Twilight, City of Ember Promise Big Things for Comic Con

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 13, 2008

It appears that we are not the only ones getting geared up for Comic Con next month in San Diego, as studios have begun announcing some of their marketing plans for the event, which will see over 120,000 popular arts geeks descend on sunny San Diego for a weekend of stars, comics and rising credit card debt. And just like last year, the Film School Rejects will be running all over the San Diego Convention Center, providing the web’s best coverage of the event for all of you who will be staying home — so keep it locked right here, people, we have this situation under control.

One stop on our tour de coverage of the SDCC ‘08 will be with Walden Media and their special City of Ember train that they are creating for the event. They announced this week that they will be recreating the mythical city depicted in the film on a private two-car train that will transport 25 members of the media on a 2.5 hour journey to the convention’s San Diego locale. Fox Walden has hired special set decorators to style the 1949 Pullman Rail Car, which will be full of props and costumed from the film.

“Design really matters on this movie,” said director Gil Kenan, whose 2006 directorial debut Monster House was both a critical and box office success. ”The look of this train was chosen very carefully, and it lines up aesthetically with the look of the film. It broadens the experience of the movie. It’s about turning the world depicted in the film into something fully dimensional.” Kenan will be on the train ride, along with screenwriter Caroline Thompson and producer Gary Goetzman. An additional railcar will be equipped to screen 15 minutes of exclusive footage of the film, so keep an eye out for that if you are going to be in San Diego that weekend.

Also, we received word this morning from Summit Entertainment that they will be bringing the entire cast of their upcoming film Twilight to the Con. On Thursday, July 24th they will be holding a very special Twilight panel (probably in the mammoth Hall H). The panel will be followed by appearances by the cast for autographs and we can only assume that some footage of the film will be shown. Tentatively scheduled to appear are director Catherine Hardwicke along with stars Kristen Stewart (Bella), Robert Pattinson (Edward), Cam Gigandet (James), Rachelle LaFevre (Victoria), Edi Gathegi (Laurent) and Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black). As well, “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer will be on hand, as well.

Now if that isn’t exciting enough — and we know that for all of the Twilighters out there, it certainly is more than enough — there will also be a Summit Entertainment booth, which promises to have all sorts of Twilight-related surprises throughout the weekend.

We will certainly be sending our own resident Twilighter Cole Abaius to check out the panel as well as try to score some time with the filmmakers and cast, not only because he recently (and very publicly) became a fan of “Twilight”, but also because he is desperately in need of a date — we are looking at you, Twilight Moms.

For more updates on Twilight, be sure to head over to TwilightTheMovie.com. As for more on Comic Con, you can keep it right here on Film School Rejects, as we will be bringing you industry-leading coverage before, during and after the event, which takes place July 24-27 in San Diego, California. For Comic Con ticketing information, just head over to the Official Comic Con Website. 

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