[Update: Check out video of the panel!]
Director Jon Favreau is something of a legend at Comic-Con for his work in bringing Iron Man to the big screen. Tonight, Favreau stopped by Hall H to talk about his new film Cowboys & Aliens. The movie, which is based on a graphic novel stars Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford and is about “a lone cowboy who leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world.”
Follow along as we live blog the Cowboys & Aliens panel.
Panel
- Jon Favreau got things started by coming out and thanking the audience for their support of the Iron Man films. Then he called on several special guests to come on stage. To huge applause from the audience, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Bob Orci, and Alex Kutrzman took the stage.
- Then, in the best surprise of the night, Harrison Ford showed up for his first appearance in Comic-Con history. The applause for Harrison Ford lasted for a good five minutes.
- Daniel Craig was asked about when the next James Bond movie might come out. Obviously, given MGM’s woes, he didn’t know but he said he wants it to get started as fast as possible.
- Jon Favreau talked about mixing a traditional John Ford-style western with the kind of alien movies from his youth. Rather than describing it further, he decided to show some rough footage.
UPDATE: Check this video of Favreau working the crowd at the Cowboys & Aliens panel:
Footage
They have only been shooting the film for four weeks, but Favreau gave the crowd a huge sneak peek at the film. You heard it here first -- this movie looks awesome! The footage had a very traditional western feel, but viewed through the lens of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Early in the footage, we see Daniel Craig’s character cleaning up a wound on his stomach. He has a strange bracelet that doesn’t fit the rest of his wardrobe. Later, Craig’s character is put in jail by the local sheriff. The sheriff and his crew lead him out to a stagecoach to be taken away for trial.
Harrison Ford’s character rode into the scene to free his son, who was also a prisoner, and to barter for Craig’s character. He claims Craig stole from him and he’s no good “hanging at the end of a rope.” Like I said, it’s all a very traditional Western style. Then, the footage took a sharp turn into sci-fi.
In the distance, the townspeople observe a cluster of lights in the sky. They get closer and closer, drawing everyone into the street, when suddenly they appear right above the town. A group of spaceships begin blowing up the town in a massive attack. Craig’s character escapes from the stage coach and begins to fight back against the aliens.
Daniel Craig in a scene from 'Cowboys & Aliens'
The unusual bracelet we saw earlier is actually an alien weapon. He primes it and takes a blast at one of the ships, knocking it to the ground. When Harrison Ford steps up to investigate the wreckage, Craig gives him a mysterious nod. It was a great moment to end the footage on, and set up a lot of anticipation for the film.
It’s amazing that Favreau cut the footage together after only four weeks of filming. The special effects looked great and the action felt very real. Of all the big time film directors, I feel like nobody is in tune with the fan community quite like Favreau. He knows what the fans want and he delivered big time today. Cowboys & Aliens looks like it could be a pretty stellar action movie. It will be interesting to see more footage at next year’s Con.
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im totally excited about this,man the fact i chose not to go to the con this year is a decision im starting to question lol. the fact that Ford made a rare appearance woulda made the heavy crowds worth it for me.
“He has a strange bracelet that doesn’t fit the rest of his wardrobe.”
Does this mean that Favreau zooms in unnecessarily on Craig’s wrist multiple times so the audience gets the point that something is not quite right with this cowboy? I hate it when differences are heightened obtrusively rather than letting the audience pay attention and discover these things on their own.
Actually Jessie… I didn’t even recognize the bracelet until the aliens arrived.
o god, this movie looks like its going to blow, but i could be wrong
I’m still a little skeptical, but I’m willing to give it a chance, especially (from what I heard), it’s going to be released in glorious 2D.
preach on stephie lol. as a fan of Ford, its a must see for me.
Right on Stephie,,,
Craig’s character reminds me of story aspects from the Hidden and Alien Tresspass.
Sounds cool though!
whatever happened to Jack Shoulder? did hollywood blacklist him for being too cool?? The Hidden is an awesome movie.
I’m going to be the opposite of what everyone seems to be today and be optimistic! I can’t wait for every movie they’ve shown at comic con. I hate when everyone today sees five seconds of something and is like “NOPE! IT SUCKS! GONNA BE DUMB!” Shut up and wait for it to come out which isn’t even until around this time NEXT YEAR. For God’s sake, what happened to excitement and positivity? I know I’ve still got it.
Right on Seth!! I totaly agree with that.
Daniel craig always delivers…hell hes Bond…James Bond.
Ironically today I spent the afternoon watching all the bonus features from the 3 seasons of HBO’s amazing show, “Deadwood”.
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IMO) What would make “Cowboys and Aliens” a revolutionary blockbuster is if they hired David Milch to write the cowboy dialog of the script and they went for of course the R rating! That would of course come with Milch’s writing,,, (love the guy!)
^
I know its too late now but anyone would agree that David Milch is a genius after watching the behind the scenes Deadwood material.
I held off watching the Deadwood bonus features for almost 2 years, today was a very enlightening homecoming…
100% agree with 790. Milch is brilliant and was a huge piece of the puzzle of the genius of “Deadwood”. I still cannot fathom how seemless and timeless “Deadwood” was. I for one am anxious for C and A.
I just finished season one of “Deadwood” and the dialog sounds unbelievably natural! I know that some of the credit goes to the delivery of Ian McShane and Timothy Olyphant. I would love to sit through a full length feature film written by Milch as he did “Deadwood.”
R rating standard of course but well worth it!