Tomorrow a squad consisting of an unprecedented four Cinema Blend All-Stars will be shipping off to San Diego, where we'll spend five days rubbing elbows with Wookies and Romulans, trying to hunt down Joss Whedon at his favorite restaurant, and maybe finding time to report back on all of it to you guys. Yes, it is time for San Diego Comic Con, the annual event where nerds of every stripe gather to celebrate their nerdiness, and Hollywood, the gaming industry and the comics industry follow suit to woo them. It's an extravaganza of panels, premieres, screenings and more swag that any human could ever need, and we're tossing ourselves right in the middle of it for your benefit. Yes, it's foolish, but isn't everything worth doing?
Our coverage will start pretty much as soon as we get in town tomorrow, but to start things off here's a preview we assembled of what we're most looking forward to at the Con. Katey Rich and Eric Eisenberg will be repping movies and submitted 5 events each, while Kelly West on TV and Pete Haas on Games picked five favorites as well. We'll be running around like crazy to cover all of these and much, much more, so stay tuned with Cinema Blend this week for your daily dose of geek.
If you want even more up to the minute news, remember you can follow Katey, Eric, Kelly and Pete on Twitter.
Thursday, July 22nd--11:15-12:15-- Hall H
It wowed the crowds of Hall H two years ago with simple test footage, so we can only imagine what Disney has in store for us this time around. The film already has geeks wetting their pants in anticipation for the film’s December arrival and it’s hard to imagine that anything done during the panel will do something to disrupt that. With Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, Bruce Boxleitner, and director Joe Kosinski in attendance, the sky is the limit. Also be sure to check out the movie’s booth on the exhibit floor (#3712) and Flynn’s Arcade, located at 335 6th Avenue.
Thursday, July 22--3:30-4:30--Hall H
Every geek at the Con will be dying to gather in the presence of their twin deities: J.J. Abrams, he of Alias and Star Trek, and Joss Whedon, he of Buffy and Firefly and soon The Avengers. It's not quite being able to invite them to dinner and pick their brains for hours, but it's the closest that you and 5,000 others will probably ever be able to come.
Thursday, July 22-- 4:30-5:30-- Room 24ABC
I can sum up the appeal of this panel with just one word: Giacchino. The newly minted Oscar winner behind the scores for Up, Star Trek, six seasons of Lost and more will be on hand to discuss his craft along colleagues like True Blood's Nathan Barr and Superman Returns' John Ottman. Anyone who's ever wondered about the magic that goes into those scores won't be able to resist watching the masters talk shop.
Thursday, July 22nd--6:00-7:00--Hall H
Yes, it’s coming out August 13, less than three weeks from the completion of the Con. But Edgar Wright’s film is one of the most anticipated of the year for a reason: it looks totally epic. In terms of talent, they may need a bigger stage as Wright, author Bryan Lee O'Malley, Michael Cera, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman, Anna Kendrick, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Allison Pill, Mark Webber, and Mae Whitman will all be in attendance. Also be sure to check out their off-site location at the Hilton Gaslamp Courtyard!
Thursday, July 22-- 10:00-11:00 PM--Regal Horton Plaza
Advertising itself as "too hot for Comic Con," the Piranha 3D panel will be happening away from the madness of the convention center and likely showing more splattering blood and bare breasts than Hall H can handle. With a cast including Adam Scott, Paul Scheer, Jerry O'Connell and Elisabeth Shue, and a promise of being one of the greatest silly horror movies of the year, Piranha 3D will be a perfect antidote to all those serious superhero movies and the fanboys who love them.
Friday, July 23rd--1-2--Hall H
James Gunn doesn’t work fast, but when he does a project he does it well. His feature directing debut, Slither, is a fantastic, gross cult horror film that has earned a legion of fans. We’ve seen nothing of Super just yet, but with the possibility of footage being shown paired with an all-star panel that includes Gunn, Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Nathan Fillion and Michael Rooker, this is guaranteed to be a good time.
Saturday, July 24--11:45-1:45--Hall H
Warner Bros. always has plenty to show off at their combined panels for their biggest upcoming movies, but with this year promising to show off the first-ever footage of Ryan Reynolds as The Green Lantern and an extended look at the seventh Harry Potter film, there's even more to look forward to. Add in the foxy ladies of Sucker Punch and the crowd may be screaming so loud you'd think Twilight was back this year.
