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Archive for the ‘WonderCon’ Category

Wonder Con 2013: Under the Dome – An Inside Look at the Summer Series

Posted in Convention/Event, New Shows, News, Television, WonderCon on June 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Dean Norris and Rachelle LeFevre (Photo by Rueben)

Dean Norris and Rachelle LeFevre (Photo by Rueben)

Back in March, a few cast members and some of the main crew of the new CBS summer mini-series Under the Dome paid a visit to WonderCon 2013 to talk about the much-anticipated adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name.

Included in the panel were cast members Rachelle LeFevre (the Twilight franchise) and Dean Norris (Breaking Bad) and Executive Producers Neal Baer and Jack Bender as well as Producer/Writer Brian K. Vaughan.

Given that the book is over 1000 pages long, the task to be handled by writer Brian was to take what took place in a few days within the pages of that tome, stretching it out into 13-episodes. In fact, author Stephen King “has been very generous” telling Brian to “use the book as a starting point” and with that directive, Brian “pulled the book apart pound by pound”.

Let’s take a quick look at what the series itself is about. Under the Dome will tell the story of the residents of the small town of Chester’s Mill, Maine, who suddenly find themselves cut off from the rest of the world by a mysterious, impenetrable barrier that surrounds the town. As the town begins to tear itself apart through panic, a small group of people attempt to maintain peace and order while also trying to uncover the truth behind the barrier and how to escape from it.

Dean Norris, Rachelle LeFevre, Neal Baer, Jack Bender and Brian K. Vaughan

Dean Norris, Rachelle LeFevre, Neal Baer, Jack Bender and Brian K. Vaughan (Photo by Rueben

Now, with that explanation the conversation then moved over to the cast, speaking about how they, personally, would handle this kind of scary predicament. Rachelle shared that she asked herself a number of questions, including “Who would I really be?” “What would I do?” and “How would I handle things?” She continued that her role of Julia Shumway, an investigative reporter, is “the living embodiment of all those questions (and more)”.

Dean, on the other hand, joked that “one thing you need under a dome is a bad guy” and his character – James “Big Jim” Rennie, local politician and owner of the local used car lot, is just that bad guy who will “become a bit of a dictator”. That being said, though, Dean briefly talked about the transition from playing a good guy in Breaking Bad to being the bad guy in Under the Dome, sharing that he “doesn’t think (of Jim as being) bad, he just makes bad decisions”.

Brian, Neal and Jack then talked about how the summer episodes will be divided into “the 3 F’s”: Faith, Fascism and Fear; and it will definitely be interesting to see how those three F’s play out over the hottest months of the year. One this is for sure, the crew “knows how it will all end” but they also have “the freedom to change things as they go along”. But fans of the novel should know that the ending in the book will not be the ending in the series.

To find out for yourself about Under the Dome, make sure to tune into CBS on Monday, June 24 at 10 PM to see how this “environmental parable” will play out.

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WonderCon 2013: Much Ado About Nothing

Posted in Geekdom, Movies, News, Recommendations, WonderCon on May 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Much Ado About Nothing

Back in March, a number of members of the cast of the upcoming box office film Much Ado About Nothing as well as writer, producer and director Joss Whedon made an appearance at this year’s Wonder Con held in Anaheim, California.

The participants in the panel included cast members Clark Gregg (The Avengers), Sean Maher (Firefly), Tom Lenk (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Romy Rosemont (Glee), Riki Lindhome (Million Dollar Baby), Spencer Treat Clark (The Last House on the Left) and newcomers Jillian Morgese, Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney as well as Whedon and cinematographer Jay Hunter.

Much Ado About Nothing, of course, is based on the legendary comedic play written by William Shakespeare that chronicles two pairs of lovers: Benedick and Beatrice (the main couple) and Claudio and Hero (the secondary couple).

In the Whedon version, the play is set in modern times but filmed in black and white using the original play as dialogue. The movie was filmed at Whedon’s home in Los Angeles over the course of 12 days in mid-October of 2011 on an extremely small budget.

