The first group of honorees has been announced for CinemaCon’s 2022 Big Screen Achievement Awards taking place in Las Vegas on April 28, 2022. Two-time Oscar-winner Robert De Niro will be recognized with the Cinema Vérité Award in honor of his exceptional career in films. This year’s gathering of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) members will also honor Zoe Saldana with CinemaCon’s Star of the Year award.
Billy Eichner is set to receive CinemaCon’s Comedy Star of the Year award and Abby Ryder Fortson earned NATO’s Star of Tomorrow award. Top Gun: Maverick‘s Glen Powell will be recognized with the Star of Tomorrow award.
“CinemaCon may be the only time during the course of the year where the exhibition community gets to thank the creative world for providing the very best in the world of movies,” stated Mitch Neuhauser, Managing Director of CinemaCon. “Our roster of honorees this year represents an incredible scope of talent and to have one of the most legendary actors in the history of film being honored, that of course being Robert De Niro, well it really doesn’t get better than that. It’s going to be a very special night for everyone.”
The 2022 CinemaCon runs April 25 through April 28 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This year marks the event’s return to an April date after Covid-19 forced the event to be canceled in 2020 and moved to August in 2021. The annual Big Screen Achievement Awards ceremony is always held on the final night of CinemaCon.
Robert De Niro and Zoe Saldana will both be seen in writer/director David O. Russell’s Canterbury Glass which is targeting a November 2022 release. Saldana also reprises her role as Neytiri in Avatar 2 opening in theaters this December.
Three-time Emmy Award nominee Billy Eichner recently wrapped up work on Bros which he co-wrote with Nicholas Stoller. Bros is set to open on September 30, 2022. Abby Ryder Fortson stars in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret based on the popular Judy Blume book and opening on September 16, 2022.
