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Comic-Con 2013 Sells Out In 93 Minutes But Tech Glitches Frustrate Fans – Again

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday February 16, 2013 @ 12:03pm PSTTags: Comic-Con

Ross Lincoln is a Deadline contributor.

San Diego will again be packed to the gills with geeks of all stripes this July, as all attendee badges for San Diego Comic-Con 2013 sold out in just over an hour and a half, barely shy of the record set in 2012. But many fans came up empty-handed and feeling ripped off because of problems that plagued the convention’s complicated badge sales system for the second year in a row. Passes went on sale this morning at 9:00 AM Pacific, and as disappointed fans found out via the convention’s Twitter account, they disappeared fast. By 9:53, 4-day badges and 4-day badges with access to preview night were gone. 15 minutes later, Friday and Saturday single day badges were snapped up and by 10:36 it was all over.

Comic-Con can crow about the enormous demand for access to the July 18-21 event, but complaints about server errors and site crashes started even before this morning’s sales began. With each announcement of sold-out badges, the convention’s Twitter feed blew up with new gripes READ MORE »

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Comic-Con Staying In San Diego Until 2016

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Monday October 29, 2012 @ 12:27pm PDTTags: Comic-Con

The annual geek gathering and Mayor Jerry Sanders announced today that Comic-Con has extended its stay in San Diego one more year. Comic-Con had been contractually committed to remain at the San Diego Convention Center until 2015, … Read More »

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Deadline’s Weekly YouTube Channel Rankings

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday July 20, 2012 @ 2:34pm PDTTags: Comic-Con, Google, YouTube, YouTube Channel Rank

Machinima Prime, an entertainment channel that targets young men, hasn’t formally launched yet. But the audience it attracted just by uploading content to prepare for the official introduction made it the standout in Deadline.com’s YouTube rankings for the week ending July 18. It gained 3.3M views for a total of nearly 3.4M, which rocketed it 69 slots to No. 4. My Damn Channel also stood out. It leaped 49 slots to No. 15  – with nearly 1M views, +884,648 – helped by the premiere during Comic-Con of its original series Save The Supers. With the holiday week over, the number of total views for the Google-funded channels that we track was up 19% to 57.2M. The top 10 channels accounted for 56% of all the views. All but one of last week’s top performers remained in the pack. Awesomeness TV dropped to No. 11 from No. 4, making room for Machinima Prime. Read More »

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Comic-Con: ‘Sons of Anarchy’s Kurt Sutter Would “Love To Do A Prequel”

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Sunday July 15, 2012 @ 4:06pm PDTTags: Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, FX, Kurt Sutter, Sons of Anarchy

They were the last panel of Comic-Con’s huge Hall H this year but today Sons of Anarchy gave fans of the FX biker drama a few things to look forward to. SOA creator and showrunner Kurt Sutter told the crowd today that he’d “love to do a prequel about the formation of the club.” Though he gave no details of the prequel, which he has brought up before, Sutter said today that he had discussed the idea with the show’s network FX. Before the panel came out, the thousands in the crowd were treated to a seven-minute preview of Season 5′s 90-minute September 11 opening episode. With some flashbacks to the power struggle within the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original the preview started out with the Jax character writing in his journal and then revealed a long run delivery by SAMCRO on the northern California roads that gets highjacked. A pounding cover of Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground on the soundtrack was used to set the tone. Thirty seconds of the preview were blacked out for  ”content reasons.”

Related:‘Django Unchained’ A ‘Shaft’ Prequel? So Says Quentin Tarantino: Comic-Con

Sutter later explained that the blackout was a sex scene involving Katey Sagal and season guest star Jimmy Smits that Comic-Con felt was too explicit. Read More »

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Comic-Con: ‘Doctor Who’ With Cowboys Out West And Dinosaurs In Space

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Sunday July 15, 2012 @ 1:46pm PDTTags: BBC America, Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, Diana Rigg, Doctor Who

Doctor Who is coming out West, to Ancient Egypt and taking dinosaurs to space it was revealed at Comic-Con today. The British series (seen here on BBC America) has a Western episode coming this season. Today’s panel showed a brief preview of that as well as longer clip with a Cleopatra character and dinosaurs from another episode. The Western clip had the Doctor stumbling into a saloon brawl. Like Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti Westerns, theDoctor Who Who episode was actually not filmed in the U.S. “We did the one thing you always have to do when shooting iconic American culture, we went to Spain,” joked the series lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat before playing the clip. Moffat, who was otherwise resolutely circumspect about the upcoming season, later revealed that the new Doctor Who would “have more Daleks that you’ve ever seen in one place and a new generation of Daleks,” He added, “I don’t think we’ve ever had a wider variety of episodes than what we are about to show you.” The panel included Who executive producer Caroline Skinner, Moffat, cast members Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill join and to huge applause the 11th Doctor himself Matt Smith.

