Archive for category Comic-Con 2010

“Did you hear that Comic-Con might move to Los Angeles?”

From the Avis guys to the hotel concierge, amongst fans and industry pros alike, that was the word on the street during Preview Night at Comic-Con 2010. It’s hard to imagine the event taking place anywhere but in and around the San Diego Convention Center, though it would be beyond naïve to question whether Hollywood has a plan to own more of the ‘Con, what with the Hilton Gaslamp layered over with a Scott Pilgrim vs. the World ad and the fleet of “Nikita” pedicabs hoofing attendees to parties, hotels, etc. Is this the Gaslamp District or Sunset Boulevard?

If Comic-Con were to relocate, it would definitely lose its off-Hollywood appeal, but the Convention Center was bulging with people tonight, and the event hasn’t officially begun. So let’s banish the hearsay for now and get to what we saw and experienced.

Lifecycle from TRON: Legacy

Scott Pilgrim made the most grandiose display, while Battle: Los Angeles kicked off a viral campaign of District 9-level curiosity. I’ve had my eye on Battle for a couple months now and cannot wait to see the first footage on Thursday afternoon.

Yahoo! premiered the first full teaser for the Ryan Reynolds thriller Buried, and it’s thoroughly artful. Watch it here for now, but we should have it later on Thursday as well. My colleague Ray and I each took advantage of Lionsgate’s offer to be “buried” in a virtual coffin, but Ray really sold his performance. It was slick: he entered a box, a curvy woman closed him in, and for 15 seconds he was videotaped to look pretty much like the teaser poster for the film (compare these two images). A minute later, his video was on his Facebook page. Look for Buried to build upon its festival buzz with positive fan word-of-mouth; meanwhile, Ryan R. should walk out of here with two hot movies to his name.

As expected, TRON: Legacy and The Green Hornet provided swoon-worthy props for vehicle geeks: take a look at a lightcycle and the “Black Beauty“. You can feel the anticipation for TRON, but a question mark still hangs over The Green Hornet — are fans psyched or underwhelmed by what we’ve seen thus far?

Oh, yeah! Big love to this guy for flexing his guns, each with a temporary Expendables tattoo. He’s an awesome beast and he could fit right into the cast of the movie.

The Expendables' Temporary Tattoos

For everything else we saw, check out our Preview Night gallery. We’ll be tweeting and Facebooking (you follow and have friended us, right?) from the Convention Center floor all day tomorrow, and we’ll post blog entries later in the day.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy our coverage.

-Arno

Comic-Con 2010 is just days away, and IMDb will be heading down to San Diego to cover the Nerdathon!  Everyday, new events are announced and more celebrities are confirmed, so it looks like this year will be bigger than ever.  I’ll mostly be focusing on TV panels and events, so here’s a few things that I’m looking forward to!

Without a doubt, the event everyone will be talking about will be Entertainment Weekly’s  “The Visionaries: A discussion with geek gods J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon on the Future of Pop Culture.”  The panel will be moderated by EW’s Jeff “Doc” Jensen (formerly known as EW’s “Lost” expert) as they discuss how technology, gaming, and global culture will change the way that we both perceive and tell stories on film, TV, and on the web, and how it will ultimately affect pop culture in the future.  Coming from two people who have shaped the way stories are told today (“Lost”, “Buffy…”, Star Trek, “Firefly”, hello!!), this will no doubt be a conversation that should not be missed.

Weeds

Later that day, I’m going to try my best to get into Showtime’s “Anti-Heroes” panel with  stars from “Dexter”, “Weeds”, “Californication”, and “Nurse Jackie”.  It looks like they have an all-star line-up with confirmations from  Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, David Duchovny,  Mary-Louise Parker, and  Paul Schulze.  Because both “Weeds” and “Dexter” ended in such a dramatic way (spoiler alert!), I’m sure they won’t be giving away too many secrets, but we’ll try our best to find out what you can expect for next season.

On Friday, I’m going to start the day at the “Hawaii Five-O” panel.  Admittedly, it’s not very “sci-fi”, but the new show stars Daniel Dae Kim (“Lost”) and  Grace Park (“Battlestar Galactica“) and has executive producers Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (Star Trek) and Peter M. Lenkov (“24″).   I was a big fan of “Hawaii Five-O” back in the day, so it’ll be interesting to see the new take they will have for the remake of this classic show.

