With so much more Comic-Con buzzing in the news, one man cannot completely catch up. So I highlighted the remnants of this awesome weekend.
The most anticipated film to come out this year as part of the largest movie franchise of all time is Stars Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. The creators of the next Star Wars installment show us a behind the scenes reel. We get a glimpse of real sets, real practical effects, with limited additional CGI.
A bearded aging Mark Hamil (Luke Skywalker) narrates how the project uses modern technology to enhance the picture but does not take away from the heart of the original feel. Most of the sets are filmed on location. “To think the way that technology has evolved and yet keeping one foot in the pre-digital world,” Hamill explains.
They show us Tatooine, the inside of the Millennium Falcon, possibly a new Death Star, R2D2, Storm Troopers, creatures from Jabba’s Palace and broken Tie Fighters. They show us the new rolling android, C-3PO getting in his costume and that it’s actually filmed in the desert.
“We are here on day one of Stars Wars: Episode VII, how incredible is that?” Director J.J. Abrams speaks from a microphone while getting his production crew pumped for the Motion Picture project.
The director uses older cinematography to capture something more solid. They’re moving forward with the new generation, but keeping all the quality values that made the original three movies so unforgettable and magical. The props are highly influential of Jim Henson. There are X-Wing Fighters, a new sith lord and a Storm Trooper firing from a flame thrower. You have interviews from the new and older cast members.
“I can die now,” says one Storm Trooper extra.
“My whole life as led to this moment, I’m in heaven,” Actor Simon Pegg admits to the camera during a dark morning shoot at a desert.
Pegg also seems to be in some costume. I wonder who he’s playing?
It’s easy to witness the newer cast members acting like they were children first seeing Disney World with their two eyes.
Peter Mayhew gets back into his old Chewbacca costume as a designer jokes that the suit is worn out because it’s so soft, cuddly, and fans won’t stop hugging it. Other people in costumes are mesmerized by their jobs. One production assistant is happy to come to work each day to help build the Millennium Falcon and X-Wing.
Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ripley, Oscar Isaac, and Domhnall Gleeson (Ex-Machina) explain the magnitude of this film. They appreciate the love that is going into making this movie. It’s ultimately being directed by the greatest fan of Star Wars and Steven Spielberg. Abrams will probably treat it better than George Lucas ever had. Ripley is riding inside a simulated area of the Millennium Falcon, Storm Troopers are getting blown away, Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) is pressing her hands between Abrams’ face, Warwick Davis is having a chat with a critter, and the legendary Harrison Ford (Han Solo) is back filming in the Millennium Falcon set piece. It doesn’t get anything better than this.
Star Wars is a part of movie film history and this video showcases what the emotion that was missing out in the last three prequels. When Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens kicks off December 18, 2015, it will blow everyone away. Older, younger, and new Star Wars fans can appreciate it. This next trilogy should bring back the iconic classic to its former glory over thirty years ago. Sometimes there’s beauty that comes from a film like this. Check the video below.
There was a trailer released for the new television series titled, Ash vs. Evil Dead. Bruce Campbell is back as Ash to save his local town from Deadites. He’s equipped himself with the boomstick and chainsaw as the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, “The Book of the Dead” returns to reignite evil.
The buckets of blood and campy cult horror are back, but this time, Ash isn’t alone. On his journey, he’s teamed up with his co-worker Pablo, who looks like a Mexican Ben Stiller (Ray Santiago) and an emo girl. Together with Lucy Lawless (Xenia: Warrior Princess) and Jill Marie Jones (Sleepy Hollow) the possessed grannies and dolls have nothing on them.
Campbell quickly gets back into his famed role as the hilarious one-liner jackass who would rather sit on the couch or work at Value Stop than deal with dramatic demonic ghouls. Ash vs. Evil Dead will also star Mimi Rogers. Campbell will put “groovy” back into kick-ass.
Check out the trailer and watch when it premieres on Starz during this year’s Halloween.
Comic-Con also leaked the X-Men: Apocalypse trailer. The best video I found on YouTube is flipped horizontally and filmed from someone’s camera at Comic-Con. The movie seems to be mainly focusing on the cast from X-Men: First Class and the first mutant, Apocalypse. Also, Olivia Munn (Newsroom) is playing Psylocke. Munn told Conan O’Brien that she had to be lubed by two women in order to fit into her latex suit, that’s kinky. Watch that funny clip here as Munn explains the moment she accidentally popped her crotch open.
After watching the trailer, it does not look as epic as some of the other ones I’ve seen. Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark on Game of Thrones) who is playing Jean Grey might do a great job, but where is Wolverine and the other aging X-Men? However, I saw a young man with blue skin like Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler that I’m excited to see. And Apocalypse looks like the villain from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995). It’s set to premiere on May 27, 2016. Will this out-perform X-Men: Days of Future Past?
The second DC film to be coming out next year is about a group of villains called, Suicide Squad. The government recruits a team of these deadly imprisoned villains spanning the DC Universe. There’s Harley Quinn being played by Margot Robbie, Will Smith as Deadshot who should have just been Deathstroke, there is a frog-like humanoid who looks like Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Enchantress played by Cara Delevinge, Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman) and several other unknowns. Ben Affleck will reprise his role as the Caped Crusader after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This film is behind a gut-wrenching action director, David Ayer who is known for Fury, End of Watch, and Street Kings. Ayer even wrote Training Day.
The trailer introduces these characters as an Anti-Justice League to bend their will to hunt down and kill the evil leaders of the world. It’s an expendable task force that even Batman, Superman or the other members of JLA wouldn’t dare cross. And if things go wrong, the Government can easily blame them for it. Deadshot seems to be more human than we think while Harley Quinn looks like Juliet Starling from Lollipop Chainsaw. However, villains like Harley Quinn or the Joker cannot be tamed. Things seem to go awry since Batman is hanging onto the top of a Lamborgini. A cover to the Bee Gees song, “I Started A Joke,” plays at a softer tempo and gives us a creepy vibe. Jared Leto who is playing the Joker has someone strapped to a chair as he’s about to perform unimaginable horrific torture. Leto’s Joker has a similar physique to Bratt Pitt in Fight Club, his body is covered in tattoos and his teeth have metal grills. We hear a faint dying laugh as if it’s coming from a cancer patient, his voice squeals and face covers the screen. Our nightmares come true. Will Leto be able to top Heath Ledger’s Joker? Those are heavy shoes to fill. We will see how Suicide Squad plays out in the DC Universe on August 5, 2016.
Below check out these new trailers for Fantastic Four and Fear the Walking Dead that are premiering this summer.
Fantastic Four – August 7, 2015
Fear the Walking Dead – August 23, 2015
This will be the spin-off prequel to the critically acclaimed original, The Walking Dead. You won’t see Rick Grimes and his group, but you will see how the virus began and spread. It will take place on the West Coast, Los Angeles and be about a dysfunctional family. This is the chaotic zombie outbreak show we been waiting for. It looks similar the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. It’ll star Cliff Curtis and Kim Dickens.
And lastly, this is what Bryan Cranston said to a fan during a panel.