International Comic Con, San Diego

Here’s just a smidgeon of what is going on, film/TV-wise, in San Diego at the largest convention of popular culture in the world, next week. Both Ko and I will be there to see it ALL (hopefully). If anyone is interested, I’d be happy to report as much of what I see and hear.

Here's a li'l list:

1.30pm Friday: Stan Winston talks T3 (Room 6A)

* 2pm Friday: John Musker gives first look at "Treasure Planet" scenes(Room 20)

* 3pm Friday: Seann William Scott & James King present "Bulletproof Monk" (starring Chow Yun Fat), and "Die Another Day" (Room 20)

* 4pm Friday: Asia Argento & Emma Caufield present a special look at "XXX" and "The Tooth Fairy" (Room 20)

* 4.30pm Friday: Movie Webmasters Panel (Room 4)

* 6pm Friday: "House of the Dead" exclusive preview (Room 4).

* 10:30am Saturday: "Birds of Prey"/"Smallville" sneak peeks (Room 16AB)

* 12pm Saturday: Hilary Swank talks and previews "The Core" (Room 20)

* 1pm Saturday: New Line's "Lord of the Rings" presentation (Room 20)

* 2:30pm Saturday: Warner Bros. special previews with cast from "Ecks vs. Sever" (Lucy Liu & Ray Park - they'll be there!) and "Dreamcatcher" (Jason Lee & Timothy Olyphant) appearing (Room 20)

* 3:30pm Saturday: Joss Whedon talks "Firefly" (Room 6BCDEF)

* 4pm Saturday: A big but secret presentation planned for "The Hulk" (Room 20)

* 4pm Saturday: Matthew Fox presents a "Haunted" series sneak peek (Room 4)

* 5pm Saturday: Colin Farrell (Bullseye in Daredevil), Bryan Singer and Mark Johnson screen footage from "Daredevil" & "X2" (Room 20)

There is also going to be a "Alias" season sneak peek with the series' creater, James Abrams and some of the cast members (this is a great TV series, btw).

Man, can't wait for next week! :-)

have a great time. Two great new books out. The Path and Way of the Rat. Enjoy.

Pat; I never heard of this Convention, but it sounds awsome! Absolutely give us some reports!


While reading your post (and watching Hollywood over the past few years)“word of mouth” seems to go a LONG way in determining how successful a film is (e.g. for WEEKS the talk at work was about “Spiderman”).


Dose this appear to be an integral part of conferences like this (i.e. "creating that “buzz” for a movie?)

Yawn…a tad past midnight. Been “tweaking” work via Photoshop ALL day for new stuff in my portfolio for San Diego. Mufasa: Last year at the Comic Con, over 60,000 people were there over the four days it was was running. MY GOD! And I was one. I’ll answer your question, cuz, I indeed have a answer! Until then (when I’ve gotten some sleep), check out: www.comic-con.org (the official site) - pretty sweet!

Patricia – So this starts this next Friday, July 26th? Hmmm… And I gotta agree, the “Alias” series is great. I’d like to see a more in-depth (possibly TV) movie made, maybe two to two and a half hours.

brider: The Comic Con is from Aug. 1st to the 4th (Thursday through Sunday).

Check this out:

According to a very trustworthy X2 source, "Beast does have a cameo. It's a small part but he's going to look great and maybe we'll see more of him in the 3rd installment." Looks like fans of Mr. McCoy can finally rejoice! Additionally, our source says to keep an eye on the X2 official site, as it will begin to expand soon...

Too cool - hopefully, I'll receive more info in San Diego. :-)Patricia

I don’t know how many of you really need to see this stuff. But I’ll post it anyways. MORE stuff in the pipeline - put your geek hats on:

Hellboy: A panel with Mike Mignola, Guillermo del Toro & Ron Perlman is happening at San Diego Comic Con. Time: 3pm Thursday in Room 6A. (I'll try to go to this one - I LOVE Hellboy and Guillermo del Toro)

The Hulk: Originally scheduled to finish shooting till July 5th, its now rumoured that Universal has given the production till the end of the month to finish what they can. That footage will be looked at and then further shooting will be done to fill in the gap

Wonder Woman: Moviehole reports that George Miller ("Mad Max") is tipped to helm the superheroinne adventure.

