We're halfway through this year's San Diego Comic Con, which means the major studios have by now pitched their big-budget wares to the Hall H faithful. Coming into the Con, it appeared as though the four-day fest would be notable for what studios and films stayed away. Marvel at least had an excuse: their parent company, Disney, has elected to tease THE AVENGERS at its D23 convention in August (which may well be a mistake, since consumers are generally suffering from event-movie fatigue in the dog days of summer). But why did Warner Bros., which has THE HOBBIT and MAN OF STEEL in production (and SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS in postproduction), keep their distance? Is it a simply a matter of not being able to wow the Hall H crowd with footage. Are the studios worried that these jaded fans can't be easily won with movie stars and fonts anymore?
Though I've yet to witness a vehemently negative reaction to a Hall H presentation, I have seen some eagerly anticipated films fail to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Basically, it comes down to showmanship: make the fans feel like they're privy to something exclusive, and their enthusiasm will spread across social networks like a brush fire. Two studio films at this year's Con had the potential to start such a conflagration: Sony's THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and 20th Century Fox's PROMETHEUS. Both needed a boost, but for very different reasons. Sony needed to combat bad buzz engendered by an underwhelming teaser (which was leaked to the web, in very low quality, five days early), while Fox needed to give fans a reason to care about their vague recalibrating of the ALIEN franchise. Only Fox emphatically accomplished what it set out to do.
With the exception of their serious, self-satisfied AVATAR presentation in 2009 (which really put a dent in the film's worldwide box office), Fox has always known how to work Comic Con. In 2006, they scandalized Hall H with the hilariously filthy nude fight scene from BORAT (the convention has since insisted on pre-screening all footage), and turned that film into the must-see comedy of the year. In 2008, they showed up with Hugh Jackman and a sizzle reel, and somehow got fans excited for the inconceivably awful X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE. This year, they had three presentations: PROMETHEUS, IN TIME and RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Two of these were going to bore the audience shitless, so they led with PROMETHEUS (the veggies-first approach never works at Comic Con).
Here's what's amazing about PROMETHEUS: for years, fans have been clamoring for Ridley Scott to make another ALIEN film; now he is, and Fox refuses to sell it as a straight-up ALIEN movie (which, make no mistake, it is). Instead, it's an "original science-fiction epic" from the man who "redefined" the science-fiction genre in cinema. This allows Fox to infer that Scott is not only returning to ALIEN, but, in terms of aesthetics, to BLADE RUNNER as well. And so PROMETHEUS is no longer a "prequel" or a "spinoff" (and it is quite explicitly one of these things); it's something unprecedented... or at least it seems that way.
Fox's Hall H panel was moderated by LOST co-creator Damon Lindelof, who somehow managed to play dumb throughout the PROMETHEUS presentation despite having written the film's screenplay. His first job was to introduce the clip reel, which skillfully segued from celebrating Scott's earlier triumphs to teasing his first sci-fi film in twenty-nine years. Aside from Charlize Theron doing push-ups in the buff, the star of the footage was Arthur Max's production design, which bears the unmistakable influence of H.R. Giger. There was no dialogue - only attractive actors like Theron, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba and Noomi Rapace inhabiting vaguely familiar environments (and huge, beautifully-crafted sets). Dariusz Wolski's cinematography seemed a yellowy approximation of Derek Vanlint's look from ALIEN, but the costumes appeared more corporate than futuristic blue-collar (we later learned that Theron's character is an emotionally chilly "suit"). The space outfits were retro: puffy and topped with bubble helmets like in the original. The characters are apparently mucking about with eggs of some extraterrestrial origin, but we didn't see any face-huggers. A lone drop of blood on Fassbender's finger was the only hint of the gore for which the franchise is famed.
Lindelof was later joined by Theron and, from Iceland via satellite, Scott and Rapace. Scott largely avoided plot specifics; he was far more interested in discussing his first go-round shooting in 3D - which he enjoyed so much, it looks like ROBIN HOOD will be his final go-round in 2D. The footage was screened flat, so we couldn't get a feel for how he's using 3D, but it's pretty obvious Scott is far more interested in atmospherics than vertiginous set pieces. There was also a conversation about the film's rating: Fox is adamant that it be a PG-13 release theatrically, but Scott is hoping to convince Fox chairman Tom Rothman to go for an R; this will be resolved once Scott has his cut, and it is a battle I fully expect him to lose.
