Emerald City Comicon Welcomes Lea Thompson

 

Lea Thompson photo by Jamie McCarthy courtesy WireImage

 

  Emerald City Comicon announced that Lea Thompson (Back to the Future I, II, III, Red Dawn, Some Kind of Wonderful, Jaw 3D, Howard the Duck) will be attending this year’s event in Seattle. Thompson has a place in our hearts at Lorraine McFly in the Back to the Future trilogy and recently appeared in J. Edgar.

 

Christopher Lloyd will not be  able to attend due to a filming commitment.

 

“The Hunger Games” Sequel Writer on Gender and Warfare

  Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The Full Monty, 127 Hours) is writing the sequel to The Hunger Games. Beaufoy is fine tuning the script for Catching Fire. He tells 24 frames he’s charmed by the trilogy’s author, Suzanne Collins, and her knowledge for warfare.

 “She’s fascinating,” said Beaufoy. “Her dad was a military expert, historian and lecturer and used to be in the forces. It’s fascinating hearing her talk about the thesis for the three novels: The first is about survival, the second is rebellion and the third is about all-out war. She’s very compelling about all of that.”

 I agree with his point that gender doesn’t matter in the series which centers on a heroine (played by Jennifer Lawrence of X-Men: First Class.)

 “What I really love about the books is it isn’t even up for discussion that she’s a girl,” Beaufoy said. “There’s no discussion that she shouldn’t be killing people because she’s a girl, and she shouldn’t be killed because she’s a girl. We’ve done gender politics. This is about life and death. It makes the gender politics seem finicky and not terribly interesting.”

For the entire interview click here.

The Hunger Games cast tour concludes in Seattle this weekend. I will be there.

James Bond Girl in Swimsuit and on 007’s Trunks

 

Naomie Harris on holiday courtesy The Daily Mail

 Daniel Craig’s James Bond is famous for his style in tuxes, suits and swim trunks! Naomie Harris tells MI6 about her experience filming Skyfall

  “It’s going really well but we don’t finish until May. It’s a big movie. [Daniel]’s great. He’s such a nice guy. There’s been no trunks,” she lamented.

  Harris is playing an MI6 field agent named Eve. The actress says don’t expect full on glam from her character.

 “It’s nothing too sexy. She’s more of a tomboy, which I love.”

  The Daily Mail has a photo of the latest Bond girl on holiday from January. Harris was on vacation in the Maldives with her family. If only she could be wearing his in the new 007 film.

First Look Johnny Depp as Tonto

 

The Lone Ranger and Tonto

  The first picture of Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger and Johnny Depp as Tonto were revealed by producer Jerry Bruckerheimer via his Twitter account. Gore Verbinski is directing The Lone Ranger out May, 2013.

I’m loving these looks for the big screen. Tonto has look that reminds me of James O’Barr’s The Crow.  

  Dynamite published a great comic book starrring the Lone Ranger written by Brett Matthews with art by John Cassaday.

Prometheus Second Trailer

image courtesy Weyland Industries

  The second trailer for Prometheus debuts March 17th in a special invite-only premiere at the AMC Downtown Disney. Director Ridley Scott will be there for Q&A conducted by the film’s writer/producer and Lost show runner Damon Lindelof. The trailer will go online immediately following the event at http://youtube.com/amctheatres.  

  Here’s the AMC link where you can submit questions to Scott.

In case you missed it here’s the TED video which shows the link between Alien and Prometheus.

Top 5 Emerald City Comicon Panels Day by Day

Emerald City Comicon revealed their stellar lineup of programming for this year’s big event including more than 120 panels! I seriously need to look into cloning.

Here’s my top 5 panel picks for each day of the con:

One of my favorite Marc Silvestri covers from Marvel.com

Friday, March 30th

ECCC Spotlight: Marc Silvestri An intimate hour devoted to Top Cow founder, Image founder, movie producer and top artist Marc Silvestri. The legend’s career spans three decades and he’s drawn Wolverine, X-Men, Cyberforce, Witchblade, The Darkness and Incredible Hulk.

Robert Kirkman Q & A The is the chance get into the creative mind behind The Walking Dead comic book, television series and soon to be videogame is sure to be a packed house. Kirkman’s other successful comics include Invincible and Super Dinosaur. Kirkman is true creative force and innovator blazing his own path.

Spotlight on Edward James Olmos Award-winning actor, director and activist Edward James Olmos reflects on his incredible career including Miami Vice, Blade Runner and the reimagining of Battlestar Galactica. Olmos is a true Hollywood original. He is appearing Friday.