Hannibal & Alexander: Two of the world's most famous conquerors are getting some orders of their own. The Telegraph reports that Ridley Scott ("Gladiator") is tipped to helm the Sony Pictures-produced first modern-day biopic of "Hannibal" in which Vin Diesel is set to play the legendary Carthagian General. What that means for "Tripoli" is unsure. Meanwhile The Hollywood Reporter indicates Baz Lurhmann is in talks to direct Universal's attempt to do an "Alexander the Great" project based on Valerio Manfredi's trio of novels. With the Oliver Stone and Martin Scorsese directed versions currently stuck in development hell, this puts the Ted Tally-penned version in the forefront of the race.

That's all for now, folks! Patricia :-)

Comic Con, Comic Con! YEA! Definitely report on this. You and Ko have a good time. Don’t they have a similar event on the East Coast? I’ve been out of the whole comics devotion loop for awhile. What are some good sites to check, as a side note? Thanks.

To answer your question about studios generating buzz about a movie. Yeah, I believe the Comic-Con is being used for this purpose. Began about in '95-'96 when H-Town realized that San Diego was just a “hop, skip and a jump” away from promoting upcoming films to thousands of rabid fan boys.

Another effective tool is the internet. By providing "sneak peeks", teaser trailers, etc. - you can generate a buzz with little marketing $$.

BUT, the downside of "word of mouth" is that it could effectively NOT make people want to see your movie. As was evident in a recent dud: Bad Company.

Bronx Bomber: The Wizard Con in Chicago is the big daddy there. Wizard Con is the second largest now - second to the Comic Con. It was held this year BEFORE Comic Con. Usually held after.

Okay: here’s the latest news from Comic Con:

"The Lord ot the Rings Pavilion at Comic-Con: Your Quest Begins Here! Comic-Con International is pleased to announce the addition of a whole new area on the Exhibit Hall floor: The Lord of the Rings Pavilion! If you're a fan of Tolkien, the Triilogy, the Hobbit (and the Hobbits), and the wonderful films by Peter Jackson, then your Comic-Con experience should start right here!

This great new arena for all things LOTR features the following exhibitors:

Sideshow Toys/Weta Sideshow has partnered with Weta Workshop of New Zealand to develop multiple lines of polystone collectibles based on the upcoming film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Weta Workshop is the Special Effects Company that created the effects for all three Lord of the Rings films. The Sideshow / Weta collaboration is responsible for the development and marketing of five lines of polystone collectibles: statues, busts, miniature weapons, miniature armor and helmets, and wall plaques.

At Comic-Con Sideshow and Weta will offer product debuts, discounts, raffles, and Lord of the Rings celebrity signings. Guest appearance by 2-time Academy Award winning special effects supervisor Richard Taylor. Plus meet the artists that make the Sideshow Toy product.

Decipher, Inc. Decipher will conduct demonstrations of their The Lord of the Rings TCG. Signing at the Decipher booth will be Lord of the Rings actor Dominic Monaghan (Merry).

Games Workshop Games Workshops will debut Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers games and miniatures. Plus new product previews for Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. Stop by the booth for show specials. Game demonstrations given for Warhammer, Lord of the Rings miniature game, and 40K. Figure painters will be present to help interested members of the public. Learn to paint miniatures or just hone your techniques!

Houghton Mifflin Company Douglas Anderson, author of J.R.R. Toliken's The Annotated Hobbit, Revised and Expanded Edition, to be published by Houghton Mifflin in September, will make a panel appearance on Friday, August 2, from 3-4:30pm in room 16AB. He will present "Annotating and Illustrating The Hobbit," a slide show covering how The Hobbit has been professionally illustrated over the years, as well as the background of J. R. R. Tolkien and his writings.

Other exhibitors in the Lord of the Rings Pavilion at Comic-Con include: Electronic Arts and New Line Home Entertainment."

I will be lurking about here - you can be sure of it. On Thursday night we attend the sneak peak of Bruce Campbell's next. Saturday afternoon I get to see clips from the documentary about my absolute favorite artist, Frank Frazetta (all you Conan fans, you know who he is!) as well as meet with folks behind the documentary. Next week, you'll be proud to be a geek.

Patricia :-)

Can’t wait to hear about the documentary. That should be good. And if you haven’t seen a preview for lord of the rings:two towers (I did when i went to see Reign of fire), here you go.