Related: Comic-Con: ‘Once Upon A Time’ Season 2 Preview
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Comic-Con Q&A: Peter Jackson On His Return To Middle Earth With ‘The Hobbit’ And How 48 Frames Can Save Moviegoing

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Sunday July 15, 2012 @ 12:45pm PDTTags: Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, JRR Tolkien, Peter Jackson, The Hobbit
Mike Fleming

Peter Jackson wowed the Comic-Con crowd Saturday in Hall H by showing footage from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of a two-parter on the Bilbo Baggins’ journey that leaves on his finger Sauron’s Ring Of Power, the precursor to Jackson’s billion dollar grossing The Lord of the Rings trilogy for New Line Cinema. Jackson’s appearance created as many questions as it answered. Bloggers are reporting he said that The Hobbit might become a trilogy and they’ve also wondered why Jackson chose not to show the 3D in the 48 frames-per-second format in which he shot both Hobbit films. On the trilogy possibility, I’m told that while Jackson shot plenty of extra footage, he has already stretched a single book into two movies. His DVD editions of The Lord of the Rings were so compellingly loaded with extended cuts of each film—they actually filled in storytelling gaps for hard core fans–that my bet is he indulges those fans that way again, even though no final decision has yet been made. I don’t think anybody but the money guys behind Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 thought it was creatively satisfying to break Stephenie Meyer’s last book into two films and I would be surprised if Jackson went that route unless the movies are just too long to fit in a double feature.

DEADLINE: Guillermo Del Toro told me he didn’t feel badly about stepping away from directing The Hobbit because the film ended up in the right hands, your hands. Everybody felt that way but you it seemed. Why did it take you so long to embrace a return to Middle Earth as director?

JACKSON: It did seem that way, but you’re talking about a series of events that were largely out of everybody’s control at the time. I have a certain belief in fate. Not in a religious way but over my life I find that if you try to assert yourself and influence things too much, it’s not necessarily the best idea. You kind of take your foot off the clutch at some stage and freewheel and let things happen. Guillermo was developing The Hobbit, I was producing it and I had other things that I was developing of my own at that time. And for the 18 months he was on it, we never had a green light. Read More »

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Comic-Con: ‘Fringe’ Pic Possible, Cast Says

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Sunday July 15, 2012 @ 11:12am PDTTags: Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, Fox, Fringe

There might be a Fringe movie, at least if members of the cast have their way. “The film is very possible down the line,” John Noble said today at the show’s Comic-Con panel. “The show will live on in some form or another,” added fellow cast member Joshua Jackson. It was Fringe’s last turn at Comic-Con today but if the packed Hall H was any indication the fans certainly don’t want the sci-fi series to even think about ending. That dedication was evident right near the beginning of the session as hundreds in the crowd held up print out of white tulips in tribute to the show’s 18th episode and the flower’s role as a symbol of forgiveness. Beyond the actor’s speculation and fond hopes, not a lot was revealed in where things were going in season five or down the line.

Related: Comic-Con: ‘Once Upon A Time’ Season 2 Preview

“It’s only 13 episodes so I’m going to be careful with what I say because I really want you guys to experience it. I’m going to be tight lipped,” said executive producer J. H. Wyman near the end of the session. The panel today included Wyman as well as cast members Anna Torv, Jackson, Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole and Noble. Blair Brown was supposed to be there but it was announced she couldn’t make it due to a cold. Read More »

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Comic-Con Q&A: Vince Gilligan On ‘Breaking Bad’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday July 15, 2012 @ 10:06am PDTTags: AMC, Breaking Bad, Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, Vince Gilligan

Ray Richmond contributes to Deadline’s television coverage.

Vince Gilligan Breaking BadIt began with a pitch about a drama in which the lead character evolves from “Mr. Chips into Scarface.” But Vince Gilligan never thought he would get this far with Breaking Bad, his AMC series masterpiece that has the rare luxury of going out via a two-pronged, 16-episode final season that begins tonight and concludes sometime next summer. The onetime X-Files writer-producer recently hinted that this may not really be the beginning of the end, that Breaking Bad could spin off into another series starring Bob Odenkirk as blustery and corrupt lawyer Saul Goodman. But before that happens, there’s an Emmy-winning series to put to rest. Gilligan spoke to Ray Richmond last week for Deadline about running a drama hailed as a classic, his obsession with going out on top, and the fact everyone has a theory for how this thing should end.

