Comic Con 2006
by Suzanne Phillips
SATURDAY, July
22nd
DAY 2
“300”
A
much anticipated panel for our LORD OF THE RINGS fans, Saturday brought us
“300” based on the Frank Miller (SIN CITY) graphic novel and starring Gerard
Butler (PHANTOM
Gerard Butler,
Frank Miller, Zack Snyder, David Wenham from"300"
OF THE OPERA) and David Wenham (Faramir
from LOTR). Both stars were at the forum along with Miller and director Zack
Snyder (DAWN OF THE DEAD).
The film is based on 480 B.C. battle of Thermopylae in which the Spartan
King (Butler) was successful in getting all of Greece to band together to
fight the Persians, which effectively created the world’s first democracy.
Gerard
and David said they both worked out really hard in the gym prior to starting
this film as both of them are either fairly naked or wearing simply a
codpiece through the film. Wenham said he was a bit nervous after reading
the script and finding that in the first scene his character Dilios, the
narrator of the story, is standing over a fire completely naked! He called
his agent who reassured him and he signed on to do the film. Butler said
that he had a hard time with the “heavy capes” and often found it hard to
unsheathe his sword as it kept getting caught in the cape.
David Wenham
The film was shot over 60 days in Montreal, Canada and with the skimpy
costumes the actors found it was a difficult shoot.
Gerard was asked about why he wanted to act and he replied that he wanted to
act “since I was 10 years old” and announced to his mother after going to
see a film “I want to do that”.
David was presented with a bronze statue of Faramir by a group of fans
during the panel and was very impressed and pleased to receive it.
A bit dark and violent, the film has some amazingly vivid imagery and opens
in the U.S. on March 16, 2007.
CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
I
had the opportunity to speak with Anthony Zuiker, the creator of CSI who has
created a new game called CSI Scenes based on the CSI Las Vegas show which
includes small figurines of the cast members used as player game pieces.
Zuiker is truly a lovely man and so giving with the fans of the show.
He spent more than an hour
meeting fans and signing autographs, answering questions and more. It is so
nice to meet someone who has had so much success that is still a nice guy
and respectful of the fans! Look for CSI Scenes the game in your local
stores and be sure to check out Season 7 of CSI when it airs on CBS starting
in September.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 3:
THE END OF THE WORLD
Walt Disney pictures brought us a much-anticipated look at PIRATES OF THE
CARIBBEAN 3. The packed room was treated to a few scenes from the yet to be
completed film. Expect lots of action and the completion of storylines
started in the first two films. A trip to Singapore, more Jack, Will and
Elizabeth fighting to be together and of course Keith Richards are all
things to look forward to when PIRATES 3 opens in May of next year.
Sony Pictures – SPIDERMAN 3
Director
Sam Rami brought out stars Kirsten Dunst, Bryce Dallas Howard, Thomas Hayden
Church, Topher Grace and Tobey Maguire to show a sneak of some rough clips
of SPIDERMAN 3 to this rabid comic book loving crowd. Rami and the cast
clearly have a great deal of respect for the fans of Spidey and they had
great answers to some well thought out questions from the audience.
Question: Will there be more Spiderman films?
Answer: Tobey Maguire: They are concluding certain storylines in SPIDERMAN 3
that they opened up in 1&2, but if they continue to find good stories and
the interest is there, they would do other films.
Question: How did you feel being Venom?
Answer: Topher Grace: I spent 45 minutes putting on the costume and 41/2
hours in makeup but loved the end results. I can’t wait to see the finished
film.
Question: Do you have any advice for young filmmakers?
Answer: Sam Rami: Each weekend make a film. Cast and work on scenes with
your actors. Add sound and edit it during the week. Then show it around to
get feedback and then the next weekend make another film. Learn the craft
and how to work with actors and construct scenes. Then pretty soon you will
be a filmmaker and have some experience.
The footage from SPIDERMAN 3 looks amazing. While still a rough cut, I think
that fans of Spidey will be pleased with the new villains, the love
triangle, and all of the twists we should expect from this new film.