Missing from the panel that day were lead actors Amy Acker (Angel and Person of Interest), who plays Beatrice and Alexis Denisof (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel), who plays Benedick as well as Fran Kranz (Dollhouse), who plays Claudio, Nathan Fillion (Firefly and Castle), who plays Dogberry and Reed Diamond (Franklin & Bash), who plays Don Pedro.

During the panel, the audience was treated to three different scenes from the film with Whedon talking about what made him do the project, sharing that “everything (was) in place (and I) understood the characters and (I) had to do it” while each of the cast members talked about getting the call from Whedon regarding the project and the characters each of them played. Whedon also shared that he “would like to take this complete cast and do something new and very different” in the future.

A few behind the scenes details that the cast provided were that they would get eight pages of the script done each day, that some of the cast needed help translating what they were filming (after all Shakespeare isn’t the easiest to understand), that, ironically, Whedon had done some test reading about 10 years ago and that the cast took a 30-hour bus ride together to go to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

Much Ado About Nothing will open in theatres on Friday, June 7. You can check out the trailer for the film right here.

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WonderCon 2013 Artist Spotlight: Jason Palmer

Posted in Artists, Geekdom, News, Spotlight, WonderCon on April 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Jason Palmer's Self-Portrait

Jason Palmer’s Self-Portrait

On Easter weekend, while attending WonderCon 2013 in Anaheim, I had the opportunity to sit in on a panel spotlighting one of my favorite artists: Jason Palmer

During this one-hour panel Jason took the stage, sharing his back-story of growing up in California as an only child and revealing that he drew all the time with whatever he could find at hand. But, since that was during the days before the internet, he didn’t know anyone who was an artist, let alone knowing which way to go with his art.

After high school, he did odd jobs – including desk jobs – that eventually lead to him becoming a technical advisor for an electric company. In this job, he spent a lot of time talking to clients on the phone, and he would doodle on the desk pad on his desk throughout many of these conversations.

On one particular day, the President of the company called Jason into his office, asking why he was doodling all over the desk pad – thinking that Jason wasn’t doing the job for which he was hired. Jason explained that he was doing his job but also doodling while explaining out tech-speak to clients. He was instructed to discontinue his doodling and, as you can imagine, not that much later, he decided to give his notice with that employer; setting on the path of actually doing something more with his drawing.

He, in turn, got a job at a Hollywood art store, started taking college classes to hone his skill and, on somewhat of a lark he contacted his favorite artist, asking for advice. Now while in hindsight Jason freely admits this was probably not the best idea, this artist was kind enough to take time out of his own busy schedule to spend the day with Jason.

After getting some very sage advice from this artist, Jason was encouraged to come back “when he was better” and he felt an obligation to do the best he could from there on out; making himself a bit of a perfectionist in the process.

From that point on, he made several more return visit to the artist’s home; always coming away with more good advice. Gradually Jason began to meet other artists and started to create a “family” out of that.

It was 25 years ago that Jason attended his very first Comic Con, meeting many of his heroes – some who were really nice and others (who he of course did not name) that were less than pleasant. As the years past, though, he began to become discouraged. That all changed in 2003 when he meet Yelena (who has been his wife for the past 10 years). It was Yelena who became his strongest supporter, convincing to approach other artists at conventions and helped turn him around. He eventually got a table in artist’s alley and then one day he had a chance meeting with actor Nathan Fillion (of Firefly and Castle fame), who saw Jason’s artwork for the show.

As Jason explained it, there was a release party for the Firefly DVD and he did “a little piece for it” that was eventually seen by series creator Joss Whedon, who asked to meet Jason. During that meeting Joss unabashedly told him that Jason’s little piece was “the biggest compliment” he had ever gotten for the show. That quickly led to Jason being asked by Joss to do a full painting and from there he was asked to do more paintings for the show. Not that long later, of course, the rapid Browncoats (the very dedicated fans of Firefly) embrace Jason’s artwork, and his career really started to take off.

