logo
George Lucas makes debut at Comic-Con 2025 in San Diego

George Lucas makes debut at Comic-Con 2025 in San Diego

The Sun3 days ago
SAN DIEGO: Comic-Con 2025 kicked off with excitement as fans gathered to witness legendary filmmaker George Lucas at his first-ever appearance at the event.
The annual pop culture celebration saw thousands of attendees dressed as their favourite characters, filling the streets of San Diego.
'I waited for this the entire year,' said 17-year-old Samantha, dressed as the pink Dino Ranger. 'It's like Christmas for me!'
Lucas, known for creating Star Wars and Indiana Jones, will participate in a Sunday panel moderated by Queen Latifah.
He will discuss the upcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art alongside Mexican director Guillermo del Toro and Oscar-winning artist Doug Chiang.
'Nearly five decades ago, Star Wars made one of its earliest public appearances at our convention,' said David Glanzer, Chief Communications and Strategy Officer.
'Now, to have Mr. Lucas here is a true full-circle moment.'
Marvel Studios had a reduced presence this year, skipping its usual Hall H presentation due to filming commitments. However, Disney's Percy Jackson and the Olympians panel drew a massive crowd, with updates on the upcoming second season and casting news for the third.
'Season two is epic,' said executive producer Dan Shotz. 'We are fighting incredible monsters. It is so massive and we cannot wait for you guys to see it.'
Other highlights include the world premiere of Alien: Earth and a panel for Predator: Badlands. Ryan Gosling will also present Project Hail Mary, based on Andy Weir's novel.
Comic-Con runs until Sunday, July 27. - AFP
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

'Fantastic Four: First Steps' review: Fresh, fun, and free from the MCU's shadow
'Fantastic Four: First Steps' review: Fresh, fun, and free from the MCU's shadow

The Star

time14 hours ago

  • The Star

'Fantastic Four: First Steps' review: Fresh, fun, and free from the MCU's shadow

Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn as the titular team, alongside Julia Garner, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ralph Ineson. Just as the original Fantastic Four comic book heralded the new Silver Age of Marvel Comics back in 1961, Fantastic Four: First Steps brings forth a new era, or rather, phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). How new is it? So new that it's not even set on the actual designated Earth that the MCU is supposedly set on (Earth-199999, in case you were wondering), but on a completely different world altogether - Earth-828. What this immediately means is that this movie is completely standalone and is completely unconnected to the previous MCU movies, resulting in arguably the freshest and most 'free' that a Marvel Studios movie has felt in ages. We are dropped into Earth-828 four years after a space mission went wrong, exposing the team to cosmic rays and giving them superpowers, which led to them becoming the 'Fantastic Four'. At this time, the team is already well-established as the saviours of the world, protecting the people from threats that range from alien invaders to subterraneanal dwellers. The new Squid Game uniforms were out of this world. Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) is Mr Fantastic, the super genius with stretchy powers. His wife, Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) is the Invisible Woman, with the power to bend light in order to turn herself and others invisible, or create force fields. Her brother, Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) is the Human Torch, a literally flaming hot flying force of nature, and rounding up the team is Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) aka The Thing, who is a walking, talking, super strong rock man. The film begins with a positive pregnancy test, as Reed and Sue prepare to welcome a new addition to the family. But the happy news is disrupted by a cosmic threat, as the Silver Surfer (Julie Garner) flies in on her shimmering surfboard to announce that the planet is doom to become a planetary snack for the cosmic entity Galactus (Ralph Ineson). Boldly proclaiming to the planet that 'we will save you', the FF blast off to meet this Galactus, but is confronted with an impossible decision that could either tear the family apart, or cause the destruction of the entire world. Looks like someone forgot to put new batteries in the Human Torch. This really is a fun, fresh new start for the MCU's latest phase, one that revels in building an entire new world for one of Marvel's most iconic superteams. And what a beautifully colourful world it is. Director Matt Shakman gives Earth-828 a retro 1960s feel that is a welcome change after the gloom and doom of Earth-199999 in the last few MCU movies. Michael Giacchino's snappy, catchy score also captures the breeziness of the world. As a result, we are a lot more invested in this world when Shakman contrasts its with the seriousness of the Silver Surfer (Garner, er, shines despite being covered in CGI silver paint the entire time), and the industrial mechanism of Galactus' ship. First Steps also benefits from a stellar cast that really brings out the best in Marvel's First Family. Pedro Pascal may be THE go-to man for major pop culture franchises these days, but he is exactly what the film needs moustache and all - a well-known name who is comfortable enough to play a fatherly figure and deliver performance that stands out enough for you to forget that it is indeed Pedro Pascal. Not even Reed Richards can calculate the reason why someone thought it would be cool to call the last movie 'Fant4tic Four'. Kirby is the real MVP of the show though. Her Sue Storm is a powerhouse of a superwoman, from having the most useful power, to the way she carries not just herself, but the entire team in moments of great stress. (Not to mention she also literally carries the fifth member of the family in her belly.) Moss-Bachrach also turns in a, er, rock solid performance as Ben Grimm, despite being a hulking CGI rock man the entire time; while Quinn brings the heat as the Human Torch, toning down the arrogant cockiness that the character is usually known for and replacing it with a more assured self-confident attitude instead. Sue Storm's force fields come in handy when she has to cross the road during rush hour. Like their Distinguished Competitors' Superman , First Steps revels in being completely unshackled from the core MCU, instead allowing Marvel's First Family to shine in their own right. That means you can go watch it with no prior knowledge of the previous MCU movies, nor any of the increasingly clunky lore that has been accumulating over the last 17 years of the MCU. (This won't last, of course, as it has already been teased that the FF will be appearing in next year's Avengers: Doomsday ). The result is arguably the best MCU movie in years, one that takes some tentative first steps towards making people care about the MCU again.

