Every year, Comic-Con International: San Diego has become increasingly important to movie studios looking to promote their splashy new genre features. Except maybe this year.
According to The New York Times, Warner Bros., Disney, DreamWorks and The Weinstein Company are all skipping Comic-Con this year, at least as far as major presentations go. The article states that even Marvel Studios is “on the fence” about their level of involvement, despite The Avengers coming in 2012. (And yes, that would presumably mean no Dark Knight Rises panel, but there wasn’t one for The Dark Knight, and that movie seemed to do OK.)
To borrow a phrase from Norm Macdonald — what the H? The article (while making the customary Ewok cosplay jokes) describes Comic-Con as a “treacherous place” for movie studios. Two main reasons: while good buzz always help, bad buzz from Comic-Con can irrevocably tarnish a product in the early going. Plus, promoting at Comic-Con is expensive, with the article citing the example of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World — a critically acclaimed and beloved by fans film that had a huge presence at San Diego last year, and nonetheless ended up earning $31.5 million domestically off of a $60m production budget.
Of course, there will be solid studio representation this year — Sony and The Amazing Spider-Man, 20th Century Fox and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Universal and Cowboys & Aliens, and in what folks are surely already either lamenting or rejoicing, Summit and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1. So it’s not like Hall H is going to be a ghost town, and given where the event falls in the calendar, it’s still a definite priority for TV networks. But is Comic-Con’s exponential growth and influence starting to taper off a bit? Probably not a question that can accurately be answered for years — certainly it’s a hotter-than-ever prospect in terms of attendance — but will be interesting to see how things play out in the future.
June 13th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Does this mean SDCC will focus on comics again?
June 13th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
I agree with Benkins. It is almost like just skip comics and make it about something eles.
June 13th, 2011 at 2:44 pm
I REALLY REALLY hope they do the Twilight panel first thing on Thursday so they don’t have a bunch of Twitards camping out all day and clogging up Hall H for panels they no doubt won’t give a damn about.
June 13th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Re: Benkins and Rod Lee.
SDCC is and has always been about comics. Just because CNN Yahoo et al don’t give you comics panel news, doesn’t mean that there aren’t amazing unique comic centric presentations that ONLY happen at SDCC.
The people who say otherwise either didn’t attend, or weren’t smart enough to read the program and attend the panels.
From Thursday to Sunday there were over 12 panels (one hour each) each day on comic strips, comics history, digital and web comics, golden silver bronze age,and present day creators, comic art seminars by top creators, spotlights on specific creators, publisher presentations, comics criticisim, etc. That’s not including the movie or TV tie-in ones.
Comic Con is whatever the attendee wants it to be.
June 13th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
Well we should be able to enjoy the con this year without the media coming and taking our seats.
They’ve got no reason to go this year.
June 13th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
“The people who say otherwise either didn’t attend, or weren’t smart enough to read the program and attend the panels.”
And what about the floor, which is dominated not by comics, but movie studios (such as WB), toy/collectibles manufacturers (Gentle Giant), or general whatever (Lucas/Star Wars, Sci-Fi/Syfy)?
June 13th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
maybe they should stop blaming SDCC for their failures and learn how to promote their product OUTSIDE of SDCC properly. I can’t tell you how many people saw the Scott vs the world ads on TV and thought how stupid it looked. Look at the crap that happened with Green Lantern last year. Everyone kept saying that the SFX looked weak. If you can’t show it yet dont, it’s that simple
June 13th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
funny how WB and Disney are parent companies to the 2 biggest publishers yet won’t be there.
of course, i think that’s a great move, if it lets comicon return to being about comics. let’s face it, it had become more of a trade show where comic creators went just to try to get jobs or sell properties to the movie industry, and the fans were just there to observe and buy tickets. i had been thinking it would either need to free itself from the movie studios, or else it would industry-only like E3. glad to see it wasn’t the latter.
