The San Diego Comic Con is the birthplace of ideas when it comes to pop culture. In fact, the Con is, in no small way, responsible for the most popular genre movies that make their way to theaters and end up becoming the biggest films at the box office. This is where comics, novels and children’s books are discovered by TV and film executives to develop into movies.

Last year Comic Con attendees were greeted with this banner promoting the film Accepted.

It’s also where the creators of such properties can directly connect with fans and hear what they really think. Fans have plenty of opportunities to talk back and offer praise, positive feedback and sometimes, valuable negative comments in the interests of having an influence on their favorite genre characters and stories.

If you happen to be at the con, just for fun, mention that you absolutely loved that director Joel Schumacher put nipples on the Batsuit. In fact, you thought it was a fabulous idea. Do this while waiting in any random Comic Con line and prepare not only to get an earful, you will know the wrath of geeks and learn to fear them. In fact, my personal favorite memories of con’s past are those longwinded late night conversations in hotel bars discussing how Jar Jar ruined Star Wars or the death of the Star Trek franchise. Heck, I love the fact that I can make an obscure joke/reference to the movie Krull while taking a leak in the restroom, and 10 nerds at the urinals next to me will laugh and piss on themselves. For me, this is movie geek heaven. It’s the place I feel I can really fit in among all the misfits.

I remember a time when I would mention the words “Comic Con” and I'd receive a puzzled look along with a question, "Is this a convention for comedians?" Now, the con has grown nearly beyond the capacity of the enormous San Diego Convention Center and tops out attendance at 120,000 geeks, myself among them. The four day event actually had to stop admitting people for the very first time on Saturday last year. These are the most passionate from geekdom who have traveled from all over the world get to face to face with their heroes.

Costumes are not just for nerds...

The trip down south for Hollywood folks was once a well kept secret, but now mainstream outlets are covering the con, and even lonely creators and illustrators with Xeroxed books who are relegated to the far corners of the convention center are sought out for their stories. A hand-made stapled together comic book could be the next big movie franchise. This is exactly how properties such as Bob Burden’s comic Mystery Men and Men in Black were discovered and turned into films.

Now the con is incredibly important to the film studios as a launching pad for films. Buzz starts at Comic Con for all the big movies, and this year will be no different as fans will be treated to sneaks of movies coming to theaters in 2008. Presenting trailers, or rough cuts of scenes, passing out freebies like posters and buttons, starts fans talking to other fans and online about what will be hot next year.

I’m highlighting the films I’m personally excited about. It should be pointed out that all of these all began as either a comic book (Hulk, Iron Man, Batman), a children's books (Where the Wild Things Are), a cartoon/anime series (Speed Racer) or a TV series (Star Trek) – and all of them became popular among fans at Comic Con so that they could become films in the first place.

I’ll update this piece with additional details next week, once I’ve recovered, but for now, here’s a sneak peek at Comic Con’s movie offerings. Now, it’s time to get my geek on!


The Wachowski Brothers will bring Speed Racer to theaters in 2008 with Christina Ricci as Trixie and Emile Hirsch as Speed. As of this writing, Chim Chim has not been cast.


Robert Downey, Jr. is the man of steel in Iron Man.


Ed Norton will turn green in summer 2008 in the Hulk sequel. But will Hulk smash?


Can J.J. Abrams reinvent the Star Trek franchise?


Spike Jonze is sure to put a twisted spin on his adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved children's book Where the Wild Things Are.


Tim Burton takes a stab at dark comedy with Sweeney Todd.


The full title of the fourth Indiana Jones film is rumored to be revealed. Pictured in the center is Shia Labeouf from Disturbia, who plays a key role in the new adventure.


Will we get a glimpse of the Joker in action from Batman: Dark Knight?

NOTE: Check back for Comic Con updates... for now...
Gore gone!

Chris_Gore is more than geeks the eye.

On Wednesday, May 25th, 1977, in only a handful of movie theaters across the country, the original Star Wars was released. Most of you already know that the film reached the top of the box-office and was a cultural phenomenon. The impact that Star Wars had from both a technical and business standpoint cannot be underestimated. This film and the episodes that followed changed Hollywood and the movies forever.

Is there any doubt that a band featuring Chewbacca on drums would not rock it?

Star Wars quickly rewrote the rules of filmmaking and the film business when it came to things like—
Special effects. ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) invented new effects techniques and continues to innovate today.
Genre films. Hollywood never really took science fiction seriously; this was considered B-movie territory, until the box-office broke records.
The summer blockbuster. The summer movie season was officially invented and perfected the release of the original.
Movie merchandising. Films prior to 1977 rarely had spin-off merchandise. Lucas actually took a smaller fee as director to hold onto the merchandise rights and built his empire on those sales.
Sequels. Well, how to make a successful one anyway. The Empire Strikes Back proved that dramatically straying from audience expectations of more of the same can be a risk worth taking.
The modern video game. Aside from all the video game incarnations spawned from the films, there are countless games that borrowed ideas or were inspired by sequences from Star Wars.

This group of George Lucas' made a stir at the most recent Star Wars Celebration.

An army of fans.

Star Wars creator George Lucas remains one of the most important figures in film history for these innovations, not to mention so many others such as the first non-linear editing software.

The original not only changed the film industry, it touched a nerve in a generation in a way that we will never see again. And this group was inspired to make their own movies. There are plenty of filmmakers who point to Star Wars as their epiphany movie—the film that changed them and made them want to become filmmakers.