Deadline: Do you ever feel like your career is kind of peaking with this show and it’s going to be all downhill from here?
Vince Gilligan: I say that a lot. And all joking aside, it’s something that you think about. On the one hand you say to yourself, I am so extraordinarily lucky to be doing this, much as a lottery winner is lucky. You think to yourself, man I worked hard to get here. On the other hand, I don’t remember doing anything specific for which I deserve this particular level of good fortune. And then once you start going down that road, you think to yourself, if this really was a matter of winning the lottery, well then how do you win twice?
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Marvel At Comic-Con: Robert Downey Jr., Kevin Feige, Shane Black, Jon Favreau, Don Cheadle, Edgar Wright

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday July 14, 2012 @ 8:08pm PDTTags: Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, Iron Man 3, Marvel Studios, Robert Downey Jr.

Luke Y. Thompson is contributing to Deadline’s coverage of Comic-Con.

The Warner Bros/Legendary panel was a tough act to follow, but Marvel came through. A montage of past Hall H guest panels interspersed with prior movie footage was shown, with thanks to fans for making Marvel’s The Avengers the biggest superhero movie of all time, and finally declaring: “Phase Two Begins.” Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige confirmed that the next four movies are Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Related: Marvel Sets Dates For ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’, ‘Captain America’ And ‘Thor’ Sequels

Edgar Wright came out to reveal some Ant-Man test footage he shot two weeks ago (unfinished). It featured Ant-Man in a costume that looked like a hybrid of the comic costume and Ultraman – full body suit that appeared to amplify his strength. We saw him run down a corridor, grow to full size, leap into the air, shrink again, super-punch the bad guys inside their mouths, then return to full size again and enter the elevator again.

Related:‘Pacific Rim’, ‘Godzilla’, ‘Man Of Steel’, ‘The Hobbit’: What Comic-Con Was Made For

Then Robert Downey Jr strolled down the aisle through the crowd, to the sounds of Luther Vandross music. “I’ve got three questions: how much do I love you? How much do you love me? Why aren’t we watching any footage yet?” The footage obliges. It Tony Stark trying to get armor pieces to fly onto him automatically, which they do, but in some cases too hard. Read More »

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Comic-Con: ‘True Blood’s’ Alexander Skarsgard Not Cast In ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey,’ Actor Says

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday July 14, 2012 @ 5:43pm PDTTags: Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, Fifty Shades Of Grey, HBO, True Blood

Alexander Skarsgard said today that he hasn’t been offered a role in the film adaption of E.L. James’ best selling Fifty Shades of Grey. “I haven’t read the book and I haven’t seen a script,” said the … Read More »

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Comic-Con: ‘Act Of Valor’s Scott Waugh To Helm ‘Hawken’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Saturday July 14, 2012 @ 4:59pm PDTTags: Bandito Brothers, Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, Scott Waugh, Warner Bros
Mike Fleming

Act Of Valor co-director Scott Waugh has signed on to direct a live action adaptation of Hawken, a free-to-play shooter game from Meteor Entertainment that started creating buzz at E3. Warner Bros has signed on to make the … Read More »

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Comic-Con: ‘End Of Watch’, ‘Silent Hill 3D’ Unveiled For Open Road

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday July 14, 2012 @ 2:29pm PDTTags: Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, End Of Watch, Open Road Films

Luke Y. Thompson is contributing to Deadline’s coverage of Comic-Con.

Django UnchainedOpen Road Films‘ End of Watch turned out to be a cop movie shot from a sort of “found footage” perspective while not actually resorting to that … Read More »

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‘Django Unchained’ A ‘Shaft’ Prequel? So Says Quentin Tarantino: Comic-Con

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday July 14, 2012 @ 1:42pm PDTTags: Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, Django Unchained, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Quentin Tarantino

Luke Y. Thompson is contributing to Deadline’s coverage of Comic-Con.

