Disney managed to turn Comic-Con into what it was aptly dubbing Comic-Tron on the first two days of the annual four-day gathering of the world’s most rabid fans of fantasy in all forms of media.
The much-anticipated Disney 3D movie “Tron Legacy,” the sequel to the 28-year-old groundbreaking film about a videogame developer (Jeff Bridges) who got zapped into his own machine by a controlling program, was back for the third year in a row to whet the appetite of fans once last time before the Dec. 17 release.
Cast and crew were holding press conferences, an opening day 90-minute panel in the famed Hall H of the convention center, and walking the red carpet. On the show floor was an eye-catching exhibit featuring brand new exclusive Tron merchandise and a full-scale light cycle as depicted in the movie.
(Story continues below the following video highlights of Comic-Con, including a prominent seat at the “Tron” press conference.)
When asked about Blu-ray plans for the original 1982 movie and the new film, Disney producer Sean Bailey said to look for a special edition of the original movie soon — no specific release dates yet — and that the studio will be anxious to release a home 3D version of “Legacy” as soon as more homes get 3D TVs.
During the “Tron” panel in Hall H, Disney took the opportunity to give the 6,500 in the room a surprise peek at the 3D fourth installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean” and to introduce filmmaker Guillermo del Toro to announce work on another movie inspired by a Disneyland ride, “Haunted Mansion,” this one surely to be quite different than the previous flop comedy starring Eddie Murphy.
Probably the most heavily promoted 3D movie was “Green Hornet,” with interactive exhibits and the Green Hornet car parked near the front of the convention center. Also prominent on the floor were exhibits for the new 3D chapter of “Resident Evil” and the upcoming “Priest,” also in 3D.
As for Blu-ray, Fox had a huge exhibit with interactive pods for attendees to promote its upcoming “Alien Anthology” in October, Paramount was promoting its September release of “Iron Man 2” with a producer showing clips of bonus features, a billboard of “Clash of the Titans” stood on the lawn between the Hilton and the convention center in front of a tent with a giant head of the Hydra, and Anchor Bay was touting its TV series “Spartacus” on Blu-ray with an exhibit and prominent ads on bicycle taxis outside.
Blu-ray producers at Bill Hunt’s annual Digital Bits panel revealed a few tidbits during the session and afterwards to HollywoodInHiDef.com/3DHollywood.net, including Charles de Lauzirika mentioning that he was already working on the Blu-ray and DVD versions of “Transformers 3,” just one of three 3D movies for which he is producing the disc version.
— By Scott Hettrick