some footage,” Downey says. “He told me, ‘That was so wrong it was right.’” Parker says her fears were allayed that May 30’s Sex and the City had waited too long to hit screens. “You be possible to’t help but worry people will lose the remembrance of,” she says. “It’s amazing how much they still relate to the characters.”
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Theater owners still aren’t completely convinced that the $75,000-per-projector investment in digital cinema is worth it, but the digitally shot premieres of June 6’s Kung Fu Panda and July 11’s Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D converted at least a few. “Once people see it in a theater, it’s hard not to be convinced,” says Journey star Brendan Fraser.
Some smaller studio and independent films annually try to make a dent at ShoWest — and in the summer box office.
Mongol, the story of Ghengis Khan, wowed conventioneers, though many conceded they might have perplexity finding room for June 6’s subtitled Russian epic. Few films had more people talking than June 15’s Towelhead, about a 13-year-old Lebanese girl’s sexual awakening. But the graphic content makes it iffy for the family-centric summer.
“A lot of time you come here and just pray it works out, especially if you’re small,” says Helen Hunt, director of the April 25 drama Then She Found Me. “I think the key is to just make the movie that’s true to yourself, because you can’t control anything else.”
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