Game Awards 2019 to Play on 53 Cinemark Screens Alongside ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’
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This year’s Game Awards, recognizing the top video games, creators and esports of 2019, is coming to the silver screen.
In a three-way partnership, the Game Awards, Cinemark Theatres and Sony Pictures are teaming on a superticket program pairing the Dec. 12 live simulcast of the 2019 Game Awards in 53 Cinemark locations with a bonus screening of Sony Pictures’ game-themed “Jumanji: The Next Level” (a day before the film’s wide release).
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Tickets for the one-night-only event are available for $20 each. More info is available at cinemark.com/gameawards.
The fifth annual Game Awards will be held Dec. 12 in L.A. and will be live-streamed for free again on more than 45 different platforms worldwide including including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and major video game platforms. “Jumanji: The Next Level” will screen at local Cinemark theaters before the Game Awards presentation, which is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. PT.
“The Game Awards is all about bringing the game community together, and this year, for the first time, we’re giving fans the option of gathering live in a Cinemark auditorium to watch all the awards, musical performances and world premieres of the most anticipated games of the future on the big screen, with the added perk of being some of the first fans to see ‘Jumanji: The Next Level,’” Geoff Keighley, creator of The Game Awards, said in a statement.
Sony Pictures decided to link up with the Game Awards on the special event as soon as it became clear the release date of “Jumanji: The Next Level” aligned with the awards, according to Ann-Elizabeth Crotty, EVP, global client services and exhibitor partnerships for the studio. “Given that the premise of our last two Jumanji films is about getting transported into a video game, we couldn’t think of a better pairing than this,” she said.
In addition to the awards themselves, across categories including game of the year, the Game Awards features exclusive new game announcements, world-premiere trailers and musical performances.
“We know video games are a big passion point for a huge segment of our audience, so this unique superticket brings fans the ultimate night out at the theater,” added Justin McDaniel, SVP of global content for Cinemark.
In “Jumanji: The Next Level,” the gang is back but the game has changed: As they return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own, the players will have to brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid deserts to the snowy mountains, in order to escape the world’s most dangerous game. Directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Kasdan, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, the film stars Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Awkwafina, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, with Danny Glover and Danny DeVito.
In 2018, the Game Awards garnered 26.2 million live views, up 128% year over year, driven by significant gains on Twitch and YouTube and expanded China distribution, according to the Game Awards.
The Game Awards’ advisory board of industry execs includes Activision president Rob Kostich; Electronic Arts chief studios officer Laura Miele; Phil Spencer, VP and GM, Google Stadia; Microsoft’s Phil Spencer, EVP of gaming; Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser; Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot; Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad; and Tencent Games senior VP Steven Ma.
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