Roundup: SDCC Day 3 – Movies
Continuing our roundup of the news from San Diego Comic-Con, here are the headlines on (some of) the movie projects we’re anticipating:
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES
The film adaptation of the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, which takes Jane Austen’s classic story and adds zombies, had a preview at SDCC presented by Screen Gems. Grahame-Smith attended along with cast members Burr Steers, Douglas Booth, Jack Huston, Bella Heathecote, Matt Smith, Sam Riley, and Lily James; Entertainment Weekly‘s Dalton Ross moderated.
Grahame-Smith said “you’re not going to improve Jane Austen, especially not me. So what I did with the book was, take all their character traits and turn them up to eleven. Lizzy is strong in the book, so now she’s a badass.”
“It’s all the beats from Pride and Prejudice, stood up,” Booth said, only the environment is more extreme. “How does Mrs. Bennet try to marry off all of her daughters while all this was going on?”
PATIENT ZERO
Screen Gems also presented a panel on the other film they’re releasing — which also stars Matt Smith — Patient Zero. Natalie Dormer co-stars as a virologist, and the two have to find a cure for a rabies-like virus affecting humanity. “Patient Zero” is played by Stanley Tucci.
_______________
BATMAN V. SUPERMAN
Probably the most anticipated of the superhero projects, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice looks to be shaping up into what Mr. Harvey said it should: a story about the consequences following the destruction of Metropolis.
Some notable details that came out of the panel:
- Gotham City and Metropolis are “sister cities similar to Oakland and San Francisco,” Zack Snyder revealed.
- The “Mecha” armor Batman wears, according to Ben Affleck, is more for a defensive posture, to give Batman a little staying power against Superman
It appears that the building Zod destroyed with his heat vision belonged to Wayne Financial. There’s a GIF floating around the internet that ties footage of Zod inside the building with the exterior that features Bruce Wayne racing through the streets of Metropolis in the new trailer. It appears to have been assembled by Peter S. Hall at Movies.com:
Full panel video:
_______________
THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS
During the panel, it was also announced that the Green Lantern movie scheduled for 2020 will be called The Green Lantern Corps, lending more credibility to the rumors that both Tyrese Gibson and Chris Pine will be wearing rings as John Stewart and Hal Jordan, respectively. But who plays Sinestro? Who plays Killowog?
Release date is still set for June 19, 2020.
_______________
SUICIDE SQUAD
After several lo-resolution (and badly tilted) phone videos hit the web, Warner Bros. finally decided to release the Suicide Squad teaser shown in Hall H. But it wasn’t without some grumbling from the legal department:
“Warner Bros. Pictures and our anti-piracy team have worked tirelessly over the last 48 hours to contain the Suicide Squad footage that was pirated from Hall H on Saturday. We have been unable to achieve that goal. Today we will release the same footage that has been illegally circulating on the web, in the form it was created and high quality with which it was intended to be enjoyed. We regret this decision as it was our intention to keep the footage as a unique experience for the Comic Con crowd, but we cannot continue to allow the film to be represented by the poor quality of the pirated footage stolen from our presentation.”
-Sue Kroll, President Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures
Someone should remind Warner Bros. that this is all supposed to be fun…
Video of the panel has made it online as well:
_______________
Meanwhile, over with that other group of superhero movies…
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
Taking place ten years after Days of Future Past, the Earth of this universe has come to accept mutants as reality. Director Bryan Singer says it’s “a completely different world.” Magneto is trying to live a normal life, Mystique is trying to live life more as Raven. Jennifer Lawrence says, “She didn’t wanna be the face of a world that she felt didn’t exist.”
Oscar Isaac addressed the character of Apocalypse, saying “This world that we have, it’s not the world that should’ve been. God’s just been asleep, and God wakes up and realizes what’s happened and says ‘It’s gotta change.’” He says Apocalype’s main power is the power of persuasion. Isaac likened him to a cult leader who exploits weakness.
And the four horsemen? Footage included shots of Apocalypse with Storm, Jubilee, Angel, Psylocke and Magneto. But no details on which (if any) of these are the ones on horseback.
And Wolverine is still not in the film, according to Singer. He hinted heavily to Hugh Jackman that he’d like for it to happen, saying this is the first X-Men movie that doesn’t include the character in some way.
WOLVERINE 3
“I’ve got three words for you guys: Old Man Logan. Read into that what you will.”
That was the tease Jackman gave with regard to the third solo outing. And Jackman also confirmed this will be his final turn in the role. Wolverine: Old Man Logan by Mark Millar is an eight-issue miniseries that shows Wolverine at the end of his life, a broken old man.
DEADPOOL
Ryan Reynolds was on had for a panel about Deadpool, and after a profanity-laced opening video from Deadpool, Reynolds continued to play to the audience with comments directed at both X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Green Lantern. And he said, “It’s an absolute miracle that a studio let us make Deadpool, let alone a rated-R Deadpool,” getting an enthusiastic response from the crowd.
The trailer has leaked online, and it’s not a very good copy — it’s also not something for the kids — and fans are clamoring for 20th Century Fox to release it officially.
Side note: Marvel Comics has announced a new ongoing Spider-Man/Deadpool team-up from Deadpool writer Joe Kelly and artist Ed McGuinness. More on that in our Day 4 Roundup.
