“Tentpoles, newbies out at Comic-Con”

The Hollywood Reporter offers this early analysis of the the 40th edition of Comic-Con. What caught my eye was this:

But in a departure from recent years, new properties also caught fire during the weekend.

Most notably, “District 9,” a human-vs.-alien action movie based on an original idea that Peter Jackson produced and godfathered, was among the breakouts of the film presentations. Despite no stars, an obscure title and a $30 million budget, the pic, which will be released in August, generated strong buzz — first among media during a private screening and then among fans at a Jackson-led panel.

That the movie enjoyed such success at Comic-Con underscored another emerging film trend: studios’ increased willingness to bring pics that will be released within the next few months, and hesitancy to bring next summer’s films.

Outside of “Iron Man 2,” all the big film titles will be out in this year, a list that includes “District 9” as well as November-December pics “Sherlock Holmes,” “Avatar” and “2012.”

Meanwhile, several other movies illustrated a new trend at Comic-Con: Movies without distribution in place using the event to build buzz and gain attention as if it were a bona fide film festival. “Kick-Ass,” Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of a Mark Millar comic with Nicolas Cage in the cast, “Solomon Kane,” starring James Purefoy, and Joe Dante’s 3D horror movie “The Hole” were among the projects hitting the cavernous Hall H in hopes that love from the geek crowd would translate into love from distributors.

The phenomenon of “pre-branded” movies continues. But there are still movies being made without a pre-existing version (i.e., book, graphic novel, movie) and even without distribution deals in place. Using Comic-Con to stir up interest? As Matthew Vaughan said of “Kick-Ass” to the Comic-Con throngs, “If you all give us the thumbs up, we might get distribution. Thumbs down, we’re fucked.”

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