Comic-Con Clean Up
Thursday was a very long day. But it was a lot of fun. I have been over Avatar and Kick-Ass and Jim Cameron. Here is some on the rest…
District 9, which I will video review shortly, is The Defiant Ones with aliens. It’s not exactly what Sony is selling, as it is a movie about what happens after a new culture has been poorly integrated and then The Locals decide that The Others are too integrated and need to be pushed out further away from town. From the outdoor, you might thing of it more like a race riot movie or a satire on race. It really isn’t. It’s a dark, full-on action movie in which the humans are the alien invaders. We are the bad guys.
More to come on that one…
Getting a chance to hang out with Peter Jackson was happy enough, with an evening designed by Jackson’s team and three different studios – as he showed stuff from and discussed three projects with three different studios attached – that ended up being a combination of a fireside chat and an uber-geeky roundtable. Not so much my scene.
But PJ discussed the evolution of District 9, evolving from the failed Halo project. He showed a compelling, dark, emotional extended trailer for The Lovely Bones, which he is still tinkering around with for Paramount/DW. (Word is that the film is NOT going to sneak at Toronto.) He talked about Tintin, which is already shot and is now in the long digital phase. There were a lot of Hobbit questions… he and Fran and Phillipa are 3 weeks from a first draft, have no official greenlight, no set budget, and no casting at all. It’s based on all the Tolkien materials. And he is happy that Guillermo is doing the film, as he would spend too much time second-guessing and imitating himself if he were shooting it. (He agrees that Guillermo is one of the singularly great guys on the planet and will be a joy to work with for a few years… though he swears as much as any human on earth, while still being spectacularly charming.) He also showed a lot of footage of his beloved WWi aircraft, many of which he is having recreated in New Zealand, all capable of flying like they were right off the 1913 assembly line.
The week had started for Peter as it started that first day of comic-Con for me, with Disney. He was at Disneyland for 3 days. I was at the Disney panel. I enjoyed the panel, but didn’t get much new. Many of us saw similar Christmas Carol footage in IMAX 3D a few weeks back… the Alice trailer – quite improved by being huge and in 3D – had leaked a day or two before The ‘Con. And the Tron Legacy material had been shown last year. Still… an impressive group of films and a real show by Disney that they understand where they have been and where they are going.
A “surprise” appearance by Johnny Depp drew literal screams of teen girl ecstasy, as about a third of the room were girls waiting for the Twilight panel that was next. The “surprise” also gave Tim Burton the freedom to blow off some of the interviews he had been scheduled for… sigh… (I wasn’t one of them)
My favorite part of the Disney panel was very inside baseball, as Disney execs who had taken up most of the front row of the “invited guest” section were up and down and two kids who were waiting on Twilight wandered into the seats. First, distribution chief Mark Zoradi actually got up and let the second kid have his seat… then he came back and handed the girl his 3D glasses so the girl could watch the repeat of the Alice trailer. Then, the boy asked Oren Aviv, studio chief, about getting glasses… and Oren took off his glasses and handed them to the boy so he could experience the 3D.
Of course, no big deal on some level. Oren has seen the 3D many times, no doubt. But there was a gentle kindness in how these execs dealt with these fans who had absolutely no idea who these men – you know, the ones paying for the event they were attending – were. It reminded me of Fox’s Jim G getting escorted away from the VIP section at a Hall H event one year and just going along with the guard, smiling, not arguing or doing the “do you know who I am?” He just went, found one of his people, got the right ticket to be where he wanted to be, and went back without the least protest. I would say that these guys were “Just Like Us,” as US Magazine says… but if the press had the same encounters, they would not be as pleasant or generous.
Comic-Con is a very different experience for each of us who cover it. There are those who seriously cover the convention floor. Those of us who barely get onto that floor. Some who go to every presentation they can. Others who sit in the press room and do dozens and dozens of 3 minute interviews. Some are there to write overall stories for papers that cover it as business. Some are a mix. Some of us are having a great time. Some of us are permanently enraged by the experience.
I enjoyed my day. And it was exactly enough. Peter looks great (and tiny). Cameron was in excellent form. I saw the Tim Burton who I met doing the DP/30 for Sweeney Todd – funny, self-effacing, and pretty normal – and not the dark lord he sometimes projects. District 9 was good. Kick-Ass made for a great surprise and Matthew Vaughn is a still emerging directing star. And I got to see every movie publicist on the planet, if only for a few moments… which is often the best way to see publicists. (Extended chats with a few were a pleasure as well.)
My first impression remains significant to me… studios were not spending as they have in the past on the convention floor. They are cutting back. But the event is one of the big targeted junket events of the year. Is that good or bad? We each will make that call for ourselves.
One thing hasn’t changed. That many people expressing that much passion cannot be a bad thing. And i think that some think that I don’t get that. I really do. It’s just part of my job to put all that enthusiasm in the context of the industry… and in that regard, the event is more than a little overblown. But hey, let the players play and they will play for days…
i was already psyched for Kick Ass. Now even more so. I’ve been psyched for District 9. I like the concept, and still have hope the documentary/procedural style will be a new spin on an old cocept.
Tin Tin. I just don’t get it. At all. It’d be like hearing they greenlighted a 200 million dollar Jonny Quest movie. I realize people are aware of the character. I just don’t know if sinking a couple of hundred million dollars into it makes a lick of sense.
On a smaller level, i always felt the same way about Green Hornet. Who is the market for the this picture? Back when it was George Clooney, then Kevin Smith was going to make an 80 million dollar version for Miramax. Now Seth Rogen and Gondry. What about this property has kept it alive for decades?
Now a new Shadow picture. That i’d like to see.
Tin-Tin is ginormous overseas. It could be the biggest bomb ever domestically and it would still turn a profit based on overseas grosses alone.