As time went on, he started to get more and more commercial work and last year he worked with HBO and Lucas Films on some big projects. But with that bigger and bigger commercial comes the challenge of meeting their requirements and being somewhat stifled by their restrictions. It is Jason’s goal now to do more of what the fans of his work want, what they request when he sees them in person. He does also do commission work, but – obviously – his wait list is quite long, but Jason does his best to complete the commissions as quickly as possible

To see just a small sample of Jason Palmer’s artwork and get more details about his studio, make sure to visit his official website here.

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Getting Through the Rest of WonderCon 2013

Posted in News, WonderCon on March 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

So the second day of WonderCon 2013 was pretty busy with plenty of panels to attend. I was able to take in the following panels on Saturday:

Living the Vikings – A salute to the ongoing History Channel mini-series that featured cast members Travis Fimmel, Katheryn Winnick and George Blagden;

Falling Skies – A panel covering the upcoming season three of the TNT alien invasion series that saw cast members Drew Roy, Sarah Carter and Seychelle Gabriel take the stage along with series executive producer Remi Aubuchon;

TV Guide Magazine’s Salute to Fan Favorite Showrunners – This panel saw the likes of Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries), Steven Molaro (The Big Bang Theory), Glen Mazarra (The Walking Dead), Remi Aubuchon (Falling Skies), Jeff Davis (Teen Wolf) and Greg Plageman (Person of Interest) all hit the stage to talk about their shows;

Spotlight on Jason Palmer – The renowned artist was given a special salute where he talked about how he got into drawing, ending up as a licensed artist for the likes of Firefly, Serenity, Star Wars and Castle; and,

Under the Dome – A sneak peek at the upcoming CBS summer series based on the Stephen King novel of the same day that included appearances by cast members Rachelle Lefevre and Dean Norris.

Then, earlier today I had the chance to attend panels for the upcoming Joss Whedon film Much Ado About Nothing that will feature among its cast actors like Clark Gregg, Reed Diamond, Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Nathan Fillion, Sean Maher, Tom Lenk and Fran Kranz (among many others) as well as a panel for the hit CW series Arrow that saw Stephen Amell, Paul Blackthore, Willa Holland and Colin Donnell on stage with executive producer Marc Guggenheim.

All in all it was yet another great convention; and I will be providing further coverage soon both here and at NiceGirlsTV. I hope you will all stop by to read the articles when they are posted.

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Surviving the First Day of WonderCon 2013

Posted in News, WonderCon on March 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday was the first day of WonderCon 2013 and the day went pretty well, all things considered. I arrived at the Marriott Hotel in Anaheim around 10 AM; being able to get checked into my hotel room early, then heading over to the convention center for registration.

That process was pretty painless (thank God!) and I entered the exhibit hall shortly after the doors opened, getting to “hit” up my favorite photograph vendors and coming away with over a dozen new pictures to add to my burgeoning collection as well as buying a new Castle-themed t-shirt and a Firefly-themed hoodie from my favorite artist, the one and only Jason Palmer.

Later that day I had the chance to sit in on the Beauty And the Beast panel, featuring series lead Kristin Kreuk and executive producer Kelly Souders. That panel started out with a special screening of half of the next new episode of the series that is set to air on April 18 (the series is currently on a three-week break). All I can say is that it is a heart-pumping episode that no viewer will want to miss; and the panel – while a bit short because of the tight scheduling inherent with the convention – was filled with what the ladies could share about the show and some behind the scenes tidbits.

The night finished off with a two-hour screening event of the return episode of the current season of Doctor Who, which features series lead Matt Smith and the Doctor’s new companion Clara, as played by actress Jenna-Louise Coleman as well as the debut episode of the new BBC America series Orphan Black.

While we were asked not to reveal too much about either episode since they will both air tonight, the new Doctor Who episode received nearly a full-room standing ovation while most of the audience who remained for the late-night screening of Orphan Black were clamoring for more.

