Excellent report... I'm just gonna stand out of the way on this one... soooo much news...
This show is simply huge, I was there for three days and still didn't see everything. Now I'm gonna ramble quite a bit here so watch out, I barely know where to begin. I talked to tons of cool people at the show and will promote those I feel deserve it whenever I can...
Star Wars --
The LucasArts booth was showing a demo of a CD-ROM called "Star Wars: Behind the Magic", a comprehensive encyclopedia of all things Star Wars. It looks to be chock full of every little detail imaginable on the Star Wars universe. They've got maps of the planets/galaxy of the films, and they have a "live" walkthrough of the Millennium Falcon, all approved by The Man, Lucas. The "attract" demo at the booth was a "Weapon Test", where you could use certain weapons on a CGI
Stormtrooper-- this was hilarious. They were also giving demo CDs of the Vehicles section of the disc (haven't had a chance to play with that yet). And... there's a menu section on the final product titled "Prequels"! I dunno what they got approved to use, as it wasn't functional in the version they had out, but it's there and that's exciting enough for me. The disc is nearly complete and should be out at the end of September.
Kevin Williamson--
Pretty much everything your spy said was true. Kevin seemed like a nice guy, and the Miramax rep was indeed a bit tactless. I didn't get a chance to see Kevin autographing after the Q&A, but the Dimension Films booth was giving away cool heat-sensitive-covered notebooks with the "Killing Mrs. Tingle" logo, and pens from "The Faculty", along with actual Scream and H20 movie posters. Ginchy!
Kevin Smith --
"THE" guy in the biz. Kevin graciously signed autographs at the Oni Press booth for what seemed like days. The guy has done what 50,000 other guys at the con want to do (achieve success, that is), and he hasn't let it get to his head one bit. Jason Mewes was there too, he seems like a trip. Their Jay and Silent Bob figures are excellent (as are the Madman, Mage and Grendel figures... these guys could give McFarlane Toys a run for their money).
The Dogma clip did indeed show promise... ah, who am I kidding, it was AWESOME! Incredible dialogue, as we have come to expect. I for one am also looking forward to Kevin's take on Marvel's Daredevil comic.
James Robinson --
James is a very affable Brit who writes "Starman" and "Leave it to Chance", two of the coolest books on the shelves. I had a chance to chat with him one-on-one (he a really nice, soft-spoken guy), we talked about Stephen Hunter novels and where he gets his inspiration, and then I later attended his panel/spotlight. He confirmed that director Chuck Russell is indeed on board for his and David Goyer's "Evermere", a fantasy story about a boy who finds a tin sword that transports him to a magic realm which he is destined to save from his evil uncle (or something). He also said that he was working on "a bounty hunter story for Paramount", along with several other projects. I don't know where he finds the time to work so damn much and still churn out such entertaining stories.
X-Men movie --
To the best of my knowledge, the X-Men movie discussion panel was canceled by Marvel a half hour after it was scheduled to start. I believe producer Lauren Shuller-Donner was a no show, and I don't think Bryan Singer was ever scheduled to appear. Not sure where your spy got that info from.
Gen 13 animated movie --
I only managed to sneak a peek at a couple of minutes of it. What I saw looked pretty damn slick and colorful, with a style very much in the vein of the Batman and Superman animated series. They had two full showings of the movie and they had to turn people away both times because the room was so full. I believe it's supposed to be released domestically in a few months, I know I'll be picking up a copy.
Wolff and Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre --
A very keen comic about two lawyers who represent monsters is apparently on the "fast track" to become a film at Universal. The screenplay is being written by someone whose name I can't recall, but he worked on the upcoming "Wild Wild West" and a couple other high-profile movies, so hopefully the property is in good hands.
If you havent seen the book I highly recommend you track it down, it's a fun read. Could be a great flick if it doesnt get fouled up by the Hollywood bullshit.
