The Massie Twins and photographer Joy Dominguez sat in on the first ever Summit Entertainment panel at Comic-Con, where three major upcoming films were being showcased. First up was “Push,” director Paul McGuigan’s action thriller concerning psychically-powered innocents being hunted by even more paranormally enhanced assassins. McGuigan showed off a clip of an action sequence in a Chinese fish market involving “Bleeders,” evil henchmen equipped with a deafening scream that causes temporary paralysis and exploding fish. It made for an intense scene; however with the powerful speakers in Hall H, the Bleeders’ screams were as damaging to the audience as they were to the actors onscreen. Chris Evans, Camilla Belle and Djimon Hounsou were among the cast that attended the panel and Dakota Fanning made a late appearance due to traffic delays.

Left to Right: Djimon Hounsou, Chris Evans, Camilla Belle, Paul McGuigan

Next was Nic Cage’s newest thriller/disaster film from director Alex Proyas entitled “Knowing.” During a school time-capsule project a young girl opts to write down a page full of numbers instead of the expected scribblings of spaceships and flying cars. When Cage discovers the text several years later, he finds that the numbers predict every major natural disaster and cataclysmic event down to the time and number of deaths caused. Now it’s up to him to find a way to solve the mystery behind the cipher before the numbers run out and the world faces possible annihilation. While the premise may seem perturbing, the director’s accomplishments, including The Crow, Dark City, and I, Robot, should provide proof that Proyas knows how to handle sci-fi thrillers.

Director Alex Proyas

 

The final Summit Films presentation evoked a deafening roar from almost every female audience member, and “Twilight,” based on Stephanie Moyer ‘s wildly popular novel of the same name, will likely be their biggest coming attraction due to the built-in fanbase and attractive young cast. The attending panel included director Catherine Hardwicke and author Stephenie Meyer, plus stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Cam Gigandet, Edi Gathegi, Rachelle Lefevre, and Taylor Lautner.

Author Stephenie Meyer

Director Catherine Hardwicke

Robert Pattinson

Kristen Stewart

Cam Gigandet

Rachelle Lefevre

Edi Gathegi

Taylor Lautner

Robert Pattinson and Cam Cigandet were the target of much of the Q & A session, however few of the panelists could even get a word in edgewise over the incessant screams of the fans. The only thing that really stood out about the discussion was Pattinson’s conditioned hair and Kirsten Stewart’s reply to a question regarding the physicality of her role, in which she mentioned that she got off to the violence and took it like a champ. I guess she answered all my questions before I could ask them.

- Joel Massie