The film also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, and Merritt Wever.

J.J. Abrams unveils mysterious new movie The Great Beyond with Glen Powell and Jenna Ortega at CinemaCon

The film also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, and Merritt Wever.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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April 14, 2026 10:56 p.m. ET

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J.J. Abrams. Credit: John Medina/Getty Images

J.J. Abrams is finally pulling back the curtain on his mysterious new movie.

The *Star Wars *and *Star Trek* filmmaker debuted the first look at *The Great Beyond* during Warner Bros.' CinemaCon presentation on Tuesday. Not much is known about the plot of the film, which stars Glen Powell and Jenna Ortega — and the footage didn't offer many clues.

The teaser opens in a grimy control room filled with analog tech. Typing appears across a computer screen to quote H.G. Wells: "There is, though I do not know how there is, or how it may be, another world, out of sight and sound."

We then see Powell walking through what might be a comic shop, where he shares a moment with Ortega, who's sporting grey hair. “People like us, I think we’re looking for something, something pure, something we can't find here,” her character says in voice-over.

Quick cuts reveal flashing lights, Powell wearing some sort of glowing headset, Emma Mackey holding what looks like red kryptonite, a stone floor magically rearranging itself, and Powell running through a street, looking a bit like his mentor, Tom Cruise.

Glen Powell in Universal City, Calif., on July 13, 2024; Jenna Ortega in London on Aug. 30, 2024.

Presley Ann/Getty; Mike Marsland/WireImage

"I've been very lucky to get to work on franchises, movies that are sort of bigger than all of us," Abrams told the audience, adding that he "needed to get back to telling original stories."

The seed for *The Great Beyond* "came years ago," he continued, saying that it "took a long time to write," partly due to "the extensive worldbuilding," but also because he "didn't want it to just be one thing."

With this film, he hoped to reconnect "with that sense of wonder and possibility that we had when we were kids, which I think a lot of people, over time, get that beaten out of them."

Speaking of the cast, Abrams joked he "knew we needed a leading man who you look at and you go, *Maybe he peaked in high school*." Pausing for laughs, he added, "I'm not saying Glen Powell did…but he just had that kind of...he could be on his heels, but also has hero-in-the-making vibes."

Abrams worked with Powell on the documentary *Blue Angels, *and told a story about a time they "laughed so hard" during a pre-screening speech, that the actor "had to change his shirt, he was sweating so much." The director said the actor had a "childlike silliness to him that was so infectious."

He went on to praise Ortega, noting that after he sent her the script, she "just started talking about it from the inside out."

Samuel L. Jackson, Sophie Okonedo, and Merritt Wever are also in the supporting cast.

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*The Great Beyond* marks Abrams' first film since 2019's *Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker*. It's also just his second original film to date after 2011's *Super 8*.

*The Great Beyond* will release in theaters on Nov. 13.

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Source: “EW Sci-Fi”