Informed Art - Comic-Con Revealed

Hilgenbrink, Monk and Parker.

The final panel in Hall H for Thursday was Dark Castle, highlighting the new direct-to-DVD horror film, “The Hills Ran Red,” “Ninja Assassin” and “RocknRolla. For “The Hills Ran Red” producer Joel Silver introduced actors Tad Hilgenbrink and Sophie Monk, along with director Dave Parker. The film follows a group of horror fans who seek out a mysterious legendary horror film, which they discover has never stopped filming. The filmmakers showed the audience the trailer, which they guarantee will fulfill gore fans need for the red stuff.

Rain, Harris and McTeigue.

Next up was “Ninja Assassin,” director James McTeigue’s follow-up to “V for Vendetta.” The film, produced by Silver and the Wachowski Bros., stars Korean pop sensation Rain and Naomie Harris (“28 Days Later”), who were both at the Con. Many of the attendees swooned over Rain, who had help fielding the English questions with the help of an interpreter. Silver unveiled the first action-packed trailer, which also features a high gallon count on the red stuff as well. Rain told the fans that he really hopes that his big Hollywood debut will be a hit. Silver added that he had long wanted to make a ninja picture, but needed to find a way to bring it into the 21^st century.

Piven, Butler, Richie, Ludacris & Elba.

Closing the panel was the debut trailer for Guy Richie’s next film, “RocknRolla.” In addition to Richie, the actors on the panel included Gerard Butler (“300”), Jeremy Piven (“Entourage”), Ludacris (“Crash”), and Idris Elba (“The Wire”). Many of the fevered fans in the audience we there hoping to see Butler take his shirt off. Silver and many of the actors stressed that this film is equal or even better than Richie’s earlier work on “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch.” The trailer they showed highlighted the same mix of violence and humor that was signature to those two films. All the actors commented on how well the script was written and how perfectly Richie has the film envisioned in his mind. When asked about a memorable moment on set, Butler recalled getting sick and having Richie’s wife Madonna give him a B12 shot in the bum.