Comic Con Part 2

Over the weekend like I said before there was a lot of stuff that I got to check out, but there was just so much for one person to handle but here goes for Columbia Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures. Quick note, yes there was a panel for The Legend of Zorro but all they showed us was a new trailer for ther film, nothing more.

Columbia Pictures Panel

Underworld: Evolution / The Fog / Ghost Rider / Zathura

On Friday July 15th Actor/Director Jon Favreau showed us the sci-fi adventure "Zathura," about two squabbling brothers are propelled into deepest, darkest space while playing a mysterious game they discovered in the basement of their old house. On their fantastic journey they are joined by a stranded astronaut and must survive meteor showers, hostile lizard-like aliens, a rocket-propelled robot run amok and an intergalactic spaceship battle.

Here is a breakdown on what Jon Favreau said to us:

• · A lot of creative freedom on family movies
  · He wanted to make it look like a sci-fi movie from his childhood and include a lot of themes from the 70's and 80's
  · He treats CG like a magic trick, never makes it feel like a video game and intermixes CG with real images.
  · He Wants to make the audience feel like the movie is a familiar thing
  · David Koepp puts a lot into his movies and that is in part where the kids get there working dynamic.
  · A Craftsman house was created for use as the movie in the film. The movie was built on a shaker set and a lift, which could go up to 30 degrees.
  · Because of the Particular approach of the movie there was a lot of planning.

We got to speak to Jon Favreau later on the film, click HERE to listen and hear the interview.

Saturday July 16th Columbia Pictures presentation started off with a look at the new rated R trailer for The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which the MPAA didn’t allow but was a lot scarier than the one that was released on the Internet. The trailer showed us a bit more on the demonic possession of Emily Rose. After the Emily Rose trailer was shown Len Wiseman, director of Underworld: Evolution came out and showed us footage that he edited together just for Comic-Con and that we were the first to ever see this footage. Here is a brief description of what was shown.

• ·The scene opens up with a few scenes from the distant past with armored warriors on horseback.
  · Kate Beckinsale's character Selene in a lot of gun action.
  · A few awesome sex scenes between Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman.
  · And a threesome with vampires.

Up next for Columbia pictures the remake of Carpenter's The Fog, and in hand was Rupert Wainwright and Maggie Grace, she is best known for playing Shannon on the ABC drama Lost. The only one not present was Tom Welling and Selma Blair. Once they were introduced Rupert Wainwright started out by giving the audience an exclusive look at the trailer for The Fog, which will debut with Stealth. Trailer looked okay, they really didn't show much, just The Fog bank moving over the water towards the bay and it fades black and reads "The island of Antonio Bay, is peaceful and quiet" you see Selma Blair say "what kind of Fog goes against the wind." There was an pretty cool scene with Selma Blair underneath the water trapped in her car when all of a sudden bam! a ghost pops up, the crowd really dug it. During the talks, it was revealed that Carpenter himself had only very little involvement such as supervising the script and visiting the set - "He really wanted to let us do our version of the movie" says Wainwright, whilst Grace was very grateful he was "very present" on the set especially towards the start. Fog has proven tricky for the visual effects artists because computers are having a hard time rendering the softness of layered fog, so most of it was practical.

Finally the Columbia Pictures panel ended with Ghost Rider, in which producer Avi Arad, director Mark Steven Johnson and Eva Mendes were all present. Mark Steven Johnson introduced us to a teaser for the film, which he said it wont be online, he did it only for Comic-Con and Ghost Rider himself was never shown. Here is a brief description of what was shown.

• · Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze ready to jump a line of trucks/buses on a motorcycle at a football field.
  · Some shots of Peter Fonda as Mephisto, and Wes Bentley as Blackheart.
  · You get to see Eva Mendes interviewing Johnny Blaze before the stunt.
  · Sam Elliot is also shown talking to Johnny Blaze, which he tells Blaze “are you alright?” Blaze responds "I'm fine but I feel like my skull's on fire"
  · You see the spikes pop up from his leather jacket.
  · You see fire in Johnny Blaze’s eyes.
  · A shot of the hell cycle leaving fire tracks on the streets, while cop clocks Ghost Rider at 999 mph.

And Finally at the end of the panel Mark Steven Johnson showed the teaser poster for the film, which was a Comic Con exclusive. But it should be online pretty soon.

Before the Ghost Rider panel we got a chance to chat with Eva Mendes and Mark Steven Johnson, which you can listen to HERE.

Walt Disney Pictures

Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Producer Perry Moore came out to talk to the audience about Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, he was joined on stage by make up effects supervisor Howard Berger from K.N.B. Richard Taylor and Ben Wooten from Weta Workshop, they designed and created all of the creatures from the film, and Dean Wright the visual effects supervisor who is doing all the CGI effects for the film. Moore then introduced the panel to a very special surprise guest, via satellite from London, director Andrew Adamson and producer Mark Johnson, and finally they gave everyone a very big surprise by having the kids from the film there too. Georgie Henley plays Lucy Pevensie, William Moseley plays Peter Pevensie, Skandar Keynes plays Edmund Pevensie and Anna Popplewell plays Susan Pevensie, were all-present via satellite.

We got to see a new featurette exclusively for Comic Con but now you check that clip over HERE. (Chapter 4)

While the panel was talking about all the make-up effects and what not one of the questions that was answered was about the voice of Aslan.

Confirmed by director Andrew Adamson at the Comic-Con panel, Liam Neeson (Batman Begins) will be providing his voice for Aslan, a pivotal role in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Previously the character was to be played by actor Brian Cox, who left production due to scheduling conflicts.

Before panel ended Andrew Adamson showed us a "work in progress" clip that was pretty damn cool. The opening scene we see Mr. and Mrs. Beaver telling the children the story of Aslan's return and how 4 of them will become Kings and Queens. We saw Aslan himself walking up the steps heading towards Tilda Swinton who plays White Witch and a shot of General Ottman. The clip ended with a great battle scene that looks like it would be the climax of the film.

The film will be released December 9th, 2005

But before we went to the Narnia Panel, we got to chat with Howard Berger from K.N.B. Richard Taylor from Weta Workshop on video. So Click HERE to check it out.

Stay Tuned for Part 3!