All in all it was a great start to this year’s fete and there will be even more coming today, including panels for the A&E mini-series Vikings, the popular alien invasion TNT series Falling Skies, a salute to the NBC series Revolution, an advanced look at this summer’s CBS series Under the Dome (based on the Stephen King novel), a TV Guide salute to Fan Favorite Showrunners, a spotlight on artist Jason Palmer and much, much more.

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Craig Horner Appears at the Legend of the Seeker Fan Table at WonderCon 2012

Posted in Convention/Event, Fan Effort, Geekdom, News, Television, WonderCon on March 24, 2012| 2 Comments »

Craig Horner

Fans of the now defunct, but not forgotten, syndicated series Legend of the Seeker were treated to a visit by lead actor Craig Horner at last weekend’s WonderCon. Craig made an appearance on both Saturday and Sunday of the annual convention at the Legend of the Seeker Fan Table, pleasing fans who traveled far and wide (and in rather unpleasant weather as well) to get a chance to meet the man who played Richard Cypher in the much beloved TV series.

Craig not only participated in autograph sessions but also photo sessions with fans on both days, thrilling everyone who attended even if it were only for a few hours each day. He spent his time at the Legend of the Seeker Fan Table, which was run by the members of the Save Our Seeker campaign, who are still hard at work to get a third season for the series that is based on the Sword of Truth novel by renowned author Terry Goodkind.

Craig Horner

If you are a fan of the syndicated series that included in its cast actresses Bridget Regan and Tabrett Bethell as well actors Bruce Spence and Craig Parker, you can join the Legend of the Seeker fans in their campaign efforts and find out much more about their cause at Save Our Seeker.

Thanks are extended to Laura Ventura and the other dedicated ladies (among them Elaine and Cha) of the Save Our Seeker campaign for all their hard work and dedication as well as their camaraderie on Saturday afternoon. And, a big thank you to Elaine (@elfierce on Twitter) for the photos.

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Delve Inside Once Upon a Time at WonderCon 2012

Posted in Convention/Event, News, Television, WonderCon on March 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis

Last weekend the annual WonderCon was held at the Anaheim Convention Center and among the many panels that were held throughout the three-day fete was a visit by the Executive Producers and Creators – Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis – of the new ABC fairytale drama Once Upon a Time.

Before these creative minds took the stage, the exuberant audience was treated to an early screening of last Sunday night’s episode “Heart of Darkness”. At the end of the episode, Horowtiz and Kitsis were greeted to a welcoming cheer from the audience and a brief Q&A.

Emma - Jennifer Morrison

They first came up with the idea for the show after finishing their work on the TV series Felicity. Kitsis shared, “we were sitting in my apartment, thinking about a pilot” (based on a suggestion by their agent) and they talked about the Evil Queen and how it would be horrible to be her, trapped in the Enchanted Forest where everyone has a happy ending and everything she does fails. As they thought more about what that world would be like, they thought “this would be a show we would want to watch”; but they had no clue how to do the show. In fact, Kitsis joked that “when you’re young writers in Hollywood and you pitch a show that has dogs, children, dwarves, fairies and wolves” the studios simply say “thank you” and send you on your way.

But thanks to their time on the ABC juggernaut Lost, they went to ABC/Disney with their long-standing idea and they were surprised that the studio “was amazing and supportive right away (with trying) to figure out this crazy idea”. And, given the fact they have made bold moves with characters from the fairytale world, they re-enforced that the studio “has been supportive of the show, allowing us to use our own takes on (the) characters, taking them to different places”. Kitsis even joked “we’ve been pretty much able to talk them into everything”.

Prince Charming - Josh Dallas

The men do have some characters on their wish list, including Peter Pan, Rapunzel, Mulan and Ariel and they are hopeful to have the opportunity to explore much more of Storybrooke, which they shared they believe “is a lot bigger than it seems”. And, they joked about the Lost Easter Eggs that have been hidden within many of the episodes such as 8:15 on the town’s central clock; Regina’s street address was 108 and Apollo candy bars. There will be more with Kitsis telling fans to “look up in the air”.

