Comic-Con Update - 20th Century Fox Pulls Sudden No-Show

"I'm not gonna stand up there in front of thousands and pretend like Alien Vs Predator 2 is a great film. I'm outta here."

In a stunning move, 20th Century Fox has pulled its presentation from Comic-Con. Speculation abounds as to why the sudden bale out. IESB.net, Chud.com, and Collider.com have all thrown in their two cents. What do we think? Well, Fox claimed in an article that appeared in the L.A. Times, that they simply didn't have the footage ready and that they didn't want to participate unless they could do it right. Can you say, BULLSHIT!!!! No footage available from four different films? Please - we're Geeks not Fools. Obviously, there are other issues at the heart of this thing. Several sites (including chud.com) are speculating that there might be a bit of bad blood between Fox and Comic-Con organizers, stemming from the naughty Borat footage screened at the convention last year. Who knows, from where I sat the crowd really ate it up and, for what it's worth, it was a highlight of the festival for me. Damn funny stuff. Again, this is merely conjecture. I don't know that I necessarily buy that one either. At any rate, Fox was due to unveil footage from Alien Vs. Predator 2, Jumper, Hitman, and Babylon A.D., but now those plans have been scrapped. Meanwhile, Comic-Con organizers are scrambling to fill the gap in Friday's line-up created by Fox' premature withdrawal. Fox Atomic, and some of the sub labels under Fox are still expected to present. Quite frankly, I'm not terribly heartbroken about this news, after all Fox's slate isn't particularly juicy. You wouldn't have to be Nostradamas to predict the critcal reception for AVP2.

The unfortunate thing about this news is that it's certainly a weakass way for the studio to end a pretty successful summer. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, while not a perfect film, certainly wasn't the piece of shit I was expecting, and Live Free or Die Hard managed to be pretty damn entertaining. It may be that it simply boils down to the fact that Comic-Con happens to coincide with the release of the highly anticipated Simpsons Movie. With it's potential as milky green cash cow, maybe Fox just wants every player on the team pitching Homer. Whatever the reason behind Fox's "no show" (as it were) I'm not losing any sleep over it. I cover many entertainment events during the course of a year, and Comic-Con is my favorite, because it's a convention created by the fans for the fans. With or without Fox! See you there.