It's time to kick off one of the most historic days in Comic-Con history. Saturday at Comic-Con 2014 - it starts with Warner Bros (perhaps some Justice League?) and ends with Marvel. The WB panel kicks things off as the first show of the day, highlighting these movies: The Wachowskis' sci-fi Jupiter Ascending, George Miller's long-awaited Mad Max: Fury Road, and Peter Jackson's finale The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. There may be some very special surprises, tons of never-seen-before footage, reveals, interviews, appearances and much more. We'll be live blogging the full panel from start to finish.
Updates LIVE directly from Warner Bros Comic-Con panel on Saturday, from 10:00AM - 12:00PM PDT:
12:00 - And that's it! Warner Bros panel is over and things have finished up. Covered three films plus the Batman v Superman surprise at the beginning.
12:00 - And that's it! Warner Bros panel is over and things have finished up. Covered three films plus the Batman v Superman surprise at the beginning.
11:59 - To wrap up they're showing the teaser one more time and they're heading off stage to wrap up the panel.
11:58 - They actually announce the first two people who have won and are getting to take the trip down there. Spies were following fans and they chose these in advance. There's still 73 places to go, so check out the sign if you're interested.
11:56 - He announces a Fan Fellowship Contest to win a trip to New Zealand and visit the set. To participate goto TheHobbitFanContest.com and they will choose 75 people (plus a partner) to go down and tour the set, see footage, and so on.
11:54 - Question about if there's any more lost/unseen footage we'll see one day. Jackson says there's very few scenes (one with Aragorn when they were younger) from LOTR we haven't seen, and they might put them back in. Lord of the Rings was 7 million feet of film, and it's now sitting in a nuclear-proof mountain in Arizona or something like that. But perhaps if there's enough interest from people, you never know.
11:52 - Peter Jackson on how he really wanted to make the movies as a six series set. The main goal was to get The Hobbit tonally where it would get to Fellowship, and to connect all of that together. Some people will watch this from the beginning and start with The Hobbit and go all the way through.
11:46 - Question about if anyone uses specific acting techniques to pull off performances. Serkis: "Although there's technology involve... what it is is exactly the same - all you need is the eyes of another actor to look into." "Really the magic is having brilliant actors in a room... or on set... and not let the technology become a part of it - that is the key."
11:45 - Next question: who do you think is more evil - Saruman or Willy Wonka? "Willy Wonka isn't evil!" The question was meant for Christopher Lee, so they don't really answer it seriously.
11:42 - Opening up to fans for the Q&A. So far just a silly question that gets goofy answers from the cast on stage. One question was about who would win between Bard and Legolas.
11:41 - Jackson hopes that everyone gets to see all of this stuff that went into the making of the movie in person. He wants fans to see it, to be there, to experience what it's actually like on the set, what it's like down there in New Zealand.
11:40 - Evangeline Lilly: "I know how sexy a big, pointy ear can be." Banter between Orlando Bloom and Lilly about their ears.
11:39 - Peter Jackson says they hope to do a museum one day, so they're keeping some of the old costumes for the sake of legacy. Because they wanted to keep LOTR stuff, they made mostly new stuff to use for The Hobbit, even returning characters.
11:37 - First teaser trailer is very epic, big in scope and scale, looks like they're going big. But it was also all about nostalgia, and all that everyone has gone through. "Will you follow me one last time?"
11:34 - Now time to see the very first teaser trailer for The Battle of the Five Armies.
11:33 - Colbert asks "what does spectacle mean in a movie" referencing the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and how that set such a precedent. Jackson says he did recognize how films after were influenced and there's no better compliment than to see that his work influences other filmmakers to change their way to shoot a movie. "I'm in the middle of doing a battle right now... a big battle actually. The Battle of the Five Armies."
11:31 - Listening to Andy Serkis wax about performance capture and how it allows anyone to play anything. Compliments to Weta and how much they've advanced and how the performances are "very beautifully rendered." It's been a "fantastic, amazing, unbelievably journey" that he couldn't forsee at all. He says they're trying to bring it more to the northern hemisphere.