And while they couldn’t tease much of what to expect in upcoming episodes they were willing to share that the Huntsmen, aka Sheriff Graham (actor Jamie Dornan) will be back in the season finale, which started shooting this past week.

The audience then had their chance to ask some questions, including:

• Wanting to know if we will learn more about the book, where it came from and what, if anything, the book has to do with August (guest star Eion Bailey) to which they said, “we’re going to find out more about the book and much more about August…by the end of the season you will learn who August is, why he is here and pretty much everything you’ve ever wanted to know about him and two things you didn’t”;

• Figuring out who the Doctor (guest star David Anders) is in the fairytale world in which they shared they “know who the Doctor is and we have a plan (but) please be patient”;

• Wondering if the people in Storybrooke have false childhood memories or is everything more like a blank slate for them to which they shared “like Blade Runner the characters have implanted memories…but a lot of the time they are just a haze (to them)”; and,

Snow White - Ginnifer Goodwin

• Asking about how they came up with of the origin of the dwarves; being born fully-grown hatching out of eggs with beards and intelligence to which they shared that the idea culminated from a lunch they had with Lost Executive Producer Damon Lindelof. “We knew we wanted to do an episode about Grumpy and once they had the image of actor Lee Arenberg (who plays Grumpy) and an egg, that “image was in our heads (and) we just couldn’t shake it”.

The next new episode of Once Upon a Time will air tomorrow night, March 25 on ABC at 8 PM.

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Experience the Wonder of WonderCon

Posted in Convention/Event, Geekdom, Messages, Television, WonderCon on March 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend WonderCon, the annual pop culture convention, much like the infamous San Diego Comic Con, that is typically held in San Francisco but was transferred to Anaheim this year due to ongoing construction at the convention Center in San Fran.

Early Friday morning I got all my “stuff” packed up and headed to the convention center in Anaheim. Once I arrived there, I picked up my press pass and eventually headed into the legendary exhibition hall. If you have attended a convention like WonderCon before, then you know what I mean when I saw there is nothing quite like it. If haven’t experienced an exhibition hall before, well, I don’t think I could easily explain the insanity; but imagine collectibles of all kinds lining the walls of a large warehouse, people in costume parading all around and commerce up the wazoo as collectors and fans hit up their vendors of choice for all their favorite items.

Artwork by Jason Palmer

As a life-long fan of television and a collector of sorts, I visited a few of my favorites vendors picking up new 8 x 10 photos to add to my collection as well as getting a new “Sereni-Tee” t-shirt from my favorite artist Jason Palmer. And, for once I actually had the chance to spend some quality time in the hall, walking around taking it all in and snapping as many pictures as I can to document just what the exhibition hall is really like.

Since it was the first day, Warner Bros. once again sponsored the first panel in the main ballroom – where most of the primary panels were held throughout the weekend – featuring screenings of the pilot episode of Person of Interest and the next new episode of The Secret Circle.

A short while later I moved over to one of the smaller panel rooms for a writers panel, featuring TV and film writers Amy Berg, Steve Kriozese, Jesse Alexander, Ashley Miller, Dave Simkins and Steve Melching. It is always interesting to sit in on a writers’ panel to find out how each of them got their start, listening to their experiences and sharing anecdotes about the inner workings of Hollywood that most of us never get to see.

Emma Stone

Moving onto Saturday, I actually had time to meander through the exhibition hall once again, visiting Artists Alley, which is where countless artists have their own tables to sell and promote their creative skills. That afternoon I once again headed to the main ballroom for panels featuring clips, trailers and some of the cast and crew for a number of major upcoming box office films including Battleship, Snow White and the Huntsman, Lockout, Looper, Resident Evil: Retribution and The Amazing Spider-Man.

Among the big names who appeared for these films were Alexander Skarsgard and Brooklyn Decker for Battleship; Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron for Snow White and the Huntsman; Maggie Grace for Lockout; Joseph Gordon-Levitt for Looper; Milla Jovovich for Resident Evil: Retribution and Emma Stone for The Amazing Spider-Man.