Finally, Scott let slip the one fascinating tidbit about what he might be up to in PROMETHEUS: the film will answer one question left lingering from ALIEN, but not until the closing moments of the film. He didn't say which question specifically, but I've a feeling it has to do with the one... thing they nearly showed in the footage, then evidently decided to jettison at the last second. Even if it's not a huge spoiler, they were smart to hold back. The mystery of PROMETHEUS has been the most heavily-discussed topic at Comic Con this year; people still aren't sure how much of an ALIEN film it is. And Fox can toy with that perception - and keep generating speculation - for at least the rest of the year.
Meanwhile, Sony has a big perception problem. Though fans seemed pretty fed up with Sam Raimi's take on Spider-Man after the disappointing third installment, it seemed a tad impulsive - if not outright desperate - to reboot within a decade of launching one of the most popular franchises in film history. Combine this with all the talk about a "gritty" and "contemporary" approach, and it sounded like Sony was lazily trying to replicate the success of Christopher Nolan's Batman run. And then there was that teaser: a dour run-through of familiar origin beats capped off by a first-person video game set piece that might've been breathtaking ten years ago.
Sony probably didn't anticipate walking into Hall H having to win fans with THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, but given the largely negative reaction to the teaser, that's kind of what they had to do. Sure, everyone at this convention is buying a ticket opening day regardless of how crappy they think the movie is going to be, but for buzz-building purposes, if you can't rally your readily-hyped base, you've got a marketing challenge where there really shouldn't be one.
Unlike Fox, Sony decided to save their best for last - which would've been fine had their panel run a reasonable ninety minutes or, at most, two hours. Instead, Sony blocked out two-and-a-half hours for four movies: GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE, 30 MINUTES OR LESS, TOTAL RECALL and THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Huge mistake. While none of the films looked terrible (I was charmed by the reckless endangerment of the GHOST RIDER reel, less so by the polished pointlessness of TOTAL RECALL), the emphasis on panel discussions, moderated by some perfectly inoffensive KROQ deejay, consistently ground the proceedings to a halt. The fans were there to see one presentation, and they were getting impatient.
Then something cool happened: after screening the teaser (this time in 3D, which made a slight difference), a seemingly crazed young man in a cruddy Spider-Man costume hijacked a Hall H microphone and insisted on addressing the audience. Since Hall H microphones are cut off all the time, there was no mystery as to whether this was a part of the presentation. But when the fan ripped off his mask to reveal that it was indeed our new Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield, the crowd roared its approval. And when Garfield launched into an impassioned tribute to the power of the character, and how Spider-Man had been a life long inspiration, the tedium of the preceding two hours was immediately forgotten.
Sony had the crowd right where it wanted them, and, after introducing director Marc Webb, producer Avi Arad, and Gwen Stacy herself Emma Stone, they hit them with a selection of scenes that put to rest any concerns about revisiting the origin story. The tone of the teaser is completely misleading: Parker isn't brooding in the least; he's a wise-cracking kid who gets transformed into a badass via radioactive spider, learns a lesson in humility from his Uncle Ben (nice scene between Garfield and Martin Sheen), and then goes about mastering his newfound power in a variety of comedically destructive ways (there's a terrific, Jackie Chan-esque brawl in a subway car, and an web-swinging accident that launches Parker through a wall). The decision to shoot much of the action practically appears to have paid off; this is completely different from Raimi's Spider-Man - and every other superhero film out there, frankly.
This was well enough, and probably should've been left alone. I mean, Sony was going to have to deal with their Lizard problem eventually, but they'd just wiped out a week's worth of unexpected bad buzz; no one would've bitched had they merely acknowledged the character of Dr. Curt Connors (with a quick Rhys Ifans appearance) and saved The Lizard reveal for another time. Because The Lizard is a) an unfinished CG creation at this point, and b) seems completely out of place in the movie as they've teased it thus far. There's a fun, grounded (but not "gritty") quality to the film - it's kind of a good-hearted KICK-ASS, I guess. Knowing that was enough for me - and, I'd wager, most of the fans. But when I walked out of the panel, all I heard were debates about the depiction of The Lizard.
But here's the good news for Sony: it's a fucking marketing presentation that will be forgotten in a month's time, leaving them the better part of a year to address whatever misgivings fans might have. As for reaching regular moviegoers... well, they have a film called THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN coming out on July 3rd, 2012. I've a feeling people might be interested in that.
So PROMETHEUS got the bigger short-term boost. Fans are excited about the ALIEN franchise again, and that alone makes the trip to San Diego worthwhile for Fox. But for an established property like THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, perhaps there's only the potential to turn people off. In that case, I'm not sure Comic Con is worth the trouble anymore.
Faithfully submitted,
