Comic-Con begins today!
The 2010 version of Comic-Con starts in San Diego today. For those of you perhaps unfamiliar with the event, here is an article at TheWrap that provides some perspective:
Some things really do get better with age.
There’s Scotch, Hillary Clinton and, 40 years after it first modestly opened its doors in San Diego, Comic-Con.
Comic-Con has become the Cannes of blockbusters.
The article list 5 reasons why Comic-Con is so important. Here’s the single biggest one:
1. THE STAKES
Do the math — the studios do. Comic-Con is where the movies that keep the lights on and the flames burning for Hollywood see their first light of day. Mainlining the tip of their target market iceberg, the studios and stars have learned that good buzz from the fanboys at Comic-Con can translate into stellar box office down the line.
Last year, James Cameron talked up “Avatar,” Robert Downey Jr. and director Jon Faverau previewed “Iron Man 2,” “Twilight Saga: New Moon” revealed its fangs and Tim Burton and Johnny Depp hyped “Alice in Wonderland.”
Those four movies have made over $1,690,737,928 domestically and $5,079,845,630 worldwide. Was it all thanks to Comic-Con? Of course not, but Comic-Con certainly fueled the fire — and that flame, to put it mildly, burned very bright.
$5B. That’s a lot of money. And Hwood teased, talked about, and hyped the above movies big time at Comic-Con last year. The studios know how important the event is at helping to build buzz.
I invite any GITS followers who are taking in Comic-Con this year to post your thoughts and reactions in comments. If you’re there and not sure what sessions to attend, I went through the daily schedule last week to highlight writer-oriented events. You can check them out here:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Other articles about Comic-Con:
No Calm Before the Comic-Con Storm (Arts Beat / NYT)
COMIC-CON 2010: Is Brad Pitt in the building? Will Ferrell hints that he is. (Hero Complex / LAT)
Comic-Con party planner (Heat Vision / THR)