Soon enough it was Sunday, the last day of the convention, and it was time for me to put on my press hat. I had the chance to participate in the press room for the FOX fan favorite Fringe which featured Executive Producers Jeff Pinker and J.H. Wyman and actors Joshua Jackson, Seth Grabel and John Noble as well as actress Blair Brown. That was followed up by panels in the main ballroom for Fringe, featuring the aforementioned cast and crew as well as Alcatraz and Once Upon a Time.

Fringe Cast

The actors and creative minds behind Alcatraz included actors Jorge Garcia, Jonny Coyne and Robert Forster and actresses Sarah Jones and Parminder Nagra as well as Executive Producers Jennifer Johnson and Daniel Pyne and series creators Steven Lillien and Bryan Wynbrandt. During that panel we got a sneak peek at a scene from the season finale and some insight into what to expect in the last three episodes. For the Once Upon a Time panel, the audience was treated to an advance screening of Sunday night’s episode as well as a short Q&A with series creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis.

Jane Espenson

The last panel of the day, at least for me, was dedicated to well-known TV writer Jane Espenson, who has written for shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Tru Calling, Dollhouse, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Torchwood: Miracle Day and Once Upon a Time. Jane shared with the audience how she got her start and shared details about her latest online project Husbands.

The convention came to an end much too soon; but I know I certainly enjoyed myself and sure hope that everyone else who attended the annual fete had a great time. Until next year.

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Venture Into the World of Immortals

Posted in Interview, Movies, News, Video, WonderCon on November 7, 2011| 1 Comment »

This past April I had the opportunity to attend Wonder Con, which is an annual pop culture convention held in San Francisco and is the precursor to the San Diego Comic Con. As part of my press duties for this convention, I was invited to participate in round table interviews with some of the actors and creative team behind the upcoming box office film Immortals, which will be hitting cineplexs on November 11.

Isabel Lucas as Athena

The members of the cast in attendance included actors Luke Evans (Clash of the Titans) and Henry Cavill (The Tudors) as well as actress Isabel Lucas (Transformers 2). Director Tarsem Singh and producer Mark Canton were also on hand to discuss the film.

The basic premise behind Immortals is that King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), mad with power, has declared war against humanity. The king has amassed a bloodthirsty army, scorching is way across Greece in search of a weapon of unimaginable power that was forged in the heavens by Ares himself. The one who possesses this weapon can unleash the Titans. If this weapon ends up in the king’s hands it will rain destruction on mankind and annihilate the Gods. Ancient law dictates the Gods must not intervene in man’s conflicts and they are powerless to stop the king until a peasant named Theseus comes forth as their only hope to defeat the king.

Henry Cavill as Theseus

In the hands of visionary director Tarsem Singh, the man behind the independent films The Cell and The Fall as well as the upcoming Snow White film that stars Lily Collins and Julia Roberts, Immortals will assuredly be vividly dynamic in color and scope. Singh himself is a man in motion, never sitting still and is very animated. He displayed passion for his craft and excitement for his work.

On the reverse side was producer Mark Canton who was calm and sedate; explaining the differences between Immortals and the film 300 was the approach to filmmaking as overseen by Tarsem. And, he raved about actor Mickey Rourke’s portrayal of the power-hungry king. “He is fierce in the movie; wind him up and get out of the way,” Canton explained.

As for the actors, the very soft-spoken Isabel Lucas seemed hesitant to answer questions almost as if she preferred being a bystander than in the spotlight; but she did share that filming the action scenes for which her character Athena participated in were hard, especially the rehearsing beforehand.

Luke Evans at Zeus

Actors Luke Evans, who plays Zeus and Henry Cavill, who plays the lead role of Theseus, both agreed the training for the film was difficult. In fact, Evans shared the training “changed me physically forever”. When asked what it was like working with Mickey Rourke, Cavill shared that “you can learn so much from just doing a scene with him”.