Drawing Inspiration: The Art of the Whedonverse Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Faith, Dollhouse and Serenity live on in comics by Portland’s Dark Horse Comics. This behind-the-panels look with the amazing artists is a must for Joss Whedon fans with creations from past, present and future, including exclusive first looks!

Marvel: Breaking Into Comics Marvel’s Talent Scout along with some of their top writers and artists are here to help make comic book dreams come true.

 

Saturday, March 31st

Talkin’ Dead with Jon Bernthal and Laurie Holden. Stars of the acclaimed television series talk their experience filming The Walking Dead and the future of their characters Shane and Andrea. Two of the show’s most polarizing characters played by fan favorite actors should mean a packed house of geeks hungry for answers to all the rumors about Shane and what the show will do next.

AVX promo art courtesy Marvel

Marvel: Pint O’ C.B. The is THE panel for Marvel fans. Anything goes as Marvel’s C.B. Cebulski along with superstars Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Dan Slott and Rick Remender take your questions and hopefully make some big surprise announcements about the future of the X-Men, Avengers, Spidey and more.

DC Comics: The New 52 It was controversial but commercial smash. Top editors and talent face the wrath and praise of fans while discussing last year’s game-changing revamp of DC Comics and what’s next from the home of Batman, Superman, Justice League and more iconic heroes.

A Candid Conversation with Katee Sackhoff  The actress who rocked as Starbuck on the reimagined Battlestar Galatica reflects on her role at Lt. Kara Thrace and previews her new role opposite Vin Diesel. Sackhoff plays a bounty hunter tracking down Diesel in the next Riddick movie.

Fatale #1 cover courtesy Image Comics

Crime Comics Eisner Award Winning writers Greg Rucka (Stumptown, Gotham Central, White Out)and Seattle’s Ed Brubaker (Criminal, Scene of the Crime, Fatale) talk with fans about their hot series and the amazing resurgence of the classic crime genre.

 

Sunday, April 1st

Marvel: The Next Big Thing Top talent including Greg Rucka, Rick Remender, Jeff Parker, Chris Yost and Dan Slott take on your questions about your favorite heroes,villains and maybe make some surprise announcements.

A Conversation with Summer Glau She’s played a Terminator and Joss Whedon’s innocent girl who could turn into a killing machine in a snap. This gorgeous actress reflects on her roles in Firefly, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse, The Cape and new film, Knights of Badassdom.

Star Trek: State of the Franchise Is the new movie enough to satisfy fans? Bryan Fuller and Bryan Singer are reportedly interested in developing a new Star Trek series but what would a new television series be like? A Trek historian and experts debate the possible future of the beloved franchise.

Thunderdome! The Artist Duel Two artists. Every few minutes a new twist is delivered and each artist must incorporate it into their work. The final design is judged by a team of pros and a winner is declared. The art will be auctioned benefitting Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Star Wars Craft Time From Chewbacca sock puppets to Ewok flower vases, the woman behind the Star Wars Craft Book shows you how to use the Force to create unique gifts. I got to see this!

There are so many amazing panels including the best of webcomics, a Star Trek/Star Wars ballet and a Family Feud style geek game show. Seattle will become GEEK Utopia March 30th-April 1st.

 

 

Will “Chronicle” Director Feel Spider-Man’s Venom?

Venom courtesy Marvel.com

  When Chronicle hit the big screen buzz was building that director Josh Trank would take over a reboot of Fantastic Four for Fox. Now comes word that Sony is recruiting the director for a Spider-Man spinoff starring Venom according to the Los Angeles Times.

  The story would focus on Spidey villain played Topher Grace in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3.  The project has been spinning for 5 years. No word if this Venom will based on Eddie Brock, Mac Gargan or Flash Thompson versions.

Thanks to Dark Horizons.

New Prometheus Viral Image from Weyland Industries

  Prometheus and Weyland Corporation promotion is taking over the world in a chilling way. The TED viral video starring Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland revealed the link between Alien and Prometheus took over the web.

image courtesy Weyland Industries

 Now there’s a website for the evil corporation from the films and this beautiful but frightening image.

 On the page you can see this image and description under coming soon:

courtesy Weyland Industries

“OUR FAMILY IS GROWING

Weyland engineers have been working around the clock to bring you the newest, most advanced addition to the Weyland family. Stay tuned for a special announcement.”

This Geek’s Opinion: This will likely be the introduction of the artificial person that will be played by Michael Fassbender in Prometheus. Ian Holm played an android in Alien.

The picture above appears to be inside the ship of the “Space Jockey” from the first Alien film with an egg and a map showing multiple star systems. What do you think?

Ridley Scott is not just a brilliant director but expert marketer too.