Warner Bros. and Legendary teamed up to being a bunch of fun new footage to Hall H at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Of course, JoBlo.com was in attendance!
The first film to have footage shown was SEVENTH SON; stars Jeff Bridges, Ben Barnes, Antje Traue and Kit Harington were in attendance, as was director Sergey Bodrov. I’ll be honest, the first teaser for this film did nothing for me, but the extended preview they brought today was much more impressive, leaning much more heavily on the multitude of creatures and monsters in the film.
– One sequence showed Bridges and Barnes fighting a giant troll-like creature together, which was quite cool. They eventually jump off a cliff into a river; Bridges says something to the effect of “don’t worry, they hate water”, but of course it jumps in after them, causing a giant tidal wave.
– The film looks like it’s aiming for a scope on the scale of LORD OF THE RINGS; there is plenty of action, as well as horror elements.
During the panel, Jeff Bridges accentuated that the movie is great for people who are into “myth”. He also said he hasn’t seen a movie like this since he was ten.
– Barnes’ character is a poor pig farmer who feels alienated and different. He knows he is destined for something different, but he’s not sure what. He is eventually “sold” to Bridges’ character; they develop a bond and band together to fight the forces of evil, which is personified by a witch played by Julianne Moore.
Bridges and Moore’s characters were apparently lovers at one point, but now they’re on opposite sides of this good-vs-evil battle.
– Harington plays Bridges’ long-suffering apprentice. He’s very good at what he does, but maybe not good enough. (Spoiler: Just between us, I think that means he’s not in the film very much.) Harington said he shot under a rain tower for seven straight days, which was as uncomfortable as it sounds. This film is also the first time he’s ever done wire-work, where tehy strap a harness to your back and say “you’re just going to feel a light tug”. He said it is NOT a light tug. He enjoyed the physical aspects of his role.
– Bridges talked about the physicality of the role. He said it brought him back to being a kid. It’s like playing pretend, just like a kid. He also said there is a lot of practical effects in the film, as well as plentiful CG. (Which is headed by John Dystra, who won Oscars for STAR WARS and SPIDER-MAN 2.)
– Bodrov commented that the most important thing for him were the performances. The CG/visual effects stuff is secondary.
– Traue said her character can turn into an owl. She said the biggest challenge during film was fighting while wearing a feathery, heavy dress.