Booths, displays, celebrities, and oddities! Here are literally tons of photos from the Exhibit Hall of the infinite wonders at Comic-Con 2009…

Be aware that if you click through the “more” link, the page you will get is HUGE with almost 200 photos!

Instead of a booth, this year Syfy (formerly Scifi Channel) branded a local restaurant

One of many promotional pieces for the movie District 9

High. Way. Robbery.

Lego Rock Band

Warner Bros. booth

Recreations of instruments from Lego Rock Band made out of real Lego bricks

Tobin Bell, aka “Jigsaw” from the Saw movies

Star Wars chess

Marvel Superheroes

The Batpod from The Dark Knight

This booth offered to make you a monster using professional prosthetics & makeup

A glove worn by Michael Jackson, to be sold at auction in the future

I think it’s meant to be flattering, but you’ve got to wonder how Barack feels about this

The next movie from Mike Judge of Office Space fame

The Black Beauty from Seth Rogen’s upcoming Green Hornet film

One of many posters promoting Fox’s new hit Glee

AMC’s highly anticipated miniseries reimagining of The Prisoner

“Angels with guns” movie Legion, starring Paul Bettany

Where the Wild Things Are

Wolverine wax figure

V recruitment center

Heroes booth

Summit Entertainment’s booth had a big emphasis on New Moon

AMC’s booth for The Prisoner

Life-sized replica of Bumblebee from Transformers

Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes from the G.I. Joe movie

I don’t remember ever seeing a Hallmark booth at Comic-Con before

Lego will soon be releasing toys from Disney properties like Prince of Persia…

…and Toy Story

Entrance to the Mattel booth

Mech-walker thing from James Cameron’s Avatar

Toys based on James Cameron’s Avatar

Another view of Summit Entertainment, this time for the horror movie Sorority Row

Nickelodeon’s booth

MGM’s Stargate booth

DC Comics booth

Xbox booth

Yours truly (center) with author Peter David (left) and Shadow Complex video game producer Donald Mustard

A tower o’ Spongebob toys

G4′s booth

A replica of the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

The “sails pavilion” at the San Diego Convention Center, where everyone first enters

On the streets of San Diego, Syfy’s giveaways were denoted by these giant balloons

Sony’s booth, where District 9 had a big presence

Special, one-of-a-kind PSPs given away at Comic-Con by Sony

The cast of Spongebob Squarepants

Photo booth for New Moon

Clever marketing for the movie 2012

Nobody messes with the 501st! (Star Wars video game reference, sorry…)

Yes, there’s actually enough of a niche market for this

Replica of a squidee from The Matrix

Character replicas from Disney/Pixar’s Up

Replical of the new Enterprise from JJ Abrams’ Star Trek, complete with built-in lights

Best ship in the ‘verse

Model of the Tick

Herbie the Love Bug

The Rocketeer

The Nazgul from Lord of the Rings

An Uruk-Hai from Lord of the Rings

Legolas from Lord of the Rings

Zombies, zombies, everywhere

Models based on the Indiana Jones movies

“You throw me the idol, I throw you the whip!”

The ever-present Avatar

Some really creative and funny variations on Storm Troopers

Love the Optimus Prime Storm Trooper!

Grand Admiral Thrawn from the expanded Star Wars universe

Count Poopoo, I mean Dooku

C’mon, that’s just cool

An iconic moment in film history

Who doesn’t need a life-sized bust of Admiral Ackbar?

General Grievous

Bust of old man Anakin from Return of the Jedi

Venom Spider-Man

Captain America

The Angel of Death from Hellboy II

The “Big Baby” from Hellboy II

Iron Man Mark One armor

Galactus, the World Devourer

I am ze Governator

Tron Mickey Mouse

Captain Jack Sparrow Mickey Mouse

Gentle Giant booth, makers of film replica statues

Apparently the DVD was on sale for $10 at Comic-Con; I’m bitter that I missed it!