Both actors also felt the pressure of their next high-profile roles – Evans plays Aramis in the recently released The Three Musketeers and, of course, Cavill was cast as Superman/Clark Kent in the reboot of the franchise called Man of Steel that is filming right now but won’t be out in theatres until 2013.

If you are a fan of the “sand and sword” type of films, Immortals will be just what you are longing to see. Again, Immortals will open in theatres on Friday, November 11.

Here is the trailer for Immortals.

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Memories of WonderCon 2011: The Box Office Film Priest

Posted in Convention/Event, Geekdom, Interview, Movies, News, WonderCon on May 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Priest

Last month at the annual Wonder Con in San Francisco the creator, director and some of the cast of the upcoming box office movie Priest – which opens in theatres this Friday, May 13 – gathered to participate in a roundtable interview, sharing their experiences on the film and the creative process involved in bringing the story to life.

The interviews started out with the creator – graphic novelist Min-Woo Hyung – who, flanked by his two interpreters – explained that he “couldn’t believe it when (he) was approached about (hiss novel being made into a movie,” including “it wasn’t real” to him until he saw it firsthand. And while the finished product was different from the novel, which worried him at first, he was relieved when he saw how the film turned out.

The graphic novel Priest, published by Tokyopop is a manhwa – aka a Korean comic – created by Hyung which fuses the Western genre with supernatural horror and dark fantasy themes. It is most notable for its unusual, angular art style. The basic premise of the comic is telling the story of humanity’s battle against 12 fallen angels, spanning three distinct time periods: modern times, the Crusades and the Wild West with the primary focus being on the latter.

Paul Bettany at Wonder Con Photo Credit: Jennifer Schadel

Meanwhile, the film version is set in an alternate world where humanity and vampires have warred for centuries. After the last Vampire War, a veteran Warrior Priest – portrayed by actor Paul Bettany – lives in obscurity with other humans inside one of the Church’s walled cities. But, when his niece – actress Lily Collins – is kidnapped by vampires, he breaks his vows to hunt them down.

For Bettany, the draw to work with director Scott Stewart was strong (as they worked together on the film Legion) and it was a challenge to play a character of such depth and physicality. In regards to the heavy action and fighting involved in the film Bettany said, “it was a really great working experience even (on) the days (where) I got injured”. He further explained that he fell on a de-acceleration line, which was quite painful; but he did “as many stunts as insurance would allow” him to do.

As for relative newcomer Collins – who is the daughter of Genesis front man Phil Collins – it “was daunting to be in a project with such a huge following,” but she rose to the challenge of playing a character (the kidnapped niece of the Warrior Priest) that was specifically created for the movie. It was joked about during the interview that she has been nicknamed “the screamer” because of all the screaming her character does throughout the movie, but she was quick to point out that while she “starts (out) as a damsel in distress, she has Priest blood in her, allowing her to be “kick ass” as the movie draws to a conclusion.

Lily Collins at Wonder Con Photo Credit: Jennifer Schadel

The Warrior Priest is not alone in his hunt for his niece, as he is joined by a former Warrior Priestess – actress Maggie Q from the television series Nikita – and his niece’s boyfriend – actor Cam Gigandet – who is a sheriff of the wasteland outside the Church’s city walls. While Maggie Q was not part of the roundtable, Gigandet was there. He explained that his character is “inexperienced when it comes to fighting vampires” but he and the Priest set out “to save the day”. When asked about being in another vampire film (he starred as James in the worldwide phenomenon film Twilight), he simply stated “everything is different about this project” and that Twilight “has opened so many doors” for him, making him very grateful.

To finish up the interview, director Stewart shared how challenging it was to design a “whole world” from that of the story of Priest and to take a much more “hands-on approach” with storyboarding and working with a large scope, landscape movie. And while he joked that it was “horrible” to work with Bettany again he actually gushed over how Paul has a “contemporary face,” making him a perfect fit to the Priest character.

You can judge for yourself when Priest opens in theatres this Friday, May 13. Check out the film’s official website for more details.

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