Hold onto your hats, there will be a season 2 of animated series The Legend of Korra. Beyond The Trailer host chatted with actor PJ Byrne who offers up his insider knowledge on a slew of Korra trivia and even found out during his conversation he's allowed to say there is a second season of the show. He got the OK from a publicist standing nearby and continues to say "a lot happens," but then he gets a gesture from the handler to say no more… All good, Byrne gives his take on the character he voices, Bolin and the Korra, Mado, Bolin love-triangle (things are apparently complicated). Back in the non-animated world, Byrne notes that he moves around a lot when working the sound booth voicing his character "with a lot of grunting and a lot of jumping around…" He also talks about working with his co-stars and their interaction when at the studio and more...
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So far there's been sultry photos, a car crash and a fainting episode. Looks like Lifetime's movie on the uproarious marriages, fights, passion and boozing lives of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are similarly dramatic in re-telling their story as in life. Beyond The Trailer host Grace Randolph caught up with New Zealand-born actor Grant Bowler at Comic-Con who revealed his "obsession" with Richard Burton, how he feels about special effects, and perhaps more intriguing, his impressions on working with co-star Lindsay Lohan. On the real Liz and Richard, he quips, "They fought as hard as they loved and they loved as hard as they drank…
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Women are an undeniable force in pop entertainment, both in the audience and behind the scenes, as the annual GIRLS GONE GENRE panel at Comic-Con attests. So what is the state of storytelling for women creatives working (and, frankly, kicking ass) today? Why is the genre world such fertile ground for female storytellers and strong, complex female characters? Join me as I moderate a panel of all-stars from TV and film — Marti Noxon (Buffy, Angel, Fright Night), Jane Espenson (Battlestar Galactica, Torchwood), Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood), Angela Robinson (True Blood, D.E.B.S.) and Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead, The Terminator) — today at Comic-Con. Details after the jump!
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Twilight has been credited with really putting Comic-Con on the map, or if it was on the map already, then it put the massive fanboy (and girl) genre-action-science-fiction-nerd-thriller-bonanza front and center in the mid-July pop culture consciousness. But now the franchise is complete, but the cast came out en force to promote the film (not that it should have much problem luring adoring audiences and their cash). At the event, Beyond The Trailer host Grace Randolph speaks with the stars including Taylor Lautner who gives his personal feelings about Jacob and Robert Pattinson who offers up his view on whether his character has redefined "prince charming." And of course, there's Kristen Stewart, aka Vampire Bella. The actress tells what she thinks about the un-dead version of her character and what she thought of her before reading Breaking Dawn. Randolph also speaks with Ashley Greene about villains, and looking quite the adorable young star, Mackenzie Randolph shares insight on Renesmee. Check out the latest Twilight goings-on from the red carpet…
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Hip hop artist RZA can now add "film director" to his already impressive resume. The co-founder of the Wu-Tang Clan completed his first feature, the action pic The Man with the Iron Fists, in which he appears along with Jamie Chung, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Dave Bautista and more. RZA says Comic-Con itself inspired him by "coming across great art and lots of life." He also gives his take on Quentin Tarantino (RZA scored Kill Bill) who inspired him to make movie set in feudal China. Written by Eli Roth and RZA, the story revolves around a blacksmith who makes weapons for a small village and finds himself having to defend himself and his fellow villagers. Beyond the Trailer host Grace Randolph chats with RZA at Comic-Con who gives insight on how the movie got made and what kind of director he wants to be.
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The Expendables 2 packs a power-punch of action rough 'em up characters including Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Dame, Jet Li, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Liam Hemsworth. In their second outting, Mr. Church reunites the group for what should be an easy paycheck, but things go wrong when one of their men is murdered on the job. Revenge is on their minds, but that puts them in enemy territory up against an unexpected threat. The film hits theaters later this year, but Beyond The Trailer host Grace Randolph received some insider impressions of the new pic courtesy of cast members Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture at Comic-Con.
