Hot Topics from the NYCC

NYCC – That’s New York Comic Con for those of you unfamiliar with the DTF parlance. If you’re going to party in the Labyrinth, you gotta drink the Kool-Aid.

If you read the full report at DelToroFilms.com, then you are already familiar with the hot topics that got stirred up in GDT world. (It’s his world, we’re just living in it….and buying $4.00 popcorn). Everybody has an opinion – especially me – but I’m just more informed than most people. That doesn’t make my opinions more valid, it just means I spend too much time on the internet googling “Hellboy 2”.

So anyway, let’s get on it, shall we? It’s been more than a week since my last blog entry, and frankly, I’m anxious to get to talking Big Red…

This is the “trailer” that GDT showed at NYCC. It is a full minute longer than the theatrical trailer, but it has a lot of incomplete VFX. For this reason, you likely won’t see it again. But the word on the street is that there was some Johann footage, including some hard-core ectoplasmic action (easy fan-fic folks). But the real news is that GDT confirmed that Family Guy‘s Seth McFarlane is voicing Johanne. So before you comic purists go crazy thinking the bubble-head is going to be giggling like Peter Griffin and fighting giant chickens, GDT has defended his choice saying that Seth is a remarkable talent and speaks fluent German. That’s good enough for me. You can’t deny that Seth’s voice work is considerable, even if it is more on the comic side. To me, this is like casting Kelsey Grammar as Beast in X3. The casting is so intriguing that you can’t wait to see how it works out on the screen, even if you think the actor is all wrong. That controversy raises the level of interest in a film – at least to movie nuts who blog about such things. Ahem. (Incidentally, I thought Grammar was great).

GDT has been dropping hints about how The Hobbit is VERY close to being a done deal. That means, if HB2 is a smash, and Universal greenlights a sequel, we may not see it for 5 or 6 years. Ron Perlman will be I think 8o years old by then…wait a minute (checks Wikipedia)…nope, he’ll be around 63 or 64. Same difference – either way he’ll be eligible for the Senior special at Denny’s. (Ron – if you’re out there, I’m just kidding. I like to chide old people. They get so cute when they’re angry. Like nippy, gray-haired dauchsands).

I think GDT wants to direct HB-cubed himself, but 5 or 6 years is a long time to wait. My gut feeling? Ron is tough and will stick it out. HB2 will do above average at the box office, gangbusters on DVD, GDT will finish the Hobbit, and Universal will bankroll HB3 next on a similar budget as HB2 and rake in more cash. HB3 will be a “sound investment” for Universal, and GDT’s best option as he tries and tries to get ATMOM financed.

HETFET, as we now know, stands for Humans for the Ethical Treatment of Faeres, Elves and Trolls. These viral HB2 sites are blowing up! Start at http://www.hetfet.org/ and navigate your way around the web. There is some clever stuff out there, and some mysteries and riddles (check out http://www.thesecretdevice.com/). Sometime soon I’d like to outline what can be learned from these sites, so we’ll see if I can squeeze in another post on this topic soon. GDT seems to be enjoying the joke – as he was recently seen at a HETFET protest rally (picture from Comics2Film).

I wish I had a chance to attend NYCC – sadly, my budget is limited to going to LA this year for the fan screening. I hope to see many faithful DTF fans/Labyrinth readers at the shindig.