Observations from My Office Chair
Comic Con: Joss Whedon, Twilight, Avatar and Tron News /
Dustin Rowles
Trade News | July 24, 2009 | Comments (24)
On day one of Comic-Con, our intrepid Steven Lloyd Wilson braved the Twi-hards and the geek stench at Comic-Con, but he stuck largely to panels and the like that weren’t being widely reported on by everyone with an iPhone the second they were happening (he’s got a couple more posts coming up with afternoon). From the comforts of my own office chair, I can hit some of the more popular highlights:
First off, there was a huge Twilight panel that hundreds of giggly teenagers stood in line for over 24 hours to see. I think they might have previewed a clip or two. Robert Pattinson (flattened hair and all) and the dude who plays the werewolf Native American was there. Sixteen-year-old girls wept, the floor was covered in a three-inch pool of tears and panty wetness, an half the audience walked out pregnant. Halfway through the panel, the original spirit of Comic-Con died.
We’ve done our damndest here not to mention Avatar very often — in fact, I’d earlier promised that we wouldn’t devote a post to it until there was a trailer, just to spite the Avatar overkill on other parts of the net (Avatar is Twilight for geeks). However, this is too newsworthy not to report: During the Avatar panel, James Cameron announced that August 21st was Avatar day (Obama, I understand, is giving him a key to the country and access to the button). On August 21st, Cameron is screening a free 15-minute preview of Avatar in every digital and IMAX theater that will have him, so convinced is he that all it will take is a few minutes of the movie to send every American into the theater to see the full-length movie come December. Twenty-five minutes of footage was previewed at Comic-Con, and the reception was almost unanimously positive, although a few of our colleagues suggested that District 9 (which was produced for under $30 million) — which was screened in full last night at the convention — was actually superior to what they saw of Avatar.
Also, the Tron sequel officially got a title: Tron Legacy. Disney also released a plot synopsis:
TRON is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (GARRETT HEDLUND), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (JEFF BRIDGES), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant (OLIVIA WILDE), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.
Hmmm. What else. Robert Zemeckis suggested that one day he might do a Roger Rabbit sequel and Bob Hoskins might return, but if he did do it, the toons would definitely not be in 3D. Man, that is totally not news.
Finally, my favorite nugget from the convention so far: Teaser posters for Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods:
Comments
Posted by: BWeaves at July 24, 2009 10:40 AM
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I saw TRON about 6 times when it first came out because I was a computer geek. I was under the impression that Jeff Bridges got out of the computer.
Oh, I love those posters.