This weekend we have five new films opening wide and its an interesting mix. Two book adaptations that couldn’t be more different, a wannabe comic style superhero film, a sequel that noone demanded, and a film with a sci-fi cult following who have been waiting for years to see “their” film on the big screen.

The film that I am easily most excited for is Coraline, based on the book by Neil Gaiman and directed by Henry Selick, the innovative director behind The Nightmare Before Christmas. The film features the voice talents of Dakota Fanning, John Hodgman, Keith David, and my favorite Lois Lane, Teri Hatcher. The film is a very dark (maybe even too dark for some) kids tale that was made in stop motion and is being released in 3d! I have been excited for this film since about two years ago when I saw a 20 minute presentation with footage at comic con.

Next up we have Push, a film that really wishes that it was based on a comic book.  From Summit Entertainment (the company that brought us Twilight), the film was directed by Paul McGuigan and stars Camilla Belle, Dakota Fanning, Chris Evans as a trio of super powered people in Hong Kong who are being hunted by a US government agency and Djimon Hounsou. Sound familar? Yeah that’s been pretty much the plot of every X-Men film.

Steve Martin returns in the sequel that shouldn’t be made for the remade that should have never been made, The Pink Panter 2. The talented pair of Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer return from the film film and they are joined by the also talented Andy Garcia and Alfred Molina. His mission in the new film is to stop a “globe-trotting thief who specializes in stealing historical artifacts.”

He’s Just Not going to see this movie, or even write about it.

Fanboys took just as long as Coraline to hit theaters, but for very different reasons. The film has been screened at dozens of sci-fi conventions and comic con. The film is about five friends who take a cross-country trip to the Skywalker Ranch to steal a print of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace so their dying friend can see it before its world premiere.  The film was picked up by the Weinsteins and the major content of the film, the plot line about the dying friend, was cut out sending fans into a rage. After more than a year of protesting and chants of “Darth Weinstein”, the film was returned to its original form and is finally being released. Directed by Kyle Newman, the film stars Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel, and the ever loveable Kristen Bell, along with Christopher McDonald, Seth Rogan, Ethan Suplee, and Danny Trejo, and a ton of fun cameos.

I have absolutely loved everything I have seen from Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick’s Coraline; from the advanced footage and animation tests shown at Comic Con two years ago, to the recent 3D trailer I saw in theaters with Bolt. The film looks breathtaking. Lots of new footage below…

Between Neil Gaiman’s dark story, Henry Selick’s stop motion (Selick directed The Nightmare Before Christmas), and the simple fact that it will all be in 3D… yeah, I’ll be there on opening weekend.

Watching this trailer was like reading the book all over again.  There doesn’t appear to be anything in this film that’s not taken directly from this wonderful little Southern novel by Sue Monk Kidd.  Dakota Fanning appears to really be coming into her own as an actress and is a great choice for the sweet, but damaged Lily.  Every member or the Boatwright family, Jennifer Hudson as Rosaleen, and Tristan Wilds as Zachary are perfectly cast.  There’s something about this era and the hardships suffered by so many in the South that I just can’t resist both in film and in books.  I can’t wait to see this film and compare it to the novel, but for now, I dare you to watch this trailer without getting just a little bit choked up.

At this years San Diego Comic-Con, Summit Entertainment showcased three upcoming films in their panel; Push, Knowing and the highly anticipated Twilight. Keep reading to find out what was revealed.

Push

They started off their panel with a trailer for a film called Push, about those with super powers that live amongst us. They brought out cast members Chris Evans, Camille Bella, and Djimon Honsou, plus director Le to talk about the film and show some more clips. Poor little Dakota Fanning was stuck in a massive traffic jam on the I-5 and couldn’t make it to the panel, but in the first clip we were all able to see how much she’s grown up in an action sequence with herself and Chris Evans running from the villains of the film. She plays a “watcher” (those that can see the future), while Evans plays a “mover” (telekenetic) and Camille Bella and Djimon Honsou are “pushers” (those who can put thoughts into others heads). The problem with this film was that Comic-con should be its target audience, yet the crowd didn’t seem too enthused, myself included.

Knowing

Here’s the next Nic Cage flop a la Next, amongst others. The concept is actually pretty spooky: a code is unearthed through a school time capsule that predicts every disaster and the death toll that will accompany it. These disasters seem to follow Nic Cage around as he goes crazy cracking the code. They showed the trailer and the director came out to discuss it a bit, but all in all it looked pretty forgettable.

Twilight

I didn’t know what a “Twilighter” was until a few weeks ago when I read an article in Entertainment Weekly. Despite this, there was no amount of reading that I could have done to prepare me for this panel. I had seen young girls in “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob” t-shirts standing in line that morning (and the night before for that matter), but the deafening screams that came from the crowd when this came onto the screen were absolutely insane:

I’ve had Twilight sitting on my bookshelf for a few months now and have been putting off reading it until the movie gets closer. I knew it was popular, and it seems like I’ll love it, but I had no idea that there was such a gigantic following of young girls. This was something Comic-con has never seen before. The girl to guy ratio at this panel was at least 5:1. The Q&A attracted shaking 12 year olds walking up to the mic and professing their love for Stephanie Meyer and the hunky Robert Pattinson who plays the impossibly beautiful vampire Edward. The panel consisted of director Catherine Hardwick, author Stephanie Meyer, and actors Kristen Stewart (Bella), Robert Pattinson (Edward), Cam Gigandet (James), Rachelle Lefevre (Victoria), Edi Gathegi (Laurent), and Taylor Lautner (Jacob). Every time Robert Pattinson came on the screen, tried to speak, or was addressed, the crowd erupted in girlish screams and shrieks. The poor guy couldn’t get a word in edgewise. He was a far cry from Cedric Diggory, with his spiky gelled hair, seriously fanglike teeth (which is funny because supposedly Twilight’s vampires don’t have fangs), and spacey attitude. Kristen Stewart was cute, punky, and incredibly nervous and intimidated by the crowd. They showed a clip of a fight sequence between Edward and James with Bella and it looked incredible. It looks like this film will both please the fans and be easy for the non readers to watch as well.

Just before the panel ended, the mod announced that someone just wanted to say hello. Little (or not so little anymore) Dakota Fanning came out and graciously thanked the audience for coming to see the Push panel and apologized profusely for being stuck in traffic and not being able to attend the panel. She was such a cutie.