Article originally published 07/27/2007 at figures.com
This year, Figures.com is expanding our SDCC coverage to include some of the more popular and anticipated film panel sessions that the Con has become famous for. On Thursday (7/26) we were able to catch the amazing Paramount Pictures panel (say that three times fast!) and get the scoop on some of the studio's projects.
'Cloverfield': Call it '1-18-08' or 'Slusho' if you prefer... either way, this film is still without a title. This film has been the buzz of blogs and comic shops since its trailer appeared before Transformers earlier this month. Producer J.J. Abrams was on hand (wearing a curious 'Infocom' t-shirt) to spread even more confusion about the project. Dubbing it an 'American monster movie', Abrams let the crowd know that additional info would be coming over the next few months, including a trailer, film clips and perhaps even a title. As a bonus, the first official movie poster for the film was debuted; a haunting image of a headless Statue of Liberty with a smoldering New York skyline in the background. Creepy.
Spiderwick Chronicles: This movie, based on the fantastic series of children's books by Holly Black, is slated for a February '08 release but Con attendees were given the first official look at the trailer. Author Holly Black and director Mark Waters presented not only the trailer but also a series of concept sketches and VR animations. The main characters shown were the goblins, which are a main fixture in the film. We were introduced to the froglike 'bull goblins', lizard-looking 'common goblins' and the menacing Redcap - a goblin sergeant-of-arms who gets his name from the bloodstained color of his hat. While 'Spiderwick' is not a direct translation of the books, Waters expressed his commitment to bringing fans a film that would respect the source material. "I want to do for fairies and goblins what Jurassic Park did for dinosaurs" Waters claimed.
Iron Man: This was a bit of a surprise. The Iron Man segment of this panel was supposedly moved to Saturday in order to pair it with the Marvel Films presentation of The Incredible Hulk. Imagine our surprise when director John Favreau appeared onstage, ready to give us a full five minutes of footage! I'll be covering more of this after the full Hulk/Iron Man panel. However, let me say that if the movie is half as mind-blowing as what was shown today, fans will be in for one of the most spectacular comic films ever to be put to screen. Again, more on this later in the week...
Indiana Jones IV: This was expected, though a bit briefer than we all hoped. Steven Spielberg joined the panel via a satellite uplink from the shooting location of the film. He briefly spoke about the motivation for making a fourth Indy movie (for the fans) and how long they had been shooting (25 days). He was then joined by the announced cast members, all in costume. Ford (looking unchanged from the Indy we last saw 18 years ago), Ray Winstone and Shia LaBeouf were then joined unexpectedly by someone 'new'. Karen Allen, who's involvement in Indy IV had been speculated for some time, walked in and sat down... confirming her role reprising Marion Ravenwood.
Star Trek: Abrams returns, this time for something less cryptic. Abrams' Star Trek movie, which is rumored to be centered around the escapades of a young Kirk/Spock duo, immediately jumped into the topic that everyone wanted hear... casting. It was then that he revealed the very first casting announcement for Trek. Spock will be played by Heroes actor Zachary Quinto. Quinto walked onstage, giving the crowd the traditional Vulcan salute. Perhaps the bigger surprise was that he was then joined onstage by Leonard Nimoy, who was also confirmed as playing Spock in the movie. Curious...
Look for more panel updates tomorrow as Figures.com adds bonus coverage of Stargate, Watchmen, Speed Racer and more!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment