Comic-Con is Coming! We Preview the Biggest Announcements: Part One

July 6, 2012

Next week, the world’s attention (and ours!) turns to San Diego Comic-Con, a yearly event that has become the center of the pop-culture universe. Despite its name, these days the event is less about comic books and more about previewing the upcoming year in genre film and TV. Movie studios invite the press and lucky fans to join them in “Hall H,” a massive 6,500-seat conference room where their most anticipated new projects will be teased. Read on to check out the list of what will be presented at this year’s Comic-Con, and don’t forget to grab Official Comic-Con iPhone & iPad App, a collection of maps and schedules that are a must-have for those of us trying to navigate this huge media event.

Starting off this year’s Comic-Con, the team behind the final Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn: Part II, will be on hand for the first really big event of the show’s opening day. Known for its rowdy crowd, the Twilight panel could be the final chance for fans to go crazy about a franchise that has seemingly run its course.

Once all of the Robert Pattinson (and Taylor Lautner)-induced swooning has subsided, Disney will take the stage to present a trio of upcoming films and the talent behind them. Tim Burton will introduce his next stop-motion animated movie Frankenweenie, about a boy-turned-mad-scientist who revives his deceased dog to rescue the neighborhood from other classic movie monster pets. Director Sam Raimi will present his next film, Oz The Great and Powerful, which looks to extend the whimsical vibe of the hit Alice in Wonderland with the origin story of Oz’s powerful Wizard ruler, played by James Franco. Finally, they’ll preview Wreck-It Ralph, an animated film that appears to be Toy Story set in a videogame arcade, with stars John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman slated to speak.

Lest you think Comic-Con is just for kids, later on Thursday will be the Expendables 2 panel, with huge stars in attendance to hype up the R-rated action flick. Dolph Lundgren, Jean Claude Van Damme, and Arnold Schwarzenegger will join star Sylvester Stallone to talk guns, muscles, and explosions.

Friday begins with ParaNorman, an all-ages stop-motion 3D zombie movie from the minds behind 2009’s Coraline, a pedigree that speaks volumes for its potential. Then TV programs take over Hall H, with the cast and producers from The Big Bang Theory, The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones holding court one after the other. In particular, Game of Thrones should be especially exciting, as the panel is set to feature members of the largely foreign cast whom we’ve grown accustomed to seeing clad in fur robes and suits of armor. The author of the series and co-executive producer of the show, George R. R. Martin, will lead a discussion that includes a Targaryen, a Lannister, a Greyjoy, a Snow, and two Starks in a rare moment of peace between the kingdoms.

Friday finishes with a return to the big screen, and exclusive previews of Sony’s upcoming sci-fi film offerings. We expect Resident Evil: Retribution to continue in the videogame-inspired franchise’s footsteps with a 3D preview of the acrobatic, blood-soaked action sequences that husband and wife team of director Paul W.S. Anderson and actress Milla Jovovich are known for. Then the 2012 big budget re-imagining of Total Recall will make a last-ditch effort to earn some more buzz before its impending August release, with all of its major cast members in person to push hard for their film. Then we get a presentation of the much smaller-budgeted mind-bender Looper, which finds past and future versions of the same man travelling through time to stop himself from killing…himself (confused yet?). And lastly, it’s Elysium, from the writer-director of the surprising hit 2009 alien movie District 9. Whereas District 9 wowed with an unknown cast and some incredible computer graphics, Elysium is making a major play for the mainstream with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster cast as stars. Supposedly set on another planet far in the future, it’s the only film of the day that we have yet to see a single glimpse of; serious sci-fi fans are holding out hope that this original concept (a rarity these days) will steal the show.

Check back next week when we break down the convention’s Saturday and Sunday schedules in part two of our Comic-Con Hall H Preview.

 

Alexei Bochenek is a lifelong tech nerd & film buff based in Los Angeles. When he’s not playing with his phone, it’s because the movie has started. Shhhhh!