Like a monster from the sea, PACIFIC RIM waded out of the sea and crushed the fans of the San Diego Comic Con.

Judging from the internet reaction, the Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures presentation at Hall H on Saturday was a big success.  Fans and media were treated to clips of giant robots and monsters duking it out in an impressive media presentation.  The enthusiastic attendees took to twitter and blogs, sharing their reaction with fans not lucky enough to be among the capacity crowd.  Some of my favorite tweets from yesterday:

@slashfilm: Someone was crazy enough to gave Guillermo hundreds of millions of dollars to play with, and we’re all invited to the toy box

@devincf: Literally choked up with awe and wonder and excitement from the PACIFIC RIM footage. Huge, thrilling

@firstshowing: Gigantic, I mean GIANT robots vs monsters, it looks so so so huge, so badass, holy sh*t wait until see you this stuff yourself.

I would venture to guess that Legendary has a big hit on their hands, and to include it with the likes of THE HOBBIT and SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL, which also presented, is saying big things about their expectations.

Here are some other quotes of interest, pulled from the online media reports:

Hollywood Reporter

With his Mexican accent, his eloquent profanity, and his ability to speak geek, del Toro talked of the creative process behind the movie, in which he combined his drive to make the film’s destruction as real as possible, while also retaining heart.

“No f—ing motion capture,” he exclaimed of his choice to eschew that technique to convey the Jaegers. “I don’t want the robots moving like human beings. They need to move like a shock absorber and gears move.”He also described how the production had the soundstages rigged so that sidewalks, cars, and streets actually crumbled and shook when filming monsters stalking cities.

USA Today

There are around seven different robots in the movie, del Toro said, and nine monsters, or Kaiju. His team designed 40 different monsters, “and we did an American Idol on them. The better Kaiju are the ones in the movie.

“Everybody was a fan of monsters and robots,” he added, “and we locked ourselves in adjacent rooms and played.”

To make the creatures seem more real, del Toro is putting them in elements like rain and mud, and they’ll each have different personalities and abilities. (Footage showed one shark-looking beastie getting a smackdown courtesy of a Jaeger.)

“Sea monsters, flying monsters — we have monsters out the wazoo,” del Toro said.

“When you get a big budget, you can get crazy or lazy. And I got as crazy as I could. We used madness as our fuel to make this movie.”

We also got a sneak peak into what Ron Perlman’s character will be like in PACIFIC RIM – a black market dealer named “Hannibal Chow”, specializing in delivering kaiju parts for consumption by the rich element of society (think of it like witch doctor medicine).  Sounds as if he and Charlie Day’s character, Dr. New Gotlieb, will have some comic run-ins.

You can check out IGN’s report on PACIFIC RIM below:

Also, here is an SDCC interview I found with GDT from ComicVineVideos:

Here is GDT talking about PACIFIC RIM to the Hollywood Reporter prior to SDCC:

PACIFIC RIM Pilot Suits

On the floor of the Comic Con, you could find the Jaeger pilot suit costumes.  The dark suit out front is suit you will see Charlie Hunnam wearing.  Each Jaeger is controlled by two pilots – one controlling the left side of the mech, and the other controlling the right.

PACIFIC RIM Buttons

Also check out these cool PAC RIM buttons that were given away at the Warner Brothers booth.

HELLBOY 3?

And in a surprise SDCC announcement, GDT and Ron Perlman said they would BOTH be up for HELLBOY 3 if they could get it financed.  The catalyst for this announcement was Ron’s recent appearance as HELLBOY for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  See GDT and Ron Perlman talking about the possible reunion on EW’s site.

Guillermo del Toro on the set of "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" with Bailee Madison. (Carolyn Johns / Miramax Film Corp.)

 Lots of interesting news and notes surfaced over the weekend, following the premiere of DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK at the LA Film Festival.  Check out all that I found below:

• The early reviews for DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK appear to be positive, with most agreeing that the film plays like a dark fairy tale similar to PAN’S LABYRINTH.  That makes sense, since Guillermo says that was the very reason he chose not to direct the film: GDT told the LA Times,  ’”The instincts I have for the material would be the same instincts I had for ‘Pan’s.’ I tried to avoid that.” 
• Here are a couple of reviews currently posted online from Screen Junkies (“entertaining and creative”) and Dread Central (‘expertly paced Gothic chiller’)
• ShockTillYouDrop has a nice photo gallery of images for DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK here.
• GDT served as guest director of the LA Film Festival, selecting the obscure Italian 1996 horror film “L’Arcano Incantatore” (“The Arcane Enchanter”). GDT told the LA Times that he stumped Quinton Tarantino with that film in a ‘name-that-movie’ contest: 

“We were like dueling banjos,” Del Toro said. “I said, ‘I bet you I can name a movie you haven’t seen.’ He went, ‘Shoot.’ This is the movie I trumped him with. I think that if Quentin hasn’t seen it, then 99% of cinema lovers have not seen it because Quentin is like a machine. This is one of my favorite unknown movies ever. This is a really beautiful, incredibly eerie, spiritual fantastic horror movie.”

