Call us what you will - fanboys, enthusiasts, or geeks - but there is no denying our power during this time of year. I'm referring to Comic-Con International, which began Wednesday night in San Diego. Every year in July Comic-Con brings together all the coolest things (movies, video games, comicbook art, etc.). The number of attendees has grown to approximately 125,000 strong - this is more people than attended either of the political conventions during the last presidential campaign (according to the LA Times).
Unfortunately due to budgetary constraints, I was unable to attend this year. So this 'bark' goes out to my brothers & friends... I'm with you in spirit on the crowded convention floor. Yet in spite of my absence I've managed to quench my inner-geek and I'm excited about what I've heard coming out of Comic-Con.
This has been another year of firsts. Peter Jackson (the overlord of "The Lord of the Rings") came out his New Zealand lair to attend Comic-Con for the first time. Tim Burton appeared for the first time in years and James Cameron gave Comic-Con a first peek at his latest work Avatar (his first film since Titanic)
Jackson
Peter Jackson announced that he was weeks from completing the first draft of The Hobbit. Exciting news indeed, since there was a time when Jackson further involvement in the Tolkien saga was in question due to legal issues with the producers of the first three LOTR fims. The Hobbit will be two films and Guillermo Del Toro is set to direct the films. Jackson did some promotion for District 9, a film that revolves around aliens that earth is keeping in detention/concentration center. The trailer I've seen for this film looks great.
Burton
Tim Burton didn't come alone to Comic-Con. He was accompanied, to the surprise of everyone, by Johnny Depp. They both spoke about their next collaboration Alice in Wonderland (due out in March 2010). Depp is playing the Mad Hatter, and the film appears to have Burton's trademark darkness. The production still for Alice make it look like Burton took the work he did on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and is pushing that "look" to the extremes.
Cameron
Hall H is the biggest hall at the San Diego Convention Center (it holds several thousand people), and it's reserved for the biggest events of Comic-Con. Apparently people waited for hours to get into Hall H for James Cameron's session on Avatar. There's a tremendous amount of buzz surrounding Avatar, since it's Cameron's first film since Titanic. Cameron wrote this story over a decade ago, and he has literally waited until the technology reached the point to allow him to create this film the way he envisioned. Briefly the story is set on the planet of Pandora and revolves around a human soldier, who is befriended by a Navi princess (the Navi inhabit Pandora). The film is in 3D, and Cameron screened 20 minutes of the film for the capacity crowd. Everything I've read about this project says it could be a "game changer" for Hollywood - how's that for buzz.
Well... this dog is done barking.
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