June 13th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
Khan Manka, Jr. gave one of the great keynote addresses at last year’s Comic-Con – and basically said the studios should and would be backing out. Studios just don’t have the power they think they do over the mindset of fans.
http://mankabros.com/blogs/chairman/2010/07/21/khan-manka-jr-comic-con-2010-keynote-address/
June 13th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Comic Con needs to kick out Hollywood to the curve. Way too many people that belong there just go there to try to be famous. Case in point YouTube vloggers that are not fans and just want money. Comic Con belongs to the comic book geeks like me and others. Personally, I’m glad Comic Con stays in San Diego. As a Los Angeles resident I would never want the Comic Con experience in this ghetto city and high crime. SD is always a better city.
June 13th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
I agree with John. Me and my roommate went last year and had two almost completely seperate and different experiences. She loved the tv and movie panels of Hall H and didn’t mind standing in line for them and had a great time. I love comics and went to lots of panels and walked the floor and had a great time. Yes there is a large presence on the floor from movies like Thor and collectable toys and such, but honestly how many comic booths do you think they would be able to fit in there? If they just made it official and called it Geekcon or Mediacon would it make you feel better? Something For Everyone Con seems to fit because I did not see too many people not having a good time and I expect to have an equally good one this year… even if they did screw up my ticket ordering and I have to pick up my day passes every day instead of my week pass… jerks…
June 13th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Really? Whining that comics have brought in interest from other media at SDCC is a bit silly. there are still plenty of exhibitors, comics talent and panels and a lot of independents comic companies that are getting exposure, if it’s just by the masses walking past them.
.
So why keep hating on Hollywood for daring to show us projects on characters we love or related stuff we might like. How is that hurting anyone?
June 13th, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Good, its not like it made a difference anyway. How many movies got their big premier at this con and then bombed horribly. I means nothing. The con gives you a temporary boost in the press some temporary hype that fades quickly. Waste of Money for Studios and waste of time for fans and just gives the bitch masters more to bitch about. About time Skip it next year and the year after that. stick to the internet and to the traditional press.
June 13th, 2011 at 6:14 pm
Good, its not like it made a difference anyway. How many movies got their big premier at this con and then bombed horribly. It means nothing. The con gives you a temporary boost in the press some temporary hype that fades quickly. Waste of Money for Studios and waste of time for fans and just gives the bitch masters more to bitch about. About time Skip it next year and the year after that. stick to the internet and to the traditional press.
June 13th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Jerome’s right. Comic-Con has TONS of comic stuff, and you’ll see publishers and creators there that don’t make it to other shows.
June 13th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Finally! The San Diego Comic Con can be more about comics. And hopefully this means Artists Alley get more attention instead of shrinking into the corner like last year.
June 13th, 2011 at 11:00 pm
“And what about the floor, which is dominated not by comics, but movie studios (such as WB), toy/collectibles manufacturers (Gentle Giant), or general whatever (Lucas/Star Wars, Sci-Fi/Syfy)?”
what about them? they share the floor with gigantic publisher booths and the one end of the main floor that has artists alley.
just like they share the panel schedule. plus there’s the amazing comic art displays in the gigantic sails room.
really it’s foolish to suggest that comics are invisible at Comic Con.
June 14th, 2011 at 9:08 am
No one suggested comics are invisible at the Con. It is always sad when people twist things. Even comic pros have said the con could be more about comics. Since you know it is suppose to be a comic con. And no not everyone can make it to the con. Twilight will not bring more interest to comics. Reporters talking to actors of various t.v. shows that have nothing to do with comics do not help comics or promote comics. Why not have Victoria Secret come in promote their products if anything goes? You might like that.
June 14th, 2011 at 9:23 am
I agree Suintres, SDCC is whatever you make of it. If you want to stand in line for hours to get into Hall H (which I did several times last year) you can and your wait time will pay off big time. I have gone to movies I didn’t know about before SDCC after I saw in the Hall H panels (ex. Let Me In, Grindhouse). Its not like one just goes into Hall H watches the presentation and keeps quiet about it. You tell your friends and post on Facebook about these movies. The studios are foolish to skip SDCC.