11:27 - Colbert: did anyone experience the books through the films and then go back and read them? Elijah: "I actually haven't read them." Audience goes "ooooh" but he responds "I've said this before! I'm okay." He read The Hobbit as a kid, and when these movies came around he felt like he was living it in a profound and deep way and never read the book. "It was such an experience over such a long course of time."
11:24 - Asking Orlando Bloom about his attraction to Evangeline Lilly. "You're calling me a low-class, trashy elf? At least my shit still sparkles." Response to a comment from Colbert about how Bloom's character is "dating down" and his father doesn't like that.
11:21 - Colbert asks Cate Blanchett if we'll see her fight this time? She explains she has to wear very tall "disco glam" boots and it's a bit tricky to even walk. Peter Jackson chimes in and says "we do get to see Galadriel lose it a bit in this movie" and she corrects him saying "I do lose my shit--Elven shit--in this movie." Jackson: "She gets to kick Sauron's as a little bit in this."
11:19 - "Are their female dwarves?" "I believe the entire journey is about finding a female dwarf..." Graham McTavish, who plays Dwalin, is the only dwarf represented on this panel today.
11:18 - Cumberbatch says he's impressed by the actors who do all the green screen, how challenging that is to pull off and to maintain continuity and imagine everything.
11:15 - The Old Forest, and Tom Bombadil are the things that they wish they could've put in the movies. Producer Philipa Boyens says "that will have to be for another generation of filmmakers." Remake one day? Already! But it's cool.
11:14 - "Everyone in this room knows what's going to happen at the end of The Hobbit," Jackson jokes. "It's good to kill off some lead characters." He says "we do get to kill a few of them this time" and "it's good".
11:10 - Asked about if he knew an entire part of his life would be spent on making these movies. Originally they were going to do The Hobbit as one movie, then two Lord of the Rings movies back to the back. That was the very first pitch.
11:09 - Colbert asking them questions, after saying thank you for making this movie. Is this the first time some of these people have met despite making the movie together? Lots of yes.
11:08 - Everyone takes the stage, from Peter Jackson to Elijah Wood to Cate Blanchett to Luke Evans to Lee Pace to Andy Serkis to Benedict Cumberbatch.
11:00 - Watching an outstanding and hilarious blooper reel of crazy outtakes and amusing footage from all of the past movies. It's so damn good, hope they end up putting this online.
10:58 - He says before we continue the panel, they have a few more clips to show us, featuring most footage from all 5 of the previous movies.
10:56 - He's talking about how he saw the first stills, followed the casting during the development of LOTR. How passionate he is about this, and how much it turned out beautiful because of all the people involved. "With a total running time of 11 and a half hours - they were too damn short."
10:55 - Colbert jokes that it's welcome to "Stephen Colbert's The Battle for Six Movies". "You don't just love these stories, you treasure the world of JRR Tolkien."
10:54 - Watching another featurette for The Hobbit that starts with Stephen Colbert on set. Turns out Stephen Colbert is actually moderating this panel.
10:50 - Lights go down and the walls appear with the The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies logo, and Carmina Burana playing. Quite an intro for this movie, but it is the epic conclusion.
10:49 - Hardwick says he's about to exit the stage, because the "next thing is better than me" he says, as we prepare to move on from Mad Max.
10:48 - Confirms that Junkie XL is doing the score, and Miller is now working on finishing up the sound mix and music to finish up before it's ready for release in summer of 2015.
10:47 - Miller says this film is similar/closest to Road Warrior because it happens over a few days, and it's basically an extended chase, which is similar to what Road Warrior was.
10:45 - George Miller on how much technology has allowed them to progress and change the way they make them. They can edit quicker, and he talks about how the tempo of music has increased over the years.