With the Spielberg and Jackson names attached and the lure of 3-D performance-capture, I can’t see it being a total bomb here either, even if it doesn’t break out.
Tintin is good stuff. The HBO cartoon alone will get me to see that flick in theaters. Telemachos also makes the very real point that TinTin can easily gross four dollars in the US, but the international grosses should make this flick rather profitable.
Nevertheless, Green Hornet is all about Rogen. People seem to love the guy. If they love in in one capacity. They quite possibly could love him in another. How he gets through that film without his voice going even more raspier from the pot, is beyond me.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it has been announced that Tintin will roll out internationally before arriving in North America, which is probably a good idea, because it will eliminate the stink of “bomb” it might get if it were released in the States first.
I believe the lead character of Tin Tin is a dog or something like that. Thinking of how well G-Force did this weekend, it’s possible that Tin Tin will do ok even if it doesn’t have any name recognition in the US. It does have a cute name that is vaguely recognizable, so I think it could do a solid 20ish opening in the US without a huge marketing push. Since it’s animated, does anyone know if it’s a mix of CG and live action? And will it be able to get some IMAX money?
Nevermind, I just realized I was confusing it with Rin Tin Tin. I would guess that many US viewers will also confuse it with Rin Tin Tin as that’s what I think of when I hear that name.
Speaking of name confusion, anyone else think Avatar (Cameron) might get a few kiddie walk-ups at the theater thinking it’s the Airbender movie? Shyamalan’s doesn’t come out till next July, but it’s already got some trailers and press out to the fans. I thought the name confusion might hurt Cameron’s a little bit, but thinking about it I figure it’s a wash and might even help it a little bit.
I have thought the name AVATAR might confused some kids for a while now. If we can get an Avatar the Airbender trailer in front of Avatar, that would be something.
“Tin-Tin is ginormous overseas. It could be the biggest bomb ever domestically and it would still turn a profit based on overseas grosses alone.”
Isn’t that what happened to The Golden Compass?
To further the Avatar/Avatar/Airbender confusion:
Isn’t “AIRBENDING” some DRAGONBALL Z thing? So is the Shyamalan thing related to Dragonball?
Lex, no. It’s an adaptation of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Much better than Dragonball Z, IMO.
http://moviecitynews.com/columnists/voynar/2009/090422.html
Well I saw the DB movie (because I have a crush on Emmy Rossum and Jamie Chung) and it MOST CERTAINLY featured “AIRBENDING.”
The reason I thought “District 9” would be about race (and probably, on some level, is) is because of the actual District 6 and how that came to happen. Did they talk at all about any of that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_Six,_Cape_Town
I guess what I mean is, when the movie plays in SA, you’re going to have a very different experience with it as District 6 refers to a very real and controversial event in South African history that involves forced segregation.
If, say, a movie was made in the States and had a title that referred to Wounded Knee, Attica, Harper’s Ferry, etc., you’d come in with a different set of baggage no matter how much the movie moved you away from it – the title would set the context for everything on screen for you.
Well, SJR, the oddest element of the District 9 presentation and evening was the lack of the director, who was there, but not the focus.
The movie IS structurally about the forced removal of a minority to another area, about 20 miles outside of town. But it isn’t really ABOUT that. It is Race Light. Really, it’s an excuse to have a human get a perspective on being an alien that he isn’t expecting and then, an excuse for blowing a lot of shit up real good. So… a little The Defiant Ones… a little Watermelon Man… a little Bloody Sunday… with aliens and bigger weapons.
And yes, no doubt, it will play more political IN South Africa than here.
Basically, it empowers the minority, making a real event into a fantasy piece.
David, you picked the right day.
District 9 and Kick-Ass showed easily the best footage. Most people I spoke to agreed.
Where the Wild Things Are was good too, but that was kinda expected after the trailer gave us a taste of the look and tone.
Wasn’t MEGAN FOX at Comic-Cum?
How come none of you eunechs have clocked in with a jack report?
Lex, if you go back and read my posts at Deadline Hollywood, you’ll read detailed reports on both Jennifer’s Body and Jonah Hex panels.
I wouldn’t phrase it as a “jack report” because female editors don’t tend to like that.
And David…if Kick-Ass gets a distribution deal relatively soon, will you admit that Comic-Con was probably a deciding factor?
No.
Re: Kick-Ass distribution. Poland already called it possibly the first deal made at SDCC. If that holds and it plays well, game-changer for the Con.
I’ll throw in a vote towards MCN adding a new weekly or bi-monthly feature called “The Jack Report” by Lex which would include his recommendations on hot direct to DVD stuff along with the occasional big budget squackaganzas.
Luke… there are many ways to skin that cat.
In terms of serious credit, it would have to be a studio that saw it at The ‘Con or was influenced by the reaction to the footage… and not mine.
I think it was a really interesting choice by Vaughn and I would have loved for a deal to have closed by now. Studios are, I believe, pretty much seeing it in-house now.
But I was the first to say it could the The ‘Con’s first sale, I believe, and will happily tell the story if it is sold in concert with having gone there, same as any fest.
If I was in the same room as any of the HOT CHICKS I like, I’d be punching the clown so hard for days I’d be bustin’ white like that shit in SCARY MOVIE where that dude caps and blows so much wad he pins Faris to the ceiling.
GOOD SCENE.
You guys need to ADMIT you MASTURBATE to hot chicks.
LYT, did you shoot like Bronson’s Wildey in DEATH WISH 3 after being in the same room with that level of hotness?
MAN UP and ADMIT.
Tired of EUNECH FILM CRITICS.
LA Times needs to put me on payroll and I’d grade the movies by how much nut I shot when I got home.