After 1995’s Sylvester Stallone-starring take on the “Judge Dredd” comic series shit the bed and offered film and comic geeks little more than a couple of ironic quotables from a pizza delivery guy played by Rob Schneider, it didn’t seem very likely that anyone would take a shot at revisiting the property anytime soon. Seventeen years must be the statute of limitations on this one though, because here we are in 2012, getting a promotional clip for a new Karl Urban-starring take on the material called Dredd. Having reservations about this film due to past failures in translating the character to live action is understandable, but it’s starting to look like it might not be justified. Dredd recently screened for audiences at Comic-Con, and the buzz coming out of the room was that this new take on the character is much more true to the original comics. Word on the street is that this is a gritty, gory, action-packed shoot ‘em up that has way more in common with the face-punchingly awesome The Raid: Redemption than it does any Sylvester Stallone failures.

In Paul Verhoeven‘s 1987 film, RoboCop, the sci-fi action takes place in a future Detroit, one that is overridden by crime and violence. Mega-corp Omni Consumer Products has been contracted by the city to run their police force and to clean up the city and its many criminals. Part of their initiative involves a cyborg cop program called, you guessed it, RoboCop. When veteran police officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is killed in the line of duty, OCP takes his body and uses it for their very first RoboCop. While successful in his job, the now-eponymous RoboCop is still haunted by memories of his old life as Alex Murphy that he must battle as he also battles crime. Jose Padilha is now remaking RoboCop, set to star Joel Kinnaman and, as is the case with all reboots and remakes and rehashes, this new film begs the question – just how similar will this new film be to the original? Turns out, in the case of RoboCop, pretty damn similar! Over at ComingSoon, they’ve posted the newest synopsis for the RoboCop reboot (a Robocop-sis?), and it sounds like some very well-tread territory:

Jackie Chan‘s visit to San Diego Comic-Con proved the star to be charming, though the panel lacked considerable punch due to a lack of new footage. The panel featured the trailer to Chan’s CZ12 which is also being called Chinese Zodiac and also Armour of the Gods III. I don’t know how much sense any of those titles make, but the movie is about a thief who’s hired to steal back four missing heads of statues of the Chinese zodiac. So there’s the part that makes sense. I don’t get the 12 in CZ12 since there are only four missing heads. Oh well. Chan did mention that in two months they’d be dropping a new trailer before the film’s December release. Knowing that just bringing the same trailer wouldn’t cut it for Comic-Con, so to spice up the panel he brought his French roller-suit trainer. Roller-suit? Yeah, you know – those weirdo plastic space suits that have wheels all over them which allow you to kill yourself at 70mph by going face first into concrete. So what else did we talk about?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, we’ve got like 610,000 words in this article, without actually typing any words! Ain’t the internet the greatest? Take a peek at what we thought was the coolest stuff around on Thursday and then dive into our expanded gallery! Above: Some characters from Hotel Transylvania. We found these two weirdos wandering around the floor and had to say hi. The Mummy is looking pretty righteous!

Rorschach’s Journal: July 11th, 2012 The quaint maxim goes: getting there is half the fun. Disagreed. That is of course unless the other, equally fun portion is having your pancreas probed by a particularly dull ice pick. Human beings were not meant to fly, that privilege is reserved for birds and blue-hued supermistakes with obtrusive, perpetually exposed wangs. Airlines are bloated sloths feeding on necessity, and I found myself in its cold grip. I waited until nightfall, seeking to evade notice under the loving cover of darkness. Then, putting on my best disguise of normalcy, my face packed neatly in carry-on, I gritted my teeth through security and boarded the metal, winged sarcophagus; succumbing quickly to a rage nap. This moment of complacency was duly punished, I should have known better. Suddenly the plane bucked like a seasoned companion-for-hire and altered course. Explanations of pressurization malfunction were groaned over the intercom, but I was sure I had been found out. Had the influence of the laughable Keene Act finally asserted influence over the TSA? No parachute, would have to fight my way out of this one on the ground.

People like to talk a lot in absolutes and turn everything into a competition. Hence, you hear a lot of “what won Comic Con” in regards to what panel absolutely floored people, generally with the reveal of footage. I can tell you with great certainty that The Expendables 2 did not win San Diego Comic-Con, but it sure as hell was a fun panel. The panel started with the same trailer we’ve already seen – hey, you’ve got to tease the crowd a little bit first, you can’t just come right out and show them something new. This was quickly followed up with a Stallone highlight reel set to some blistering rock and roll, from Black Sabbath to The Rolling Stones, with clips covering Rocky, Rambo, Assassins, The Expendables, The Expendables 2, and Tango and Cash! With a sufficiently manly introduction, the rest of the cast was brought out – Terry Crews climbed the table and Arnold Schwarzenegger got his own rocking clip show that spanned from Conan the Barbarian to Predator, Terminator, and True Lies. But what about new Expendables 2 footage!?