10:44 - Just watched a very long sizzle reel of footage from Mad Max: Fury Road and looks AWESOME. Huge scale, with dust and dirt and sand and fire and blood and mayhem galore. One scene showed them driving into a massive sandstorm, where huge sand tornadoes just rip apart vehicles. The action looks incredible, we have not seen a movie like this in a long time.
10:35 - Miller is fascinated by how the world evolves, and some of it's exciting, some of it's kind of scary, and you try to get some of that in your work. He's talking about if he feels he's evolved as a filmmaker over the years, since the first Mad Max movies. "You kind of lose any sense of yourself and you're working off of instinct and gut" he says when just doing stunt after stunt in the desert working on these movies.
10:34 - Designers had to base their vehicles on real vehicles, and it had to only be older technology (not modern/new tech) - those were his rules for developing the vehicles we see in this movie.
10:33 - Tom Hardy has a quality of almost a "big wild animal" as an actor, and you "don't know what they're going to do next", he says in a good way.
10:31 - Screen wrap around says "Fire Blood Oil" as we listen to George Miller talk about why he loves making movies, and his interests in returning to this franchise.
10:30 - He didn't want to have to worry about the screenplay, so he made the film essentially as one big comic book, with over 3500 pieces of storyboard art to help drive and develop the film.
10:28 - He explains there are certain characters of Charlize that really fit her character. George Miller admits it's his first ever Comic-Con. He has his iPhone out to take a photo of himself in the audience. Hardwick takes the camera and snaps a shot of Miller in front of the crowd.
10:27 - Was it familiar? "It certainly was" but technology has changed. It was crazy, but exciting to go back.
10:26 - "I wanted to make one long, extended take and find out what we can about the characters along the way."
10:26 - Great video looking back at Mad Max, and then it introduces George Miller to the stage to talk about Fury Road.
10:23AM - Charlize Theron comes up with a taped message discussing Mad Max and what it was like to be hired and join this world. "The idea of working with a filmmaker like George and attempting to reimagine this world was... it felt like such a great opportunity." She introduces a look back at the legacy of George Miller and Mad Max.
10:22AM - Comic-Con belongs to the Mad appears on the wall. Time for MAD MAX!
10:21AM - Five minute sizzle reel for Jupiter Ascending looks fuckin awesome. All about the sci-fi action, huge in scope. Can't wait for this movie. Lots and lots of action and fights with lasers, alien creatures, planets. It looks crazy.
10:16AM - Watching Chris Hardwick messing around with Channing Tatum, now we're going to watch some footage before we get more into this movie.
10:14AM - We move right into Jupiter Ascending with an epic space introduction.
10:13AM - One more rewatch of that Batman v Superman footage, and they're off the stage.
10:11AM - He brings out Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot - Wonder Woman - just to bring them out on stage. But then they have to leave and go right back to filming.
10:10AM - Footage shows Batman, with eyes lit up in his Batsuit, turning on the Bat signal (new design for the logo). Bass is pounding, rain pouring, darkness. The Bat signal shines in the sky, and suddenly Superman appears in the middle of the light. His eyes begin glowing red, staring down at Batman. Batman stares back. EPIC! That's all.
10:08AM - He drops a tiny little bit of footage!!!!
10:07AM - Snyder: Was shooting last night and jumped on a plane this morning to get here. "It's going amazingly well, I couldn't be happier."
10:07AM - Epic Batman v. Superman logo reveal.
10:05AM - They go even BIGGER and the sides reveal even further back so the screens extend nearly 50% of the walls all the way around Hall H. Moderator Chris Hardwick takes the stage and says "let's just get this started"!
10:04AM - Warner Bros likes to "go big" and the side curtains pull back to reveal massive screens along the side walls.
10:02AM - Eddie Ibrahim takes the stage to introduce the panel, it's time! It's time! Cheers from the audience.
10:01AM - Announcement about getting to our seats as it's about to begin in a few minutes.
9:56AM - Getting ready to kick things off, seated and waiting patietnly for the panel to begin...
