We're just three weeks away from the biggest pop culture event of the year. Here's what's new:
- Will they or won’t they? The ongoing fan conversation regarding Paramount Pictures’ uncertain presence at Comic-Con took another turn this week. Trekmovie.com checked with its many sources, and seems awfully certain that Paramount will not be hosting a big panel to show off Star Trek and its many other properties. But here’s something I haven’t seen anyone else address: J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot is listed in the left-hand sidebar of the Comic-Con website as an official 2008 ‘Con sponsor. Would Paramount really go to the trouble of making Star Trek a sponsor of the con if they weren’t planning to showcase the film somehow? Sorry Trekmovie.com, I’m just not buying it. I’ll believe there’s no Paramount panel when I see it for myself.
- I report the following at the risk of not getting an invitation of my own, because I’m just that magnanimous: If you make DC Universe Online your top MySpace friend, print out your profile page, and show it to DC Comics at the Con, you could get an invitation to an exclusive, “limited space” DCUO party on Friday night.
- If you’ve ever been to Comic-Con, you don’t need me to tell you how cramped the aisles can get on the show floor, particularly in the central, “film studio” booths area. Good news: we should have a little more room to move around and breathe this year. Publisher’s Weekly reports that at the fire marshall’s recommendations, aisles in Halls D and E have been widened. The downside to this is that overall acreage has been decreased, and forced some longtime attendees (such as book publisher HarperCollins) onto a waiting list for booth space.