Sony pictures previewed "The Grudge" starring Sarah Michelle Gellar (who later did a Q & A), Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and a preview for the upcoming film "The Forgotten."
Sony Pictures Panel
Sony Pictures unveiled a few films to the genre hungry audience, with the majority of the time being dedicated to The Grudge. The film is a remake of an extremely popular Japanese horror film that deals with malevolent spirits who died in a state of rage, and thus are somewhat cranky in the afterlife. A body count follows. This films looks to be done right, largely because Takashi Shimizu who directed the Japanese film is also responsible for directing this film as well. The only difference is the inclusion of an American cast comprised of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Bill Pullman, and Jason Behr. Sam Raimi, no stranger to horror, is producing the film, and seems to be pulling double duty as editor.
The snippet of the film that was shown looks genuinely frightening. I wade my way through a fair bit of crap when it comes to horror films, hell I’ve seen the entirety of the Sorority House Massacre series. So I know bad horror films when I see them.
To begin with, this is not a slasher flick. This film shares far more in common with The Ring then it does with Halloween. The concepts are trying to be a little more grown up, and the ambience is all about creating authentic tension. I’m a fan of the original Japanese version, and have high hopes for his remake.
Sony then brought out Gellar and Behr to pimp the film to the comicon crowd even more. Nothing of any true significance was learned during the Q & A period. Highlights included one poor girl who asked Sarah if she would do anything else with “Josh Whieldon. I know he’s working on the Fantastic X-Men, so . . .” At that point, every fanboy’s head in the room (including mine) promptly exploded.
When asked about a possible Buffy movie, Gellar was definitely wary. “I don’t know if everyone realizes this, but there was already a Buffy movie.” One of the reasons that film failed, Gellar believes, is that Buffy is a story that needs to play out on a larger scale of time then two hours. There are too many characters who could get short changed in the movie. “I would hate to do a Buffy movie,” Sarah added, “and not have Xander or another character get their fare share of time.” If the right script came along though, Sarah said she would be up for the movie.
After The Grudge, they brought Sienna Guillory who is playing the role of Jill Valentine in Resident Evil: Apocalypse. They showed a small trailer which looked highly entertaining, if even more unrealistic then the first film, and then presented the five fan posters remaining in their contest. You have to go to the official Resident Evil: Apocalypse web site (http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/residentevilapocalypse/postercontest/vote/) to vote for which fan poster becomes the official film poster.
Sony concluded with a short trailer for the film “The Forgotten” featuring Julianne Moore. This looks like another thriller, this one involving secret conspiracies and mind control over children, but I can’t say I was totally blow away either. With that, Sony concluded its presentation.