Speaking of Battlestar… I’ll also be checking out Syfy’s “Caprica” panel, featuring Alessandra Torresani (Zoe Graystone), Sasha Roiz (Sam Adama), and executive producers Ronald D. Moore (also co-creator) and David Eick.  Even though “Caprica” had a rocky start in its first season, I am still willing to give the show a chance.  So say we all!

I’m also excited to check out the “Girls Gone Genre” panel, featuring female writers who were able to tackle the gaming/superhero/sci-fi genre that is classically dominated by men.   This kick-@ss panel will include Felicia Day (actress, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog), screenwriter Marti Noxon (I Am Number Four), and screenwriter/producer Melissa Rosenberg (“Dexter”).

Throughout the weekend, I will stop by panels for some of  our favorite shows (“The Big Bang Theory”, “True Blood”, “Chuck”, “Castle”, and “Futurama”), and will also check out some of the new shows making their premiere in San Diego, including “No Ordinary Family” with Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz, “The Walking Dead” with executive producer Frank Darabont, and “The Event” with Jason Ritter and Blair Underwood.  I have no idea what “The Event” is about, but I’m hoping it will fill the void that the cancellation of “FlashForward” left behind.

Make sure to check our special Comic-Con section for blog posts and pictures throughout the week and also follow us on Twitter at @IMDbLive!

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Comic-Con 2010 begins on Thursday, July 22, and the first day’s presentations were announced this morning. It’s an epic day of celebrity epicness, and it’s just under two weeks away.

Taking a look at the movie announcements, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World seems to have one-upped the first-day competition. Mere weeks after the movie’s ace international trailer blew away the summer movie competition like so many evil ex-boyfriends, Universal and the Pilgrim team have a personalized gift in store for fans: customized t-shirts by Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anna Kendrick, and director Edgar Wright will be created “somewhere in the Gaslamp district” for those of us who love to swarm around celebrities. Of course, the movie will have a standard presentation in Hall H the same day. It’s a cute move, even if it sounds like a craft moment brought to us by Paper Heart.

Of course, what might cause a greater sensation is the idea of Wright sharing the stage with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who will be on hand to preview their new movie, Paul, which just received a release date of March 18, 2011.

With equal doses of anticipation and hype, I nominate Tron: Legacy as the next big presentation of the day. But after two years of clever publicity stunts, I’m wondering what else Disney can do to whet our appetite for all things Flynn. Patton Oswalt will moderate a panel that includes Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, Bruce Boxleitner, and director Joe Kosinski.

Helen Mirren will raise the temperature in Hall H with her first Con appearance; she’ll take to the stage with Bruce Willis, director Robert Schwentke, and comics writer Warren Ellis for the action-comedy Red from Summit Entertainment, the studio without a Twilight movie at this year’s convention. The movie’s final trailer will make its debut here, too.

The big question mark hanging over Day One (for now) is whether another lovely woman will be on hand. Angelina Jolie is tipped to shill for Salt, especially since Brad Pitt is rumored to be a big part of the Megamind panel alongside co-stars Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, and Jonah Hill. Remember that Angelina and Brad don’t like to spend more than three days apart, so this is a win-win-win.

I’ve heard good things about Jonathan Liebesman‘s alien invasion flick, Battle: Los Angeles, which he’ll present with the equally sexy Michelle Rodriguez and Aaron Eckhart. Liebesman is rumored to be the frontrunner for Clash of the Titans 2, which will shoot in 3D (what an idea!).

Lastly, will The Expendables be this year’s Snakes on a Plane? In other words, as much as action fans seem to love the idea of Sylvester Stallone leading a crew of tough buds into South American danger, how many people will storm theaters during opening weekend? We’ll only have to wait a couple weeks after the Con to find out, but we’ll get to see Sly on stage along with Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, and Terry Crews.

If I’m not too distracted/wiped out from all of the above, I plan on fitting in the Danny Elfman retrospective, TheOneRing.net’s thoughts on the now-delayed Hobbit movies, and a late-night screening of the cool-looking project, Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated.

It’s hard to believe it, but Comic-Con 2010 is just around the corner! IMDb will be down in San Diego to cover the entire event, from Wednesday, July 21st, through Sunday, July 25th.   The full schedule should be announced by Thursday afternoon, but we just heard some great news!

According to LA Times, there’s a possibility that Entertainment Weekly will be hosting a two-man panel with the  J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon. Okay, now we’re really excited to get our nerd on!

Make sure to check back this week, and we’ll give you a full run down of this year’s panels and parties, as well as the films and TV shows that will be down in San Diego!