The Studio Episode 9 Recap: What is CinemaCon?

Welcome to the most chaotic, hilarious, and possibly devastating episode of The Studio yet. Episode 9 is where everything unravels. A business trip to Las Vegas turns into a trippy disaster that could end Continental Studios as we know it. From drug mishaps to corporate bombshells, the penultimate episode turns the dial up to 100.

The episode kicks off with Matt Remick having dinner with his mom. She scolds him for being glued to his phone, already hinting at his unhealthy obsession with work. When he mentions Continental’s big CinemaCon presentation, his mom casually says the studio is the most important thing in his life, and that’s good. Clearly, that’s part of the problem.

Everyone at Continental is buzzing with excitement about CinemaCon. They’ve got a packed lineup, Kool-Aid, The Silver Lake, and Blackwing, and big names like Zoe Kravitz and Dave Franco are coming to promote the films. Matt pumps up his team, saying they could be heading into their biggest year ever.

CinemaCon is a major industry event where Continental Studios plans to showcase its upcoming movies. It’s crucial for their future, especially with the looming Amazon deal.

Before heading to Vegas, Matt buys mushroom-infused chocolates from his dealer, Gemma. He thinks each piece has a small dose, just 0.25g of mushrooms. In reality? Each one has 7 grams. That’s not a microdose; that’s a psychedelic rocket to the moon.

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The Amazon bombshell

Once in Vegas, Matt finds Griffin Mill, the studio’s CEO, acting off. Griffin drops a major bomb: a hedge fund is working with Continental’s board to sell the studio to Amazon. That’s huge. It would mean the end of Continental’s legacy as a traditional studio. Matt is shocked. But he believes one killer CinemaCon presentation can change everything.

Matt is determined. If they can impress at CinemaCon, surely they can stop the sale. “If this goes well,” he says, “they can’t sell us.” It’s a high-stakes gamble, but hey, they’re in Vegas after all.

To rally the troops, Matt hosts an “Old Hollywood” themed party at his hotel suite. The centerpiece? A table full of mushroom chocolates, the ones he still believes are low-dose. He eats one. Others follow. The party is full of good vibes... until reality crashes in.

Zoe Kravitz arrives straight from a flight and is pointed toward the mushroom buffet. Not knowing what they are, she eats three pieces. That’s 21 grams of mushrooms. Once she realizes what’s happened, she panics and yells at Matt: “Why wouldn’t you label these, dude?” Her condition spirals, and the team rushes her to a room to recover.

Meanwhile, Griffin is already drunk, doing shots with Dave Franco and ignoring all warnings. He grabs more chocolates and forces Matt to eat another. Things get weirder. Griffin becomes a chaotic mess, and then he disappears.

The team, Matt, Patty, S, and Quinn, scour the Venetian casino to find Griffin. They follow a trail of nacho cheese (yes, really) and find him singing nonsense songs in a gondola. Just when they think they’ve got him, he escapes again.

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Patty Lee returns

Patty Lee, once the head of Continental and now a producer, steps in to help. She notices Griffin spiraling and pushes Matt to take control. When Griffin and Patty cross paths again, the tension is thick. He once fired her. Their reunion is full of past grudges and unresolved power dynamics.

In the final moments, Griffin borrows a teen’s phone and calls entertainment reporter Matt Bologna. He says he has the scoop of the year and tells him to meet outside the casino. Is he about to leak the Amazon sale? If so, it could destroy any hope the team has left.

This episode isn’t just wild, it’s also smart. It touches on how traditional studios are getting swallowed by tech giants. “They’re vampires,” Griffin says of Amazon. It’s a comment on how streaming is killing old-school cinema. Meanwhile, Matt tries to copy "Old Hollywood" but ends up proving how messy modern Hollywood really is.

The episode is funny, yes, but there’s real tension. The mix-up with mushrooms is absurd, but the consequences are real: a ruined presentation, a possible Amazon buyout, and a PR nightmare waiting to happen. The Vegas setting, with its fake canals and flashing lights, mirrors the fake fronts everyone at the studio is putting on.

With Zoe tripping hard, Griffin on the loose, and the team sleep-deprived and stressed, how can they possibly pull off CinemaCon? Can they stop the sale to Amazon? Episode 9 ends on a huge cliffhanger that sets the stage for an explosive finale.

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Episode 9 of The Studio is a chaotic masterpiece. It’s hilarious, biting, and deeply stressful in all the best ways. What started as a dream weekend in Vegas is now a nightmare that could destroy Continental Studios for good.

With everything on the line, the finale has big shoes to fill. But if this episode taught us anything, it’s that in Hollywood, anything can happen… especially when mushrooms are involved.

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