What is Comic-Con News After Dark? It’s Movie News After Dark’s alter-ego. As the streets of San Diego fill with hordes of nerd-kind, your loyal nightly movie news column must slip into its costume and become the defender of the sick, the infirm and the unbathed. It’s movie news, but with more booth babes! We begin this evening’s first ever edition of Comic-Con News After Dark, or CCNAD, with a look at what it would be like If Comic Conventions Had Warning Signs, courtesy of the folks at College Humor. The one about the Cosplay First Aid Kit is particularly fun, as dressing up like your favorite superhero can sometimes lead to interesting injuries. For those wondering what exactly cosplay is, I’ve included an image just after the jump.

Well friends, San Diego Comic-Con is officially almost here. For all intents and purposes, the Con kicked off tonight with Preview Night, a once upon a time small gathering of people walking around the floor which has blossomed into SDCC Day 0 with tens of thousands of people storming the floor in search of collectibles, exclusives, and nerdy babes. I braved the floor to get a taste of what was being offered and this year seems a little bit subdued compared to years past. Films like Total Recall really busted their cherries last year, which takes some of the cool factor off of what they brought to the Con this year – basically another nifty car and some badass looking cops. What would it have been like for the newbie though? Glad you asked!

Part of the magic of Comic-Con is how you arrive with hundreds of dollars in your pocket and after walking around the floor, that pile of money has disappeared but you’ve collected several over-sized bags full of stuff you never even knew you wanted. I managed to exchange quite a bit of leafy green stuff into more tangible objects, obtaining a wide variety of cool stuff from tiny little Thors to to tiny little Batmen to the giant, potentially coolest thing at Comic-Con this year.

Arguably the biggest and best part of Comic-Con, the Exhibition Hall offers a mind-boggling 460,000 square feet of exhibition space, featuring all manner of items for sale to the ‘con-going masses, a true example of something for everyone (ball-jointed doll collectors, gather ’round!). Seeing everything is impossible (and so is buying everything ), but there are also tons of affordable (and adorable) items worth seeking out – stuff like Hooked Hands’ incredibly cute knit dolls. Hooked Hands’ own Giovanna Forsyth knits every doll herself, with an eye to crafting little knit cuties with a major pop culture bent. Hooked Hands is returning to the Giant Robot booth at Comic-Con this year, offering up a Hayao Miyazaki-inspired line that includes Totoros, Kikis, and Ponyos. The Hooked Hands Etsy shop also includes a ton of other geek-friendly dolls, including Yoda, Spock, Dr. Who, Batman, The Joker, Captain America, and even Fraggle Rock. Not finding exactly what you like? Feel free to shoot them an email to discuss your own individual creation, brought to life in glorious yarn! If you’re at Comic-Con and looking to pick up your very own Hooked Hands creation, be sure to get to the Giant Robot booth (#1729) post-haste, as the dolls sold out last year! Check out a closer look at some of the available items after the break.

Check out a preview of what the Rejects will be up to this year at the San Diego Comic-Con, beginning with SDCC virgin Brian Salisbury… Having never been to Comic-Con, in fact having never before set foot in the state of California, I can’t help but feel a tinge of trepidation as I pack for San Diego. Chief among these concerns was whether I’d even get an adequate feel of the Con on my first outing as I darted from roundtable to roundtable, from press screening to blogger party. Would I leave my first Comic Con with no legitimate understanding of what keeps people coming back year after year? It was then I decided that, as a noob, it was best to experience the convention as a fan and not an industry professional. I needed to separate these two factions of my personality, to make a clean break from the behind-the-scenes journalism aspect and the intrepid geeks who walk the floor without the benefit of credentials. That’s when the idea of wearing a mask came into the picture, to disguise myself and resist the temptation of professional perks. I will walk the floors, stand in lines for panels in the various halls, and talk geek shop with the other attendees; providing journal entries for each day. This seems doubly fitting given the amount of cosplay that I’ve heard takes place at Comic Con. I will blend in even under fantastical vestments. So what character would I choose? What hero, outlaw,

From the looks of it Django Unchained, Pacific Rim and Anything Marvel Does Forever are topping the list of the most anticipated movies hitting Comic-Con 2012. The question is, with 400 million (number estimated) other movie panels showing up in San Diego, how will you possibly see everything? And how can you see anything if you aren’t going to be there? Since the list of events is massive, we’ve teamed up with 14 other movie websites to make sure that every inch of the convention center is locked down. Consider this your portal, bookmark it, and return often to check out the full spectrum of coverage from ours and other fine sites. To get started, here’s a small look at what all of us are most excited to see.

Just as it did last year, this year’s Comic-Con will open with one heck of a bite – that’s the bite of rabid Twilight fans who are so undone by what they are watching on stage that their mouths just naturally fall open into a scream and then just naturally stay that way and then just (oops!) naturally bite into whomsoever is unlucky enough to be sitting by them. Natural, you know, like a nerdy teen falling in love with a sexy vampire. Be that as it may, Summit Entertainment has just announced that their The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 panel will be the opening panel of this year’s Comic-Con and the kick-off panel of the hallowed Hall H. Details are still scarce, but we do know that the panel will take place on Thursday, July 12 (duh) and that there will be “exclusive footage” of the final chapter (last year’s panel included showing two scenes from the film). We also don’t yet know which talent will be there, but it’s safe to assume that Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner will be around for the panel’s cast Q&A session. Feel free to check out the official release after the break and, San Diego, prep your eardrums accordingly.