Now, if you’ve been reading or, like me, writing about Star Wars for as long as I have, (which, I’m embarrassed to say, is from the very beginning), then you already know all of this. Now that all six episodes from the Star Wars series are complete and all of our questions have been answered, what do fans have to look forward to? Well, if you happen to be in Los Angeles this weekend, you can join fellow fans in a communal geek-gasm. To mark the 30th anniversary of this event, fans are gathering this weekend at the for what will be the fourth Star Wars Celebration.

Star Wars truly knows no bounds.

Fans will be treated to rumored big announcements from the celebration with details about the following—
The HD-DVD release of Star Wars. There’s a new DVD boxed set coming out (when is there not?) of all six films and this time on HD-DVD. Details are sketchy, but an announcement is forthcoming.
StarWarsTube. The Star Wars web site is getting an overhaul and will become a place for fans to upload their fan films. In addition, users can take advantage of Lucas-approved movie clips, sounds and music to create mash-ups to share with friends… which then become owned entirely by Lucas. (I’m guessing that this content will eventually be used for a Star Wars Channel which can be viewed online or on demand.)
The IMAX 3-D version of Star Wars. Fans may be treated to footage from this as Lucas plans to re-release each movie a few years apart in this new format.
The Clone Wars CG Cartoon. There has been a computer animated cartoon about the Clone Wars for some time and early word is that the look is amazing. Where or when this series will debut is still not clear.
The highly-anticipated title of the fourth Indiana Jones movie. This announcement will take place tonight, though I’m not sure what this has to do with Star Wars. Frankly, I don’t care.
Plus… Slave Leia belly-dancing. Yes, you read that right. Women (presumably) dressed as Slave Leia… and they’re belly-dancing!
And, don’t forget, more and more Star Wars merchandise. You can count on learning about a slew of new Star Wars stuff of to buy. On that, I would quote from the Jedi code as spoken by Anakin from Episode II: Attack of the Clones “Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden.” Heed these words debt-ridden fans.

This action figure will not be for sale at the Star Wars Celebration. However, custom-painted topless Padme action figures can easily be found on eBay.

Of course, like all events of this type, there will be a dealers room and panels and screenings and bad greasy convention center food.

But, back to the question at hand, what are fans celebrating? The movies are done, even though Lucas famously announced that there would be nine films, yes folks, nine, from three trilogies back in a 1980 cover story from Time magazine. Lucas, always the revisionist when it comes to writing his own history, decided the six movies was enough to tell his story.

Fans showing off their Star Wars tattoos at a recent Celebration. After attending so many conventions, one thing is consistent, Star Wars fans are hotter than Star Trek fans.

William Shatner sang at an AFI Tribute to George Lucas which devolved into a Star Wars roast.

To my delight, and shame, I’ll admit that I’ve attended all three previous Star Wars Celebrations. The first took place in a rainy museum outside of Denver, Colorado and the last two were held at the convention center in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was there for all three and I have to admit, the best part was drinking with fellow geeks and, well, talking to girls… might I remind you, girls who loved Star Wars! Anyway, this may be the first one that I sit out. Because honestly, I don’t care much about any of the things that are going on, well, except perhaps for the belly-dancing, but that’s just not enough. I already have all of the films on HD archived on my Tivo, and learning the details of more and more things to buy and more ways to give Lucas money does not interest me.

I want to see more Star Wars movies.

Period.

I don’t care about anything else.

Nothing else interests me except for that. Show me another Star Wars movie on the horizon, and I’m back.

As far as I’m concerned, when the credits rolled during Revenge of the Sith, I was done. I felt a huge weight was lifted and a chapter from my own life, my obsession with this series of movies, was complete.

I once had the opportunity to talk to the producer of the original Star Wars and Empire Gary Kurtz who told me the plans for the third trilogy. In an interview I did on FilmThreat.com, the third trilogy would take Luke on a quest to find his long lost sister and the origins of the Jedi. There was none of this Luke-Leia/brother-sister thing going on. Here’s an excerpt from that interview:

One thing some may not understand is that the enjoyment of Star Wars is not from watching the movies in your living room, but from the communal experience of seeing it in the theater and, yes, waiting in line. Some of the most memorable and bizarre and geeky conversations I’ve had waiting in line for these movies. I’d like to see new films and learn the fate of an aged Luke Skywalker as he attempts to rebuild the galaxy.

Before George Lucas embarked on making the prequels, 20th Century Fox conducted a survey. This survey asked fans if they would like to see Star Wars sequels with the continuing adventures of Luke, Han and Leia. Or, would they prefer to see Star Wars prequels with the adventures of a young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. Overwhelmingly fans answered that they would prefer to see sequels not prequels.

Yes, this is the last shot from Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and the last we'll see of Star Wars at the movies. Unless, of course, it's in IMAX 3-D.

So George, you’ve done it. You made your prequels. And you made them on your terms, exactly the way you wanted to make them. Isn’t it time you gave back to the fans? The fans who have supported you and the films all these years? Fans don’t want another exclusive action figure or another boxed set on DVD… we want new movies.

Without new films on the horizon, Star Wars fandom is doomed to fade out like every final shot in all six films.

Gore gone... to a galaxy far, far away... for the last time.

Chris_Gore is an author, a filmmaker and the creator of Film Threat. One of Chris' unfulfilled goals in life is to have an intimate encounter with a woman dressed in a Slave Leia outfit.