Hollywood studios are planning to create their own Comic-Con style event in London. The unnamed British film festival has the support of Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Marvel Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, and more. Cowboys and Aliens, which stars British actor Daniel Craig, will kick off the August festival. Fright Night, with Irish Colin Farrell and Scottish David Tennant, will close it.
UK cinefiles attending the festival will have the chance to see Q+A sessions with directors, pick up swag, and watch sneak peeks of upcoming films like Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The festival will also include screenings of upcoming films The Change-Up, Conan The Barbarian 3D, and The Help (which doesn’t strike me as a particularly Comic-Con-appropriate pick, but maybe the Brits have mainstream flick-lit cosplayers or something.) Comic book writer Mark Millar, creator of Kick-Ass, is confirmed as a guest, as well as Real Steel director Shawn Levy.
It seems like the festival will really highlight the unsung heroes of Hollywood, the Brits. Without British people, who would we get to play our sneering villains, our southern vampires, our cowboys? I think it’s about time that Hollywood gave something back to the UK, even if it is in the form of disposable Con swag.
Sources: THR, Wharf.co.uk