It was pretty clear from the Prometheus Comic-Con footage that there are more ties to Alien than the film makers are letting on. Whether or not it deals with the Xenomorphs is still up in the air, but the look of the film clearly fits into that universe. Bleak, beautiful, and epic were all adjectives that came to mind while watching the brief footage. This is a pure sci-fi horror film. While it may be PG-13, and I’m betting it will be, that may not matter all that much. As writer Damon Lindelof says below, this is a film that relies heavily on atmosphere. The story also deals with the obvious: playing God. The title alone gives you a big hint as to what the film is about. The tale of Prometheus tells the story of man stealing fire from the Gods. Here, it’s about man searching for answers to questions they probably should not be looking for. Here’s what writer Damon Lindelof had to say about fusing his own sensibilities with Ridley’s, making a hopeful horror movie, and writing distinct women:

I wish I got this interview on video. Emile Hirsch was acting like he just came off a late night of drinking countless Red Bulls. The actor couldn’t have been more energetic and enthusiastic about everything he was saying. It threw me at times, for sure, but it was refreshing on some level. Here is a young actor that does not take himself seriously at all and that does not come off pretentious, at least that’s the impression I got. Hirsch was at Comic-Con promoting the under-the-radar alien-invasion film, The Darkest Hour. The film had no Hall H presence, but a press event was held at the pain-in-the-ass Hard Rock Hotel. The concept art I saw presented the film as an atmospheric and small invasion film set in Mother Russia. The aliens decided not to stop by Los Angeles or New York for the thousandth time. Here’s what Emile Hirsch had to say about the scope of the film, how it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and how Speed Racer was ahead of its time:

This may shock some of you dear readers, but this year I decided to skip the Breaking Dawn panel and instead went with the Rick Baker retrospective panel. Getting to hear Baker talk at great length aside, it was a fun surprise getting to see his work for Men in Black III because of how exciting the glimpses were. The retro aliens that Baker designed looked fantastic. Whether the movie works or not, his contributions will be more memorable entries in his speaks-for-itself body of work. We all know the current buzz and rumors regarding MIB: III, but as Baker says below, its production is simply the way you make movies now. What’s going on with that film isn’t drastically different from most tent-pole releases, even the good ones. Before the retrospective panel, I got a few minutes to chat with the make-up effects guru on the matter. Here’s what Rick Baker had to say about copying the greats as a kid, acting like a schoolboy with David Byrne, and the difficulty of working on modern blockbusters:

San Diego’s Comic-Con has come and gone once again with 2011 marking my fourth straight year of attendance. Living in Los Angeles, it’s easy for me to shoot down there for the weekend, but beyond that, I actually like Comic-Con, seemingly unlike the majority of my colleagues. It’s only been three days since the Con ended, which means the memories are still fresh and the bones still ache, so it’s a perfect time to pop some Advil and reflect on SDCC, on the good and on the bad. Without further words to flush out the introductory paragraphs on the homepage, I present to you Comic Con 2011: 10 Things I Liked, 5 I Didn’t.

The theatrics have almost all but gone from Comic-Con. Last year it was a genuine moment between a young fan and Ryan Reynolds delivering the Green Lantern Oath that brought down the house. This year’s biggest scene was more planned out, but it was nonetheless genuine. Before the Amazing Spider-Man panel in Hall H, a crazed fan dressed up as Spidey rushed the Q&A microphone and started raving about the comic books to great applause. Then he took off his mask. And there’s video.

Unlike Robert Fure, I’m excited for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Like Nathan Adams, I dislike — not hate — the first film and its Myster Science Theater-esque enjoyability. Understandably, there’s a lot skepticism towards this Ghost Rider installment. I mean, who wants to see a sequel to a film that very, very few people actually love? Not many. Lucky for them, this isn’t a sequel. The fact alone that this is a Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine “superhero” film already gives you a hint that this won’t be a run-of-the-mill action film. They’re out to deliver something dark, bizarre, and one of the few superhero films that doesn’t take itself too seriously. When directors has their lead pissing fire, the odds are something unique is getting made. Here a few things I learned about during the Comic-Con press conference that should make you excited about Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

On the final big movie day for Comic-Con, Cole, Robert and Jack had their sanity tested and almost passed. Proof of this came at the end of the night when all three ended up delirious in a fancy hotel room watching the Resident Evil movies. What on earth could cause anyone to watch those movies? Exactly. This year’s Con was subdued in a great way. The movie content suffered because of it (in terms of blockbusters and big moments) but it also triumphed because smaller films were able to have their day in the sun. Day One was full of great toys and strange Twilight moments, Day Two had R-rated pizza guys and a Spielbergian explosion, so what did Day Three have in store?