THR rolls out their annual list of Comic-Con parties and notes, sadly that Chris Hardwick needs to do a montage of “All the Walking Dead Parties that left Us” because there will be no Walking Dead party this year. And no HitFix/Uproxx Party.
After the convention floor closes and the sun sets at Comic-Con, stars and industry insiders alike escape the crowds and cosplay for San Diego’s party scene. Only it isn’t as burgeoning as it once was as several film studios — and regular TV players — are opting out of the pop culture confab.
Gone this year is HitFix’s (now Uproxx) annual Wednesday night opener. Also joining many of the major film studios on the sidelines is The Walking Dead, with the zombie drama and comic book series skipping a San Diego bash in favor of one in L.A. a week before SDCC. Additionally, Starz is skipping a bash as Zachary Levi hits pause on Nerd HQ and is teaming with Syfy instead.
As opposed to past years when it was non-stop rofotops, yachts, battleships and parking lot carnivals, the list seems to include more parties at bars and fewer rooftops. I mean don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty to do and, in a big change, the Wired Cafe is back to three days after shrinking to one for a few years, but it’s just not the same.
And as noted, movie studios have pretty much ankled Comic-Con for SXSW and Cinema-Con. Hall H has only three movie presentations: Fox, WB and Marvel – the three studios with, arguably, the biggest skin in the comic book movie game – although no Sony, which is just flying high over its Spider-Man 3.0 launch.
JULY 20 • THURSDAY
11:30am – 12:30pm 1 20th Century Fox Hall H
12:45pm – 1:45pm 1 Brigsby Bear Cast and Filmmakers Panel Hall H
2:00pm – 3:00pm 1 Teen Wolf Hall H
3:15pm – 4:30pm 1 Netflix Films: Bright and Death Note Hall H
4:45pm – 5:45pm 1 The Nerdist Panel with Chris Hardwick Hall H
JULY 21 • FRIDAY
10:00am – 11:00am 1 The Big Bang Theory Special Video Presentation and Q&A Hall H
11:15am – 12:15pm 1 AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead Hall H
12:15pm – 1:15pm 1 AMC’s The Walking Dead Hall H
1:30pm – 2:30pm 1 Game of Thrones Panel and Q&A Session Hall H
2:45pm – 3:45pm 1 Twin Peaks: A Damn Good Panel Hall H
4:00pm – 5:00pm 1 AMC’s Preacher Hall H
5:15pm – 6:15pm 1 Netflix: Marvel’s The Defenders Hall H
JULY 22 • SATURDAY
11:30am – 1:30pm 1 Warner Bros. Pictures Presentation Hall H
2:00pm – 2:45pm 1 Entertainment Weekly’s Women Who Kick Ass: Icon Edition with Charlize Theron Hall H
3:00pm – 4:00pm 1 Netflix’s Stranger Things Hall H
4:15pm – 5:15pm 1 Westworld Panel and Q&A Session Hall H
5:30pm – 7:00pm 1 Marvel Studios Hall H
JULY 23 • SUNDAY
10:30am – 11:30am 1 Supernatural Hall H
11:45am – 12:45pm 1 TNT’s The Last Ship with Eric Dane: Panel and Exclusive Sneak Peek of Season Four Hall H
1:00pm – 2:00pm 1 Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency: BBC America Official Panel Hall H
2:00pm – 3:00pm 1 Doctor Who: BBC America Official Panel.
Another drop=out this year is Zachary Levi’s Nerd HQ, which formerly occupied prime real estate at PetCo Park before moving to the Children’s Museum. And this year, as he sadly explained, nothing. Nerd HQ was FREE to attend and offereed star studded panel discussions but I imagien it must have been a huge pain to put together, and to wranglethe psonsorship money needed, esp. as venues in Downtown SD raise their prices higher and higher for any kind of event.
Nerd HQ is teaming with SyFy for a party on Saturday but that’s about it.
While no one ever admits that Comic-Con is getting smaller, it is definitely “rightsizing” into an ever so slightly more manageable TV confab. With Netflixz taking over as the biggest studio on earth however, the rising presence of Netflix, Amazon, and other streaming giants wil change the chemistry yet again.
And if anyone can get me into that Blade Runner party, you know where to find me!
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