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Years before Dorothy Gale plopped down in Oz right on top of that mean old stripey-footed wicked witch, a man — not just any man, but James Franco — accidentally found himself in the magical land, blown into a world of Technicolor whirlygigs and CG fairies by Sam Raimi. I mean, by a tornado. But as Raimi (along with surprise guests Michelle Williams and Mila Kunis) explained to the crowded Hall H audience Thursday at Comic-Con, his Oz won't have that much to do with the 1939 classic; for starters, those ruby slippers? Nowhere to be found.
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Though The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn director Bill Condon was absent this year from Comic-Con, (he was off finishing the November release but pre-taped tidings), he sent in his stead stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, over two dozen cast members, Stephenie Meyer, and new footage for the thousands of attendees in Hall H Thursday morning that included a slew of fan-pleasing moments – Bella Swan devouring a mountain lion among them. But while Breaking Dawn’s bright, well-paced clips (including the first seven minutes of the film) impressed, a surprise screening of footage from The Host – Meyer’s other fantasy-sci-fi-romance YA lit adaptation –confused viewers, indicating an uphill battle ahead for distributor Open Road.
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After creating a public persona with at least as much swagger as the character with whom he’s most strongly identified — Star Trek’s Captain Kirk — it came as little surprise that the first thing William Shatner said at the beginning of Movieline's interview for his new documentary was an explicit statement of purpose. “My film Get a Life is debuting July 28th on EPIX,” he said without being asked. “We’re going to show it at Comic-Con on Saturday – and we’re all excited about it.”
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Did we mention it's Comic-Con time around here? The geek pheromones are out of control, up to and including Wednesday night's Breaking Dawn - Part 2 event that brought Twilight players Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser and Jackson Rathbone (among others) to San Diego — which is where Movieline pal Grace Randolph caught up with them to discuss everything from rookie vampires and the joys of... worldbuilding. Watch for yourself.
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“I hope you like your films dark and gritty,” Dredd 3D star Karl Urban declared as he introduced the debut screening of the sci-fi reboot Wednesday night before Comic-Con, emphasizing what Lionsgate’s hard-R action pic is not — namely, the second coming of Sylvester Stallone’s campy 1995 take on the comic book enforcer. “I want to apologize to anyone who’s a fan of Lycra and gold codpieces,” he added with a smile. “You’re just going to have to wait for two hours.”
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This iconic image from Star Trek's “Amok Time” (Season 2, Episode 1) represents a moment of great internal conflict. When two of our heroes are battling to the death, for whom do we cheer? Luckily, in this case, Bones was on hand with a neuroparalyzer, allowing Kirk to feign death until the mind-altering effect of pon farr drained away from Spock, thus ending the koon-ut-kal-if-fee ritual. But who will be on hand with the hydrospray this week in San Diego? Whoooooo? The 2012 edition of nerd prom brings not one but two feature length documentaries that ought to be of interest to convention-going, costume-wearin', social anxiety-havin' fans – specifically, two documentaries about Star Trek enthusiasts.
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There are few actors who have earned as much geek cred and devoted followings as Sir Patrick Stewart, and certainly none others who were also performing Shakespeare on stage in the U.K. the night before flying across the world to greet fans at Comic-Con. (If only one could achieve warp speed on commercial airlines these days, international travel would be much easier.) So, of course, Movieline jumped at the chance for a few minutes in heaven with the erstwhile Captain Picard; what more perfect a Comic-Con experience could there be?
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Marvel Studios founder (and former toy inventor) Avi Arad has built an empire out of the superhero business, having produced everything from the Blade films to the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Hulk, Iron Man, and Spider-Man films and the upcoming Andrew Garfield-starring reboot, not to mention the 2012 superhero superfilm The Avengers. Needless to say, there was a ton to discuss and not nearly enough time when Movieline caught up with Arad at Comic-Con right before Sony's Hall H panel for The Amazing Spider-Man.
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Well! That was fast: Comic-Con 2011 came and went with the quickness, but not such quickness that Team Movieline couldn't keep up with all the panels, appearances, news developments and cosplayer awesomeness accompanying the annual San Diego powwow. And no worries if you happened to miss it: Find herewith a digest featuring everything you need to know from the 'Con. (Hint: Those panel live-blogs? Must-reads.)
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