New Moon merch

Yeah, you know you want it

More Lego Rock Band

Rizzo

Kermit

A Dalek from Doctor Who

Sony Online Entertainment’s booth

THQ booth

PlayStation booth

Capcom booth

NCsoft booth

Activision booth

Sony’s booth

Fox’s booth

Lionsgate’s booth

Imagi booth

B.O.B. from Monsters vs. Aliens

BBC’s booth

Star Wars outfits

Lucasfilm booth

The police motorcycle from Star Trek

Sideshow Collectibles

A fan-made South Park character made entirely out of Lego bricks

A steampunk version of a Naboo fighter from Star Wars, made of Lego bricks

The Bridge of the Enterprise, made out of Lego bricks

No idea what this Lego creation is, but it’s very impressive

The California Browncoats, keeping Firefly/Serenity alive

A vendor that’s here every year, where you can satisfy all your poster needs

You know you want this too

Just thought this was funny

Marvel Comics booth, where it was all about Iron Man II

Gollum made out of bronze

Master Chief and the Arbiter, from Halo

Replicas of the ornate, detailed weapons from Lord of the Rings

Eowyn vs. the Witch King, from Return of the King

Smaug the Dragon from The Hobbit. Will the movie version resemble this?

A mosaic wall made out of tiny Lego bricks that fans got to help build

Paul Hogan (Colonel Saul Tigh) of Battlestar Galactica

James Callis (Gaius Baltar) of Battlestar Galactica

Edward James Olmos (Admiral William Adama) of Battlestar Galactica

Dexter was big at Comic-Con this year

Dexter toys

Peter Mayhew, aka Chewbacca from Star Wars, is a Comic-Con fixture

All photos by Robin Parrish.

Post from: EveryJoe

The stars and writers of Fox’s Fringe appeared in a panel today to talk about the show’s success and what to expect from Season 2. Here are a few photos and my video footage of the entire panel!

Post from: EveryJoe

Everyone likes to complain about how there are so few new ideas in Hollywood these days, that studios are churning out remakes by the bushel. And sure, there’s some good stuff in the mix, but for every gem like Battlestar Galactica you’ve got four or five stinkers like Bionic Woman or Flash Gordon.

V creators Scott Peters and Jeffrey Bell

Based on the hour-long pilot episode screened at Comic-Con, the new reimagining of V is off to a very strong start. It’s not a new plot — alien “visitors” arrive on Earth promising peace, but secretly plan a subversive takeover — but there’s enough new angles in this version of V to keep things exciting and surprising. And it moves along at a fast clip, setting up the premise of the show while introducing the main characters, and it wastes no time on anything nonessential. There are some terrific special effects in the pilot, and I can only hope the standard they set here is maintained.

Without giving too much away, when the Visitors first arrive with their massive spaceships hovering over 29 major cities around the world, it creates quite the panic. (Yes, the show is fully aware of its opening scenes’ resemblance to the movie Independence Day, and even plays off of this at times.) Until, that is, the people of Earth set eyes on them for the first time, and find them to be highly attractive and human-like in appearance. The Visitors claim to be in need of natural mineral resources that can be found on Earth, and in exchange they will share their technology with us until they have finished replenishing their own supplies, at which time they will leave. But of course not all is as it seems, starting with an FBI investigation into a terrorist cell and ending with… well, that would be telling. But ask yourself how the Visitors would be able to immediately speak our language, appear in pleasing human forms, and cure many of our diseases if they have only just arrived.

One of the best parts of the show is seeing a lot of fan-favorite genre actors in a whole new sandbox. Lost‘s Elizabeth Mitchell is arguably the show’s lead as FBI agent Erica Evans, and her steely-calm intensity is put to good use here. Morena Baccarin stars as the alien leader Anna, and she brings the same grace and tranquility she displayed in Firefly, along with a subtle, unsettling quality that lets you know not quite all is as it seems on the surface. The 4400‘s Joel Gretsch takes an unexpected turn as a priest named Jack Landry, a devout man of faith who immediately suspects the Visitors of being less than honest about their intentions. Party of Five‘s Scott Wolf is perfectly cast as ambitious-but-righteous news anchor Chad Decker, a man who unwittingly finds himself caught between the Visitors and humanity. And character actor Morris Chestnut is Ryan Nichols, a man with a very mysterious past who’s trying to leave it behind and create a new life with his romantic partner. Smallville‘s Laura Vandervoort and newcomer Logan Huffman appear in supporting roles.

