“The 3d animation panel was blocked out by Twillight twats. WTF. They should clear the hall. *seethe*”
—neonumbra, on Twitter
Like many of you, I am not at the San Diego Comic Con (I still refuse to call it Comic Con International) which is now more of a “movies-and-television-and-video games-and-other things mainstream companies with boatloads of money think geeks will like-and-comics” convention than anything else—as seen in this image that our friends at ComingSoon.net snapped of the line to get into Hall H, that coveted place where all the new movies get pimped and where Robert Pattinson first learned to really fear fangirls.
However, it doesn’t mean that you can’t know what’s going on movie-wise because all you have to do is either a) watch stuff slide by via the #sdcc tag on Twitter or b) wait for us to compile all the best news to post the following morning.
James Cameron shows off bits of his Avatar
Reporter Kristina Rettig described the 20 minutes of highly anticipated footage from Avatar that director James Cameron unleashed during his time slot in Hall H as a “sci fi fever dream,” but you’ll get the chance to view it for yourself as on August 21, he will be releasing 15 minutes of footage to select 3D and IMAX theaters across the nation just for those of us who are not at the convention. Isn’t that nice of him? (Source: Variety)
Terry Gilliam shows off bits of his Imaginarium
Making his first-ever SDCC appearance, director Terry Gilliam showed five minutes of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, received an Inkpot award for excellence in films, and confirmed that yes, he really is going to do his The Man Who Killed Don Quixote movie.
Most interesting (to me) quote from the panel about the character of Dr. Parnassus: This character, Gilliam said, was inspired by Tony Blair—”one of [England’s] greatest prime ministers, who got us into a very silly war”—someone whose silver tongue is so persuasive that even he believes what he says. (Source: Variety)
Women kick ass the most in sci-fi films, says Sigourney Weaver
At the Entertainment Weekly panel, actors Sigourney Weaver (Alien), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek), Eliza Dushku (“Dollhouse”) and Elizabeth Mitchell (“Lost”) all seem to agree that it’s in science fiction movies and TV that female characters get the most awesome characterization.
As for Saldana’s reaction to a question about how a Wonder Woman movie would be cast, it’s best noted below:
Saldana had an answer for why Hollywood will probably cast a 25-year-old hottie as Wonder Woman if and when the movie ever becomes a reality: “Sixty-five-year-old men want to see 25-year-old women,” she lamented. “They are the ones predominantly cutting the checks.”
There’s more bits in video clips at the end of the article. (Source: Entertainment Weekly)