'Tron: Ares' brings light cycles and Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, to Comic-Con
'Tron: Ares' brings light cycles and Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, to Comic-Con

The Star

time16 hours ago

  • The Star

'Tron: Ares' brings light cycles and Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, to Comic-Con

Atmosphere at the Tron: Ares panel in Hall H of the convention center during Comic Con International in San Diego, California on July 25, 2025. (Photo by Chris DELMAS/ AFP) The Grid took over Comic-Con on Friday, bringing the stars of the new Tron: Ares films to unveil footage and reveal the story behind the franchise's third movie. The film stars Jared Leto, Jeff Bridges, Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith as the story brings the virtual environment of the Grid, complete with light cylces, into the real world. Disney showed off several minutes of footage, including a light cycle chase scene in the real world and another in the red-hued Grid. Propelling the onscreen action is a propulsive Nine Inch Nails soundtrack. "It's fun to see it on the big screen for the first time,' said director Joachim Rønning. Disney turned the Hall H panel into a spectacle, with red lasers filling the room and characters in suits with red lights entering the massive hall. Asked what excited her about joining the Tron franchise, Lee responded: "I just wanted to ride a light cycle.' Leto spoke affectionately about the original saying: "This movie just grabbed a hold of me and took me to a place that I'd never been before. It kind of rattled my imagination and it kind of showed me what was possible in the world.' He praised Bridges and Steven Lisberger, who created Tron and directed the 1982 original. Lisberger attended Friday's panel and laid out his case for why the franchise remains relevant. "My feeling about Tron is that the most important thing is we kick this technology around artistically before it kicks us around,' Lisberger said. "I am weary about hearing all the grim news about the future,' he said, and the way he thinks it can be avoided is to "inspire young people what can be done with this technology.' Friday's panel ended with the premiere of the music video for As Alive as You Need Me to Be , the first Nine Inch Nails song from the soundtrack. Tron has never been in the top tier of sci-fi franchises. The original 1982 film starring Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a man sucked into a computer vortex known as the Grid, was admired for its ground-breaking concept and effects, and was a modest hit with moderately good reviews. Perhaps more importantly, it won a cult following and has been maintained enough in cultural memory to remain a valuable property for Disney. The 2010 film Tron: Legacy , starring Bridges and Garrett Hedlund, made more than US$400mil globally. A TV show that followed, Tron: Uprising , lasted just one season. Rønning has helmed other Disney franchise films: 2017's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and 2019's Maleficent: Mistress of Evil . The Norweigan director said he was interested because he dreamed about making a sci-fi film and enjoyed the twist of Ares bringing the Grid into the real world. Leto and Bridges are both Oscar winners, and Rønning is an Oscar nominee. – AP

'Lilo & Stitch' becomes Hollywood's first US$1bil movie of 2025
'Lilo & Stitch' becomes Hollywood's first US$1bil movie of 2025

The Star

time2 days ago

  • The Star

'Lilo & Stitch' becomes Hollywood's first US$1bil movie of 2025

Stitch has become increasingly popular, ranking in the top 10 bestselling Disney franchises, alongside stalwarts like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, the princesses, Star Wars and Marvel. Photo: Handout Walt Disney Co.'s live-action adaptation Lilo & Stitch has now generated more than US$1bil in worldwide box office revenue, becoming the first US film of the year to do so. The movie, based on the 2002 animated film of the same name, made US$416.2mil in the United States and Canada and an additional US$584.8mil internationally. It is the highest-grossing Disney live-action film ever in Mexico, where it brought in US$67mil. "We knew there was a lot of love for Lilo & Stitch with audiences around the world, yet we never take that for granted," Disney Entertainment co-Chairman Alan Bergman said in a statement. "We're proud of how this new film has connected with people." The Burbank-based media and entertainment giant has already announced that a sequel to Lilo & Stitch is in development. The original animated movie was only a modest box-office performer at the time, bringing in US$273mil. Yet over time, Stitch has become increasingly popular, ranking in the top 10 bestselling Disney franchises, alongside stalwarts like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, the princesses, Star Wars and Marvel, Disney has said. Sales of Stitch-themed merchandise totaled about US$2.6bil last year. And before the new film was released, the Lilo & Stitch franchise, which includes animated series, TV films and direct-to-video movies, drove 546 million hours of global viewership on Disney+, with the original movie accounting for more than half of that. Bergman said in May that the popularity of the little blue alien "definitely" played a role in greenlighting the live-action film. The success of Lilo & Stitch comes as family-friendly movies have ruled the box office. The momentum began in April with Warner Bros. Pictures' A Minecraft Movie , which has now made US$955mil worldwide, and continued with Lilo & Stitch and Universal Pictures' live-action adaptation How To Train Your Dragon , which released in June and collected more than US$564mil globally. Globally, the biggest film of the year remains Ne Zha 2 , a Chinese animated juggernaut that grossed more than US$2bil in ticket sales, the vast majority of which came from its home country. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store