In Contention

Tag: Pacific Rim

  • Hollywood’s new obsession: robots

    Trends are hardly new in Hollywood, but I can’t help but react to the escalation of robot-themed projects in the works as of late, all of them, no doubt, looking to cash in on the multi-billion-dollar “Transformers” franchise.

    First there is the Hugh Jackman-starrer “Real Steel” later this year. Then, whenever he decides to get around to it, Steven Spielberg will dive into the adaptation “Robopocalypse.” An adaptation Daniel Wilson’s book “How to Survive a Robot Uprising” is also in the cards (which would dovetail nicely with a take on the Max Brooks classic “The Zombie Survival Guide”).

    Yesterday a reboot of “Short Circuit” was announced, and today, /Film reports that “Monsters” director Gareth Edwards is working on an untitled project “about a young human child (probably around 5 years old) and a robot who travel across the galaxy in search of mankind’s origin in a world void of humanity and filled with robots.” The director is apparently pitching the project as “a robot Star Wars.” Well, that’ll certainly get the suits listening.

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  • Another year, another Con…

    …and a thinner Con, at that.

    There was very little on the convention schedule that grabbed my attention when it was released last week. I’ll be on hand for the Fox panel tomorrow, hoping to get some good vibes from Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus.” I’ll be there for Paramount and Steven Spielberg on Friday when we all get a glimpse of “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.” I’ll definitely be on hand for Francis Ford Coppola’s first appearance here on Saturday when he brings a slice of “Twixt,” and, of course, I’ll saddle up to the Entertainment Weekly “Visionaries” panel, this year featuring Jon Favreau and Guillermo Del Toro.

    Speaking of Del Toro, I’m intrigued by “Pacific Rim” enough to poke into the Legendary Pictures panel (which won’t be in Hall H, interestingly enough). I also feel the need to check out the “Beavis and Butt-Head” event (as the terrible twosome will be back on MTV later this year and I am, I must confess, a die-hard). Maybe I’ll make it to Relativity’s “Immortals” event, maybe I’ll head to the Hilton Bayfront tomorrow morning for a focus on makeup artist Rick Baker, but I’ve literally just given you my role call of interests this year, easily half the amount of events on my list in years past.

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