Dee Snider's "Strangeland" -- Yes, THAT Dee Snider. Mister Twisted Sister is a genuinely fun guy (fungi?) to talk to -- he's what you call "animated". He's in an upcoming horror movie called Strangeland, about stalking and the internet (I believe Dee is also producing it). The clip they were showing at the booth looked deliciously creepy, with nice production values. Could be a sleeper. Robert Englund is also in it. I think the release date is October 2nd. The website is www.deesnidersstrangeland.com (it's not up yet -- Sept. 3rd)
Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2 --
This animated film is in the works for release in 1999 (tentatively summer). Julie Strain (who was at the show and looking like a goddess) will be doing the voice of the main character, who is physically modeled after her from designs by art director Simon Bisley (yeah!). The film is a loose translation of the "Melting Pot" series from a few years back (which was kinda lousy-- sorry Kevin, Simon). The F.A.K.K. 2 game for PC is being developed by Ritual (who is making the supercool game "SiN"), for release around the same time as the film.
Superman and Batman --
A friend who works at DC Comics hadn't heard much on these recently. They hadn't seen the Superman script, but said that word 'round the office was that it was abysmal. Big surprise. As for the rampant Batman movie rumors, nothing is confirmed, nor is it in the works. The Batman Beyond cartoon series is the only Batman property in active development.
Sailor Moon craziness --
What's the deal with this?? There were little Sailors running all over the place. The autograph line for the creator was longer than anybody's! I knew it had a following, but I had no idea it was this big. Wild n' wacky!
John Carpenter --
YYEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!!! Sorry, had to get that out. First of all, I managed to get into the screening of "Vampires", and it did indeed blow me away. I hold Steakley's original novel very dear to my black heart, but I was totally satisfied with Carpenter's take on it. With a couple of exceptions (yes, the ending sequence bothered me a little), every scene in it was fantastic. Clearing the nest, Valek shredding Team Crow, Mr. Woods in general... I was pretty exhilerated. The screening was not for the general public, and in fact very few people even knew about it (I found out about a half hour before). The next day at the open discussion, John fielded what were predominantly inane questions from mushmouthed pinhea-- er, fans, but he said a few things of note.
John signed autographs after for what was probably 2 or 3 hours -- I myself got him to sign my "They Live" soundtrack cassette liner notes. He was kinda surprised when I whipped it out. I told him I listened to it on the flight and that his work was a great accompaniment to reading certain novels, which led to a conversation about authors. Me, chatting with John Carpenter!! AAHHHHH!!!!!! Sorry.
First, to his knowledge, the Vampires soundtrack will not be changed from his original score. He said he had no idea where this rumor originated, but insisted that he hands in a movie and it is DONE, nobody plays with it after him. The score seemed intact on the print I saw (and it was fantastic). Keep the Pumpkins away! Some other sound bites:
He will likely NEVER be revisiting the Fog, the Thing, Big Trouble, or Snake Plissken, but said he would work with Kurt again in a heartbeat if the project was right. He originally wanted to make westerns, and Vampires is his shot at it. He said the film will be rated "R" and not "NC-17", but did not say if he had to make any cuts to get that rating. From what I saw I'd say no, as it was quite bloody, but I have no frame of reference. He removed the "$" from the title because he wanted to downplay the mercenary-for-hire angle of the book.
When asked the eventual "what next?", he said "a vacation". He confirmed a rumor that he does indeed start to hate doing movies when he's doing them, and that he will stop doing them altogether when they aren't fun for him any more. From his weary tone he sounded like this could be sooner rather than later, but let's hope not!
Well that's a lot of the big stuff. A few other random props:
The coolest attire for sale at the show was T-Shirts by "Brand Fury", an Asian company whose motto is "Kickin' More Funk than a Shaolin Monk!". I personally like the "Chopsocky" design the best. Get some info, their email is: brandfury@hotmail.com
Apollo Smile is truly like an anime character come to life. She's unbelievably cute, sweet, and spunky as hell. She sings and has her own album, and appears in her own comic. A fanboy's dream come true. Her website's at www.apollosmile.com (not up yet, but keep checkin'!)
Tai Seng video has THE best selection of Hong Kong movies. Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Sammo Hung, John Woo, Michelle Yeoh, Tsui Hark, Andy Lau, you name 'em and they got 'em. Lotsa nice DVD's with more on the way. Make sure you check out "Organized Crime and Triad Bureau", it rules muchly. Their site addy is www.taiseng.com
Well that's enough outta me for now
-Flint Locke
