WonderCon 2011-Cowboys and Aliens Panel

WonderCon 2011 boasted many coming films and comics, among this group is the highly anticipated Cowboys and Aliens. Director Jon Favreau and Executive Producer Robert Orci were front and center answering questions. Cowboys and Aliens stars Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown and Adam Beach. Scheduled to hit theaters July 29th 2011, I for one am looking forward to this film.

Storyline:

The Old West.. where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world. 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It's a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly startsto remember who he is and where he's been...

Jon Favreau was asked a few questions about WonderCon it self, what it was like working with this amazing cast and if he prefers directing over acting. Here is a little bit on what he said.

Question: About attending WonderCon 2011.

Answer: "I was here in 2008 to promote Iron Man. It really was a wonderful moment, similar to this in that people didn't know what to expect. We were a bit of an underdog back then. ComicCon has turned into this huge thing and it's a lot of fun; but, WonderCon reminds me a lot of what ComicCon was like when I first started going to ComicCon. ComicCon has been so instrumental in so many movies really arriving that everybody focuses a lot of attention there; but, it's more like a big festival or big party. What's nice about WonderCon is it's a little bit more intimate and we can really have a dialogue here and talk about things. It's not like a big carnival. I think it also shows you guys who really cares about this group of people and I, for one, am very grateful for what you guys have all done for my career. So I want to make sure that this remains a priority. There's a much more limited slate of films that have prioritized this event so it allows for a better dialogue."

Question: What it was like to work with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford.

Answer: "These guys were great. Daniel Craig is just an awesome, professional, great dude. I admired his work in Layer Cake and, of course, later in the Bond films where he was a sort of a vulnerable but really badass hero, where the wheels were always turning. He's really invested in the stakes of the moment. So you have that generation. And then, of course, Harrison was a late-breaking idea because we didn't think it was doable at all. We never thought he would want to come back to genre and--as most of the people in this room feel--we fell in love with the guy through films like Star Wars (crowd cheers like crazy) and Indiana Jones. To have him bring that pedigree was almost like when you would cast John Wayne in a western. He brings this entire history and so you have two generations of action stars who reluctantly have to work together--we start them very much at odds in a cruel environment--to rescue their people. It was just great. They both care deeply about the process, they were a lot of fun, we were all living out in Santa Fe for the summer, and it was a dream project."

Question: If he prefers directing over acting.

Answer: "I enjoy directing more to be honest with you because--now that this

[attending WonderCon] has become part of directing; now that we're trying to lock picture and finish off effects and get the music in and this is the moment when it tends to become the most trying and there's the most anxiety from the studios and you're trying to figure out your release and your marketing campaign--to be able to come here and show you this and to feel like we're throwing a party and have it be appreciated so much, it makes directing the most fun job there is in the world, for sure."

Favreau and Orci also talked with us about each character being a big part of the film, because every part matters in a western. There are no small parts. Director Favreau is also making use of social networking, speaking with blogs and using Twitter to get his movie out to the public. I speak for us all when I say COME TO THE SHEEP! We would love to have him talk Aliens with us any day of the week. :)

If you were lucky enough to have nabbed a seat in the viewing room you got a nine minute screening of the movie. A very tasty treat indeed. So what say you? Will you be going to see Cowboys and Aliens? Leave some comments below and let me know what YOU think.

KD

PS While I did get all this recored in my funky old mini tape recorder, my good friend Michael Guillen transcribed it on HIS blog first. You can check out the whole panel at The Evening Class. Thanks Michael! :)