Django UnchainedDjango Unchained a Shaft prequel? Really? There’s one more week of shooting on Django, and they just did scenes with Jonah Hill as a member of the Regulators (the pre-Civil War version of the KKK). Quentin Tarantino said it turned into one of the funniest scenes he’s ever done, which he says is up there with the name-colors conversation in Reservoir Dogs. There is one character in the movie that ties into the larger Tarantino-verse which he’s keeping a surprise, but he says Kerry Washington‘s character Brunhilde von Shaft is, in his mind, an ancestor of John Shaft – this prompted QT to start singing the theme song out loud. The panel was moderated by Anthony Breznican from Entertainment Weekly, who said he needed a whole new level of grandiloquent profanity to describe Django, a “twisted, bloody fairy tale,” before introducing Jamie Foxx, Walton Goggins, Don Johnson (with Jeff Bridges-looking facial hair and gray ponytail), Christoph Waltz (long hair and a bushy white beard that almost looks false, like Santa Claus), Washington, and Tarantino (in a leather jacket, dorky felt fedora, and a T-shirt depicting many of his characters as kids playing in a sandbox).
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‘Man of Steel’s Henry Cavill & Zach Snyder To Sign Autographs Today: COMIC-CON

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday July 14, 2012 @ 1:03pm PDTTags: Comic-Con, Henry Cavill, Man of Steel, Superman, Zach Snyder

EXCLUSIVE: Superman is coming to Comic-Con with a one-two punch. Deadline has learned that Man of Steel star Henry Cavill be joining director Zack Snyder today at the Warner Bros booth on the Comic-Con exhibition … Read More »

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Comic-Con: ‘Once Upon A Time’ Season 2 Preview

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday July 14, 2012 @ 12:20pm PDTTags: ABC, Comic-Con, Once Upon a Time

Anthony D’Alessandro is a Deadline contributor.

The introduction of Captain Hook was one of the big reveals at ABC’s Once Upon a Time panel at Comic-Con panel. A teaser clip that capped the end of the presentation … Read More »

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Comic-Con: ‘Last Blood’ Movie Secures Co-Financing

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday July 14, 2012 @ 12:06pm PDTTags: Comic-Con, Simon Hunter

Producer Rick Benattar (Reel Steel, Ironclad) and newly formed production and financing company Cascade FilmWorks have signed on to co-finance the live-action feature adaptation of the popular webcomic Last Blood. Debuting as an online comic in … Read More »

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Comic-Con: Marvel TV Previews New ‘Avengers Assemble,’ ‘Hulk & Agents of S.M.A.S.H.’ & More Joss Whedon’s ‘Astonishing X-Men’

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday July 14, 2012 @ 11:28am PDTTags: Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, Disney, Disney XD, Marvel Television

Marvel is not cancelling The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for Avengers Assemble, the company’s head of Television said today. Instead the upcoming series, which was briefly previewed at Comic-Con this morning, is “the next level,” said Marvel TV’s … Read More »

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Comic-Con: ‘Breaking Bad’ Heading To Germany In New Season, Panel Reveals

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday July 13, 2012 @ 7:45pm PDTTags: AMC, Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston, Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, Vince Gilligan

Breaking Bad is heading to Germany in the second episode of the new season, showrunner Vince Gilligan said today. Gilligan also told the Comic-Con crowd that audiences should expect more German accents than Spanish accents this upcoming season based on some financial deals that Walter White has made. He also said the White character finally does something that removes all sympathy for the character. “This season is all about winning and staying on top,” he added. “As we wind down to 16 episodes, we’re cranking it up,” said star Bryan Cranston. He also noted that Sunday’s opener is “not violent but intellectual.” His onscreen partner in crime Aaron Paul, whose catchphrase of the opening episode “magnets, bitch” he revealed, described the new season as “eerie”. That wasn’t all the audience learned about the upcoming season. Two days before the Season 5 debut of AMC’s Breaking Bad, the crowd tonight at Comic-Con got a glimpse of what’s to come. If the gunplay in the short preview they showed in Ballroom 20 this evening is any indication, the opener might not be so violent but the new season of Breaking Bad is going to be very, very violent. Also new characters will be added, and the Skinny Pete character played by Charles Baker is coming back. The preview showed that Walter White’s cooking meth again and his wife Skylar is on board. And after an initial attempt at killing Walt for the death of Gus at the end of season four, Mike Ehrmantraut has joined him and Jesse Pinkman. Read More »

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Comic-Con: ‘Game of Thrones’ Sets March 31, 2013 Season 3 Premiere, Adds Diana Rigg To Cast

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday July 13, 2012 @ 3:33pm PDTTags: Comic-Con, Comic-Con Wrap-Up, Diana Rigg, Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin, HBO

Game Of Thrones will be back for its third season on March 31, 2013, it was announced today at Comic-Con. Also announced was that Diana Rigg has officially joined the HBO fantasy drama. Rigg, the star of 1960 TV … Read More »

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