Guessing what’s going to appear at Comic-Con each year isn’t really that hard.
All one needs to do is look at a calendar and you can probably figure it out. The sci-fi/fantasy/comic book convention pretty much teases films a year in advance and does last minute looks at films about to hit theaters.
So the New York Times has confirmed many titles that will appear at Comic-Con 2010 which runs July 22-July 25. Zack Snyder will unveil footage from his women-in-prison psychedelic B-movie “Sucker Punch” which hits theaters March 25, 2011 and stars Carla Gugino, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish and Jena Malone among others. This is no major surprise and the timing for teasing this one (eight months in advance) is about as perfect as you can get in the Comic-Con film world.
On the early side of promotion, Warner Bros. will unveil something from Martin Campbell’s “Green Lantern” starring Ryan Reynolds, but who knows what exactly. When the timing isn’t right (too early), the teasers are cheap, like cars and logos from Michel Gondry’s “The Green Hornet.”
This year however, the timing is perfect for Gondry and “The Green Hornet” which stars Seth Rogen. He will be there in some capacity and since the trailer has already hit, we expect some longform scenes to be shown. “Green Lantern” doesn’t come out until June 17, 2011, but some some teaser footage is already shot and our first look at Reynolds in the costume at the convention seems a natural fit.
Other films confirmed to appear in some capacity are “The Expendables” (it opens in August so fans could be treated to the whole thing early like “Kick-Ass” did last year), “Megamind,” and “Battle: Los Angeles.”
That’s all that the Times confirms (we don’t follow with a tooth and comb cause we don’t attend, but there’s probably other films already announced like Jon Favreau who confirmed over Twitter that “Cowboys and Aliens” will be there despite the fact the picture just started shooting (July 29, 2011 is its date), though he says he’ll “talk about it” so it remains to be seen if they’ll show anything substantial.
What else could be shown?
Our educated guesses include Zack Snyder’s “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” which comes out in the fall, fan favorite Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete” (“Predators” will already be in theaters by the time Comic Con rolls around), Edgar Wright’s “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” which hits theaters in August (perhaps an early screening of the whole film to build buzz?), Greg Mottola’s “Paul” which is actually set and starts out at Comic-Con (it’s not due in theaters until Spring 2011), the vampire remake “Let Me In” and “Jackass 3-D.” Neil Marshall’s “Centurion” hits in August so surely a genre mainstay like himself will be there as well (though it does come on VOD right around during the convention as well).
A trailer for David Gordon Green’s “Your Highness” trailer? Scheduled for Spring 2011? Yeah, we could see that. Duncan Jones’ sci-fi film “Source Code” which we believe is mostly done shooting? Seems logical that it’ll appear there in some form. Footage from Tarsem’s “Immortals” seems possible as we’ve already seen production stills and surely something meaty from Kenneth Branagh’s “Thor” will be shown as well as something from Joe Johnston’s “Captain America” (Marvel loves to have a big presence at Comic-Con).
Maybe there’ll be some sort of reveal from Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s “Tintin” which doesn’t come out until December 2011? Hard to say, it might be too early.
On top of preview footage, there’s always announcements as well, so expect folks like Marvel (look for additional info about “The Avengers,” “Ant-Man” and those rumored shorts), and the folks behind “The Hobbit,” and D.C. Entertainment/WB (“Flash,” “Wonder Woman” “Aquaman” have all been discussed lately) to reveal something substantial as well. “The Flash” for sure, it’s been months since there’s been anything concrete and we suppose we’ll finally find out if Greg Berlanti is directing or not.
Things we doubt? Much of anything surrounding “Batman 3” or Christopher Nolan’s mentored “Superman” film unless David S. Goyer is there and lets something unofficially out of the bag. But an announcement? Doubtful.