It’s a fun, fast ride, with a talented and appealing cast, and a modern take on a familiar premise. I’m looking forward to seeing it unfold. Watch for V to debut sometime this November. A full video of the brief Q&A panel that followed the screening is below.

Post from: EveryJoe

Comic-Con is always a great place to see literally hundreds fans of all ages dress up in their best homemade costumes. Here are just a few pics of costumed characters roaming the halls at Comic-Con 2009…

Tron

Predator

Master Chief from Halo

Spongebob Squarepants

Spider-Men

Bionicle

Mandalorian warriors from Star Wars

More Mandalorians

Giselle and Prince Edward from Enchanted

On the right is Ariel from The Little Mermaid and Giselle from Enchanted; no idea who that is on the left

I know it’s blurry, but it’s just too good not to share

Silk Spectre from Watchmen

Transformers (the animated variety, if I’m not mistaken)

Silk Spectre, Night Owl, Rorschach, and the Comedian, from Watchmen

That Imperial dude from Star Wars who pulled the lever that fired the Death Star’s giant laser

An incredibly detailed Bumblebee from Transformers; its eyes even light up

Um, Marshmallow Man? Eh, I have no idea, though that looks like Mario’s hat from the Nintendo games

Swamp Thing would be my guess

Dr. Gordon Freeman from the Half-Life games (pre-HEV suit, apparently)

White Power Ranger

Some kind of Pirate/boar mashup, not really sure what the deal is (but hey, that head is very well made!)

Greedo, but not trying very hard (a convict road-worker vest? really?)

Max of Sam & Max

What I can only describe as “Naked Pikachu Man” (you know how there are certain things you wish you could unsee?)

Captain Marvel (from DC Comics, not Marvel Comics — don’t ask, it’s a whole big thing)

This one speaks for itself (I actually like it better than the Master Chief above)

Post from: EveryJoe

Saturday morning at Comic-Con, the masterminds behind Lost held their annual panel, filled with tons of surprises, unexpected guests, lots of laughs, and a plenty of hints about what’s to come in the show’s forthcoming final season. Here’s my full video of the entire panel… Note that the final video contains one moment of very strong language.

Post from: EveryJoe

Saturday night at Comic-Con, NBC set up a full carnival, complete with games, food, and prizes, in promotion of the upcoming Volume 5 of Heroes. Volume 5, “Redemption,” features a group of characters with powers that have integrated into society by becoming carnival acts, so the Comic-Con carnival was made to resemble the one from the show. Aside from all the fun and games, there were tons of images of the cast, stills from the upcoming season, and even a special tent showing the trailer for Volume 5 on a loop.

I stopped by late in the evening and took some pictures…

Get all the latest Comic-Con updates as they happen! follow me on Twitter!

Post from: EveryJoe

Peter Jackson made his long awaited first trip to Comic-Con this year to promote his protege Neill Blomkamp‘s feature film debut, District 9. Rather than tell you all about this amazing-looking movie, I’ve got the full video of the event for you to watch and hear about it straight from Jackson, Blomkamp, and star newcomer Sharlto Copley.

Jackson fans will be keen to hear that he also discusses the current status of The Hobbit and the full details on what really happened to the Halo movie (and whether they hope to get back to it).

Enjoy!

Get all the latest Comic-Con updates as they happen! follow me on Twitter!

9 film stills: Copyright 2009 ©Focus Features.

Post from: EveryJoe

Director Scott Stewart is known for his amazing visual effects work on the likes of Pirates of the Caribbean, Iron Man, Live Free or Die Hard, and more than a dozen other films. Legion is his first major directorial effort, which he also co-wrote, and it stars Paul Bettany as the archangel Michael, who descends to earth to protect it when God decides to wipe out humanity for a second time (you know, after the Flood) by sending the rest of his angels to destroy us. Michael takes it upon himself to protect a nine-months-pregnant woman named Charlie, who is carrying “the hope of humanity” in her womb. It’s a heavy premise, but as Stewart said during the panel, his thinking behind the whole thing was “angels with guns,” and that’s the kind of movie he’s created.