Any attendee can make SDCC a comics show if you want to. I’ve always bought tons of comics and art at the show.
However it would be helpful if the artists were, y’know, actually at their tables in Artist’s Alley. If I have a choice between waiting about until God knows how long for artist X to show up to tell me his commission list is full or going to stand in line for the 1:00 Hall H panel and see Angelina Jolie, I’m going to pick Angelina.
June 14th, 2011 at 11:25 am
I wouldn’t be too hard on the studios/networks (promotion’s promotion), yet there was definitely the fear of them turning comic book conventions (not just SDCC) into just stricly media events.
The thing is NOT EVERY MOVIEGOER’S A FANBOY, and since the dark days of Frederic Wertham (***hole), the comic book industry has had a lousy time promoting themselves.
June 14th, 2011 at 11:56 am
“they share the floor with gigantic publisher booths and the one end of the main floor that has artists alley.”
No, this isn’t sharing. It’s dominating. Yes, the comic publishers deserve the big ‘booths’. However, the last time I was at SDCC, Marvel didn’t really care about the comics, it was all about promoting the movies.
And why anybody would think WB needs one of the biggest booths in the floor just to promote non-comic book movies is beyond me.
Does anybody really need a full-size semi painted up to promote Transformers? Imagine what could be done with that space instead if it were given to *gasp* publishers!
June 14th, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Here is a revolutionary idea, if they don’t want bad publicity then why don’t they make decent movies for once
June 14th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
“Does this mean SDCC will focus on comics again?”
With over 120 comic retailers onsite, did you not think it focused on comics? Do you attend comic panels, or do you camp outside of Hall H?
“media coming and taking our seats”
Really, when did that happen. Media have to wait in line just like everyone else. What other problems are you blaming the media for? Lack of Pepsi at the concession stand?
“maybe they should stop blaming SDCC for their failures ”
Here, here! Suckerpunch was a crap movie. No amount of CCI promotion could put lipstick on that pig.
“Comic Con needs to kick out Hollywood to the curve….Comic Con belongs to the comic book geeks”
I hate to bust your bubble, but CCI has always had Hollywood there. The first official comic-con had a film panel. Three years later, a little known company called Lucasfilm had a booth about a film called Star Wars. If CCI took your advice, we wouldn’t be talking about Comic-Con cause it would just have a few thousand attending.
“they don’t want bad publicity then why don’t they make decent movies for once”
exactly, you can’t blame fanboys and fangirls on not liking your crappy product. Funny, movies like Avatar got their first buzz from CCI. Why? Cause it was a good film. The NY Times article had one thing right — because CCI is in July, it is really useless for summer films for this year. However, its great for TV shows. Wondercon should be the movie heavy and Comic-Con tv heavy.
June 14th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
Here is proof this rumor is BS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ACG873NQ3Y
June 15th, 2011 at 9:11 am
I like to watch coverage of SDCC on G4 and check out the general news coverage of the event. The same thing happens year after year. The stars of the movies and television shows are interviewed; some people dressed up in costume are made fun of unsuspectedly; and a few comic book creators are featured.
I don’t care about the movies or costumes or tv shows. I can get info about those forms of entertainment from an infinite amount of other outlets. This convention should focus on 90% of comics and 10% other. It is call comic con, not movie con, not movie star con. Given me indie creator news, Marvel news, and DC news.
June 15th, 2011 at 11:18 am
“bad buzz from Comic-Con can irrevocably tarnish a product in the early going”
Translation: We can’t make good movies and if we go to SDCC everyone finds out the movies are bad BEFORE they pay on opening weekend! Waah! Waah!
Welcome back to SDCC true believers! Excelsior!