WonderCon's Big Hollywood Movie Panels: Did Fans Fall for the Prometheus Hype?

Liz Ohanesian

Damon Lindelof and Ridley Scott on the big screens.

Lines aside, I'm wary of the panels. After so many utterly disappointing movie experiences over the course of the past decade, I don't want to get excited for anything. Excitement only leads to dismay. I learned that with the Star Wars prequels and again with several different Tim Burton movies and, because I never learn my lesson, again with a slew of other films.

Maybe I was being too hard on the moviemaking world. Not everything could be as bad as Phantom Menace or Alice in Wonderland or, well, maybe I should stop now before the list gets too long.

Inside WonderCon, Ballroom 3 was massive and as dark as a movie theater. People popped out from beside the door with swag, like posters for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Prometheus -- nice, thick pieces that would look pretty cool on a bedroom wall. Someone else handed out 3-D glasses. Another person gave us business cards for Weyland Corp.

We fumbled around in the dark until we found two seats behind a big-screen TV set up in the middle of the room. On the screen, two people -- Klaus and Mel, who are characters from the film -- were talking about a spiritual journey or something that makes no sense when you walk in near the end of a conversation. This was all part of the panel for The Sound of My Voice, a new film about a couple infiltrating a cult; it's due in theaters this April. The film itself looked interesting and I liked when star Brit Marling and director Zal Batmanglij, who co-wrote the script together, appeared to talk about the DIY aspect of making the movie.

The panel, though, was strange. When one audience member mentioned that he had seen The Sound of My Voice at Sundance, someone within earshot of us remarked that he must be working on the film. My friend noted that the questions in general didn't sound like con questions. Certainly, no one fished for spoilers. Everything seemed really well-rehearsed, which was a little disheartening.

The Fox panel, which was listed in WonderCon's guide with no mention of movies or panelists, just a vague promise of "very special guests," opened with an animated video greeting from Tim Burton, who is co-producing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Seth Grahame-Smith, who wrote the novel Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, and adapted the story for the big screen, hosted the panel, which featured director-producer Timur Bekmambetov and actor Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln). This felt more natural than the previous panel. Someone asked a question while wearing a luchador mask. Someone else managed to work a diss against Twilight into a question and the room roared with applause. When they played a lengthy action sequence from the film, the audience was rapt.