Also starring in the film alongside Bettany are Dennis Quaid (who was not at Comic-Con), Doug Jones (the Silver Surfer, Abe Sapien in the Hellboy films), Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki as the expecting mother, and Kevin Durand (who also was not here).

The film follows Michael as he tracks down the pregnant woman Charlie, and defends her from the descending legions of Heaven, including Michael’s friend and rival, the archangel Gabriel (Durand). Most of the film is set in a tiny desert diner, where the characters played by Quaid and Gibson join with Michael to protect Charlie. Based on the footage we saw, it’s going to be an extremely intense thrill ride, with lots of eye-popping visuals and new kinds of stunts and action that you’ve never seen before.

Bettany and Stewart also revealed that they are already collaborating again on another film with religious overtones, which is the next project for both of them, called Priest. No details are available about the plot just yet.

Legion arrives January 2010. Below are some pictures from the panel.

Adrianne Palicki

Scott Stewart

Tyrese Gibson

Paul Bettany

Doug Jones

Get all the latest Comic-Con updates as they happen! follow me on Twitter!

9 film stills: Copyright 2009 ©Focus Features.

Post from: EveryJoe

9 is an animated fantasy adventure from the talents of Shane Acker, a first-time director whose credits include animation work for The Lord of the Rings. It’s a “stitch punk” tale about nine little robotic creatures who are imbued with the spark of life by their human creator — just before the human race becomes extinct, thanks to malevolent robots who wipe them out. These nine robots, each named after their sequential number in order of their creation, become caught up in a wild adventure when the same machines that destroyed the humans set their sights on them. The entrance of the last robot, 9, complicates matters because he is very, very special.

On hand at the panel were creator/director Acker, producer Timur Bekmambetov (best known as the director of Night Watch and Wanted), producer and geek god Tim Burton, and voice talents Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly.

We were shown an extended clip from the film which was not at all what you usually see in animation. 9 is definitely a “grown up” animated movie, with a PG-13 rating, full of intense action and endless thrills. Personally, I can’t wait to see this one if for no other reason than that it’s something genuinely creative — a world, characters, and a story we have never seen before. It’s coming from Focus Features on September 9, 2009.

Below are some pictures from the panel.

Get all the latest Comic-Con updates as they happen! follow me on Twitter!

9 film stills: Copyright 2009 ©Focus Features.

Post from: EveryJoe

For the true geeks among us, there could be no bigger event at Comic-Con than uber-director James Cameron showing up to promote his shrouded-in-secrecy new project, Avatar. Not a single frame of footage, not one rendering or piece of concept art has been shown from the film. Until today.

Cameron chose Comic-Con 2009 as the venue at which to unveil Avatar to the world, and he did not disappoint, delivering an in-depth preview of the film that stacked up at about 25 minutes of total footage! The film, which details a human war against an alien race set on their homeworld of Pandora, is rich with infinite details and the most photo-realistic CGI work I’ve ever seen. Even the main characters are largely rendered as CGI, but it is impeccably done — and it was shown in the 3D technology that Cameron himself helped to invent and perfect. It’s a staggering achievement, a bold new step into a new frontier for cinema.

I have the full panel for you below, along with a few pictures, but the biggest news came at the very end: Cameron announced that 15 minutes of Avatar will be shown in theaters, IMAX, and select 3D digital screens on August 21st entirely for free. He called it a new “social media” experiment, sort of a big-budget attempt at creating viral word-of-mouth. It’s being named “Avatar Day.” If what they show in those 15 minutes resembles the stuff we saw today, I’d advise you run to the nearest theater on 8/21 and see this for yourselves.

Get all the latest Comic-Con updates as they happen! follow me on Twitter!

Post from: EveryJoe