Saturday, July 24-- 1:30-2:30-- Hall H
Matt Reeves' remake of the original Swedish film is still a bit of a question mark, so we'll be gathering at this panel to hopefully get a look at some more footage, and see if the new movie sticks so closely to Let The Right One In it's a pale carbon copy, or if it actually has something new to offer. Plus, Chloe Moretz proved last year at the Kick-Ass panel that she's pretty good in front of a giant crowd, so it will be fun to see her one year later and all grown up.
Saturday, July 24th --4:45-5:45--Hall H
One is a love letter to the event we are attending ane sci-fi comedy, the other is a comic book adaptation from the director of Iron Man starring James Bond and Indiana Jones. Though the latter movie is a bit light on talent (only John Favreau is scheduled to attend), the Paul panel is stacked with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Jeffrey Tambor, Joe Lo Truglio and director Greg Mottola.
Saturday, July 24th--6-7--Hall H
It goes without saying that this panel is likely the most anticipated of the five day event, and with good reason. Though some images of Thor have been coming out over the past couple weeks, we’ve seen no footage from the film and, outside of concept art, we don’t even really know what Chris Evans looks like suited up as Cap. Though Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Kat Dennings, Clark Gregg and Kenneth Branagh have been revealed from the Thor side, it’s not yet known who or what we will see from Captain America.
Thursday, July 22--1:00-2:00--Ballroom 20
Not only will we get a glimpse behind the scenes of this fantastic USA spy-drama, but the panel also promises a video featuring Michael Westen offering tips on how to survive Comic-Con. We're all sure to benefit from that.
Thursday, July 22--4:45-5:45--Ballroom 20
Showtime explores the dark-side of the leading characters of some of their series, including Weeds, Dexter, Californication, and Nurse Jackie. Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker), Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) and Hank Moody (David Duchovny) on the same stage? That’s just a recipe for awesome (with a side of slightly scary) if you ask me.
Friday, July 23--10:15-11:15--Room 6BCF
Looking at the creators and cast of the Hawaii Five-0 reboot, one would think the stars literally collided as all of them made names for themselves in scifi. This panel offers a sneak peek at the upcoming NBC series and features exec-producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek), former Losty Daniel Dae Kim and former Cylon Grace Park as they discuss the series, which isn’t set in space or on an mysterious island (that we know of, anyway).
Friday, July 23--11:30-12:30--Room 6BCF
Vampires may be sexy but zombies hold the market for scary (or funny, depending on the angle). This panel will feature some of the actors and exec-producers as they talk about the upcoming AMC series The Walking Dead, as well as a sneak preview.
Saturday, July 24--3:15-4:15--Room 6A
Catch an early look at ABC’s upcoming new drama series about a family that acquires super powers. After the screening, Julie Benz (Dexter), Michael Chiklis (The Shield) and the exec producers of the series will answer questions. The show looks fantastic and with Benz and Chiklis leading the cast, it’s sure to be worth checking out.
Thursday, July 22--1:15-2:15-- Room 6A
All we really know about 38 Studios is that it has lots of star power. It was founded by retired pitcher Curt Schilling and counts author R.A. Salvatore and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane among its employees. Those guys are well-regarded in their own fields but will that expertise translate into a good game?
Thursday, July 22--3:30-4:30--Room 6BCF
In the first Force Unleashed, protagonist Starkiller fought rancors, pulled a star destroyer out of the sky, and fought Darth Vader. How do you top that? LucasArts will try to prove they can with some flashy gameplay footage.
Thursday, July 22--4:45-5:45--Room 6BCF
It will be nice to hear about some of Capcom's upcoming releases, such as Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and Okamiden. However, the real treat will be finding out what the hell Mega Man Universe is. Capcom's announcement of the game last week didn't reveal much at all and hopefully they're a bit more talkative at the panel.
Friday, July 23--1:00-2:00--Room 8
The PS3 Twisted Metal was announced only a month ago so there are plenty of burning questions for directors David Jaffe and Scott Campbell to answer. Even if there aren't any meaty details in the presser, you know Jaffe will be good for a few soundbytes.
Saturday, July 24--6:00-7:00-- Room 3
Maxis is best known for simulation games so it was surprising to hear that they're making a more "hardcore" game. Why are they making an action RPG based on Spore and how do they plan to do it? It's only an hour-long panel so they won't be able to answer those questions completely but it'll be fun to watch them try.
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