• Deadline Hollywood reported that their was some “drama” during the DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK premiere.  An hour into the film, the theater was evacuated for an “emergency in the building”…a false alarm.  GDT joked to Film District’s Bob Berney that the prank was probably the “dirty work of Bob Weinstein and the MPAA.”
• ComingSoon.net got a chance to ask Charlie Day about the possiblity of working with Del Toro, here are some quotes passed along from ShockTillYouDrop: 

 

Shock: You just signed on for a tour of the Pacific Rim…

Charlie Day: I’m not officially signed on so I’ve been told to dodge around answering questions, but I’ve definitely been having conversations with them about it. I’d hate to say I’d like to sign on because I don’t want them to low-ball me [laughs] but hopefully that’ll all work out.

 

Shock: What was it like meeting the master, Guillermo del Toro?

Day: I was very thrilled to find out he’d seen every single episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. That’s why we were meeting. Because Pan’s Labyrinth is up there as one of the greatest movies ever made.

 

Shock: He’s such a personality. He’s read every book, he’s seen every movie. If you were to sign on would you have a “Monster Approval” clause in your contract?

Day: [laughs] I will not be given monster approval, but when it comes to Guillermo you let him do all the approving.

 

Shock: Well I hope you can land it because it sounds like an awesome frickin’ project.

Day: I hope so too.

 

In a July 2010 interview at the Saturn Awards, Guillermo mentioned that he was having his brother build him a replica of THE CAR – a murderous vehicle in a 1977 James Brolin horror film. 

Billed as “Jaws” on wheels, the film follows a police captain’s (Brolin) investigation into a series of hit and run incidents, caused by a supernaturally driven killer automobile.  Although panned by critics, the film has a cult following.  I have not seen it, but can only imagine it might fall in the “so bad it’s good” category.

Guillermo sent us some pictures of his new pimped-out ride. He will be cruising in it this week!

StitchKingdom has posted a picture from DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK – here it is! Check out the crazy painting in the background.

DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK is slated to open nationwide on January 21, 2011

  

The news is starting to ramp up out of SDCC, and the first scoop comes from CHUD, who has posted the exclusive SDCC teaser poster from DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (click below to download!).

Also, CHUD has posted a nice interview with directory Troy Nixey and Guillermo Del Toro.

Of particular interest from the interview is Nixey’s story of how he got the directing job:

Guillermo was familiar with my comic book work with Mike Mignola so when I sent him an image from my short to his public email address he responded back immediately with some very encouraging words. I was still working on the short when you came to Vancouver for a set visit. We hit it off immedately. I showed you the work in progress, you liked it and then proceeded to harass me until it was completed. Guillermo was in prep on HBII at the time so you ripped it, put it up on an FTP site and made him watch it. I still remember the day you forwarded me his email, saying that he really liked it and then called a few minutes later to tell me he wanted to talk. The phone call with Guillermo was a little surreal, here I was talking to one of my all time favorite directors and not only did he really enjoy my short but he offered me the directing job. I remember hanging up and looking around for someone to tell but I was standing in the middle of the financial district in Vancouver during lunch looking at a bunch of people in suits eating salads, they wouldn’t have appreciated the situation. Haha.

    

We have another new JULIA’S EYES poster for you, delivered by one of our spies. (Yes, we have spies now! Cool, eh?)

Anyway, this little poster was created for DeaPlaneta for Cannes 2010. Enjoy.

  

Once again our pal Gary was able to score a trip to the SPLICE premiere in Los Angeles. His hook: “This film will make you feel uncomfortable…heeby jeeby uncomfortable.” Read his full review on his Dark Recess blog!

Some other tidbits:
I found pictures from the premiere at the Central Wisconsin Hub website

SPLICE is getting 61% on the Tomato Meter at Rotten Tomatoes right now.

Some notable quotables from Critics:
“The film, much of which takes place in laboratories or at the couple’s isolated farmhouse, doesn’t deliver “the usual.” I was fine with that — grateful, in fact. A little queasy in the stomach, but grateful.”
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

“The script blends human psychology with scientific speculation and has genuine interest until it goes on autopilot with one of the chase scenes Hollywood now permits few films to end without.”
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“Director Vincenzo Natali, working with producer Guillermo del Toro, achieves a second-rate — Canadian — tone that recalls Gothika and David Cronenberg

Some new SPLICE posters are making the rounds. Download them by clicking on the images below:

    

DELTOROFILMS has an exclusive look a the new JULIA’S EYES poster! Download it in PDF format here.

For those who can’t translate the Spanish language, it reads “THE EYES OF JULIA: a new thriller from the producers of THE ORPHANAGE.”