The stars come out for
Comic-Con once again …
4-day event features an incredible line-up
2003 is shaping up to be another major year at Comic-Con International. Hollywood is coming to the show in droves, and while you can expect the usual amount of surprises, we do have some major announcements to make. Our complete programming schedule will start to show up on this web site starting on Monday, July 7, so watch for that and detailed information on all of our programs. But in the meantime, how’s this for starters?
Friday, July 18 starts our big Hollywood blitz with panels featuring Stan Lee and Chase Masterson (Comic Books Into Movies, Room 6CDEF, 10:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.), Rob Zombie (Room 6CDEF, 12:00-1:00 p.m.), and some of the members of the Farscape cast (including Ben Browder, Lani John Tupu, Virginia Hey, Wayne Pygram, Jonathan Hardy, Francesca Buller and David Franklin, plus writer/exec. producer Richard Manning. 1:00-2:30 p.m., Room 6CDEF). We’ll also be taking a sneak peek at the new SCI FI event Battlestar Galactica from 12:00-1:00 p.m. in Room 6A, with actor Edward James Olmos among others. Some of the great screenwriters who brought some of our favorite comics to the screen join the Creative Screenwriting Magazine panel from 1:00-2:30 p.m. in Room 6B. Included are David Hayter (X-Men), Michael Dougherty (X2), and James Robinson (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). Disney takes the stage at 1:00 p.m. in our giant Ballroom 20 with sneak peeks at upcoming films including Haunted Mansion with producer Don Hahn. Fine Line presents a sneak peek at their adaptation of American Splendor, with creator Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner and producer Ted Hope. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Special effects master Stan Winston takes the stage in 6A at 4:00 p.m. Friday is Star Wars Day at Comic-Con, so you can expect an incredible spectacle dedicated to all thing Lucas from 2:30-4:30 p.m. in Room 20. Also look for an exclusive sneak of Cartoon Network’s Star Wars related Clone Wars series featuring Genndy Tartakovsky. The day ends with two big movie events: Miramax’s Kill Bill panel (in Room 20) featuring Director Quentin Tarentino, and cast members David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen and Michael Jai White. Plus get the first news on a new film by Comic-Con special guests Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, coming from The Jim Henson Company, MirrorMask. Plus we have 2 brand new animated premieres on Friday: Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, and Jill Thompson’s Scary Godmother Animated Special.
So if you survived the sensory overload of Friday, get ready for Saturday, July 19! We start the day at 10:30 a.m. with a mega star, none other than Academy Award winning actress Halle Berry at the Warner Bros. Studio panel promoting her new film Gothika. And as if the star power of Halle alone isn't enough, next up at 11:30 is Angelina Jolie, the star of Lara Croft Tomb Raider The Cradle of Life. Then it’s 90 minutes of Kevin Smith from 12:30-2:00 p.m. Up next New Line presents Robert Englund talking about the upcoming Freddy vs. Jason (Mr. Englund is also the Master of Ceremonies for this year’s Masquerade!). New Line Home Video then takes the stage to talk about the DVD release of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, with the man who helped bring Gollum to life, Andy Serkis. At 4:00 p.m., it’s Sony and the man who made Spider-Man real, Sam Raimi, with a sneak peek at Spider-Man 2! Sony also brings us looks at 2 other upcoming movies, Underworld, with stars Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman and director Len Wiseman, and Hellboy with creator Mike Mignola. And at 5:00 p.m. we end the day with a major bang: The cast of Van Helsing, Universal’s upcoming release. Appearing on the Ballroom 20 stage will be stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale, and Director Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns). And that’s just one room (Ballroom 20)!
Think we’re forgetting about television and animation? Think again! Saturday includes a sneak peek at the first all-CGI animated show on TV, Game Over, which debuts in 2004 on UPN. Matt Groening, a Comic-Con special guest, sits down with some of his voice cast and crew members of both Futurama and The Simpsons, from 12:00-2:00 p.m. Cartoon Network presents looks at 2 new series, Duck Dodgers and Teen Titans, plus the return of a panel dedicated to its popular Adult Swim series. Mark Evanier presents his annual Cartoon Voices panel, this year with a reading of an actual script (3:30-5:30 p.m. in Room 6B). Television-wise, Dark Horse brings back Joss Whedon and we devote an additional panel to a whole bunch of the writers from both Buffy and Angel. J. Michael Straczynski talks about his Showtime Original Series Jeremiah. The Executive Producers of Smallville, Al Gough and Miles Millar, along with 2 of the writers, Jeph Loeb and Mark Verheiden make an appearance along with … well, let’s just say a major cast member or two (11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.). SCI FI showcases Stargate SG-1 from 12:30-1:30 p.m.
And on Sunday, we have a special event. Eliza Dushku joins us at Comic-Con to present the first-ever screening of the pilot for her new Fox TV series, Tru Calling! This event takes place in Ballroom 20 from 12:30-2:00 p.m.
Our programming schedule is still being compiled, right down to the last minute. Many surprises await you at Comic-Con International July 17-20. Even we don’t know who might show up! Watch for our complete program schedule starting July 7, including all of our great comics oriented events, but even that will not be the whole picture.
As usual there is fine print … all of the above is subject to change without notice. We make every effort to announce events we’ve confirmed, but often times circumstances beyond our control occur.