Comic-Con 2010 makes the geeks wet their pants, and much more…

COMIC-CON 2010!

Thousands of nerds gathered over the weekend in San Diego for COMIC-CON, the annual event where movie studios and TV networks offer sneak previews of their comic book adaptations in crowded halls of unshowered man-children who still live with their parents. With that said, here’s the buzz:

-GOOD-

SCOTT PILGRIM vs. THE WORLD continues to ride a wave of solid buzz, as the film screened in it’s entirety to the legion of fanboy critics to mostly glowing reviews. However, proceed with caution: these were fanboy online critics and not the more “polished” kind…

TRON: LEGACY returned for its THIRD consecutive Comic-Con—yes, you heard that right. Test footage screened at the 2008 Comic-Con by Disney to gauge interest in rebooting the 1982 film, then a brief teaser reel unspooled in 2009, and this year, the cast and crew returned with eight minutes of footage and a new trailer that was rapturously received…

THOR’s early stills looked absolutely ridiculous and were, fittingly, laughed off the Internet. However, Shakespearean director Kenneth Branagh took the Comic-Con stage with his entire cast, including: Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Natalie Portman & co., and showed a trailer, which was well-received…

COWBOYS & ALIENS has only been shooting for a month, but director Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”) showed 10 minutes of mixed footage of the cowboys-meets-spaceships epic film to crowd approval, and Harrison Ford’s first ever appearance at Comic-Con went like gangbusters…

LET ME IN, the American remake of the Swedish vampire flick “Let the Right One In,” which was released a mere two years ago, has been much-maligned by fans of the original. However, the new, restricted trailer for the film has made the haters change their tune. View the trailer here:

-BAD-

SUCKER PUNCH, Zack Snyder’s (“300,” “Watchmen”) 1950s-set saga about an institutionalized girl who imagines an alternate reality, and then must escape from that alternate reality, debuted its trailer. Most critics thought it was a bit too much of a head-trip. View the trailer and decide for yourself here:

THE GREEN HORNET, directed by Michel Gondry and starring Seth Rogen as Britt Reid and Christoph “Inglorious Basterds” Waltz as the baddie, debuted a second trailer, which was just as bad as the first, causing people to walk out right after it screened…

DRIVE ANGRY 3D, an upcoming entry into the Nicolas Cage oeuvre of ridiculousness, debuted. And was laughed at. View the trailer here:

Again, take all of this “buzz” with a grain of salt. Most of the Comic-Con media are fanboys themselves…

UPCOMING FILM PROJECTS.

“The Hangover” sequel is headed to Thailand. Yes, THE HANGOVER 2 production will move there this fall with a script that sees the characters from the 2009 hit comedy traveling to Asia. The film reunites Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha and Zach Galifianakis as a group of friends who find themselves getting into even more outrageous trouble. Ladyboys, anyone?…

As rumored, Tim Burton will direct an adaptation of the board game MONSTERPOCALYPSE, according to Slashfilm. The film is currently being drafted by Burton regular John August (“Big Fish”), working alongside the creator of the game, Matt Wilson. The monsters, meanwhile, are being developed by Visual Effects Supervisor Ken Ralston. Skyscraper sized, the giant monsters are left behind after an attack on Earth and humanity builds giant robots for which to combat them. The film will most likely be developed for 3D and that it could fast tracked to hit theaters before the end of 2012…

Variety reports Dustin Lance Black (“Milk”) has been hired to write the script for 20th Century Fox’s film about infamous 19-year-old outlaw Colton Harris-Moore, nicknamed “THE BAREFOOT BANDIT,” and David Gordon Green (“Pineapple Express”) is in final talks to direct. Based on the book proposal “Taking Flight: The Hunt for a Young Outlaw” by Bob Friel, the story centers on the teenager who’s stolen cars, boats and planes and taught himself how to fly in order to evade local police, Homeland Security and the FBI. He’s also burglarized at least 100 private residences. On July 4, Harris-Moore allegedly fled in a plane stolen from Indiana and crashed on the shoreline of a Bahamian island. He was indicted July 6 by a U.S. Federal Court in Seattle on charges of transporting another stolen aircraft in that state. He was arrested July 11 in Harbour Island, Bahamas, as he attempted to flee on a boat. Harris-Moore became known as the “Barefoot Bandit” or “Barefoot Burglar” by reportedly committing some of his crimes barefoot…

CASTING NEWS.

Rihanna is set to make her feature film debut in Universal’s BATTLESHIP, the Hasbro adaptation to be directed by Peter Berg. The recording artist, songwriter and model will be joining Taylor Kitsch (TV’s “Friday Night Lights”) and Alexander Skarsgard (HBO’s “True Blood”) in the film, scheduled to hit theaters on May 18, 2012. “Battleship” will unfold as a massive Naval adventure across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Kitsch stars as a Naval officer who leads the fight and Skarsgard will play his brother in the film…

Daniel Craig will star in David Fincher’s THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, based on Stieg Larsson’s posthumously published crime thriller trilogy, “The Millennium Series.” The deal includes two sequels based on “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest.” Adapted by Steve Zaillian (“Schindler’s List”), “Dragon Tattoo” describes the mystery surrounding the long-unsolved disappearance of an heiress. Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Craig), recently dinged by a libel case, and young female hacker Lisbeth Salander try to resolve it, stirring up bundles of personal and industrial corruption along the way. The role of Salander has not been cast yet. Scott Rudin is producing “Dragon Tattoo,” which Columbia Pictures will release on December 21, 2011…

MTV interviewed WORLD WAR Z author Max Brooks at the San Diego Comic-Con and Brooks confirmed that the Marc Forster (“Quantum of Solace”)-directed adaptation of his novel is moving forward at Paramount Pictures with Brad Pitt attached to star in the lead role. Brooks says that the studio is targeting a Summer 2012 release for the film, about a worldwide infestation of flesh-eating zombies. Brooks — the son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft — wrote a detailed tale in which a researcher for the U.N. Postwar Commission interviews survivors from countries all over the world, 10 years after the crisis, to gather a first-person post-mortem on a war that obliterated every country on the map…

STUDIO  SHAKEUP NEWS.

Relativity Media has officially become a Hollywood player. Relativity will take over the distribution and marketing operations and some assets of the Starz Overture Films subsidiary. Approximately 45 staff members, or two-thirds of Overture’s employees, will make the move to Relativity Media, including Peter Adee, formerly Overture Films’ President of Worldwide Marketing, Distribution and New Media, and Kyle Davies, Executive Vice President Theatrical Distribution. Overture Films will release its remaining titles – “Jack Goes Boating,” “Let Me In” and “Stone” – through a new distribution services agreement with Relativity…

COOL TRAILER NEWS.

20th Century Fox has brought online the deliciously violent Comic-Con Red Band trailer for MACHETE opening in theaters on September 3. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis, the action pic stars Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Michelle Rodriguez, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin, Jeff Fahey, Don Johnson and Steven Seagal:

…Until next week!

Tags: comic-con, marlow stern, weekly blog