Theater owners gather in Las Vegas to celebrate all things about the movies at annual Cinemacon

LAS VEGAS -- Every year, theater owners from around the world head to Las Vegas for CinemaCon. Along with viewing snippets of upcoming movies, they also hand out their Big Screen Achievement Awards.

Geena Davis joked about being the second person to receive the Viola Davis Trailblazer Award. "It's great to be honored with an award given to people named Davis!"

She has been a voice for the under-represented...helping people tell their authentic stories.

"It's very meaningful to me," said Davis. 'I really, really appreciate it. I never think of myself as a trailblazer but that others might is very nice."

The National Association of Theatre Owners also named Lupita Nyong'o Star of the Year, and Joseph Quinn as the Breakthrough Performer of the Year.

Both star in the upcoming thriller, "A Quiet Place: Day One."

The theater owners named Ariana Greenblatt, who's in the upcoming film "Borderlands," as the Rising Star of 2024.

"It is so great and it's full of people who generally care about the movies and the cinemas and the theaters and that experience in a whole. So, I feel very seen here," said Greenblatt.

This year's CinemaCon Vanguard Award went to "Inside Out 2" star Amy Poehler. Dennis Quaid accepted this year's Cinema Icon Award, and Shawn Levy, Director of the Year. His "Deadpool and Wolverine" will be out in July,

"As a movie lover, forget the director part of me, the audience part of me was just sitting back every day going, man, how did I get so lucky?" said Levy.

Dan Stevens, currently in "Godzilla Kong: The New Empire," and soon to be in "Cuckoo," accepted the Award of Excellence in Acting.

"I'm thrilled. It's especially nice to be recognized by the people who are responsible for connecting with our work and getting it out there to audiences," said Stevens.