Last spring, two directors traveled to CinemaCon in Las Vegas to convince movie theater owners that, after two years of pandemic disaster, they had made the movies that could save theaters. Turns out, they were both right. Katey Rich talks to Joseph Kosinski, who teamed up with star Tom Cruise and producer Jerry Bruckheimer to expand the legacy of Top Gun, and Baz Luhrmann, who says it's his "lot in life" to tackle subjects that other people think are dated, or even cheesy — but every time, he sells them on it anyway.

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Our editor and producer is Brett Fuchs. 
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