Posted in: Movies | Tagged: NYCC, pacific rim, pacific rim: uprising

Liveblogging The Pacific Rim Uprising Panel At New York Comic Con

Bleeding Cool ace reporter Kaitlyn Booth is on the ground at New York Comic to bring us live updates from the Pacific Rim Uprising (no colon, dammit!) panel!

PACIFIC RIM UPRISING director Steven S. DeKnight will be joined by stars John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Burn Gorman and Cailee Spaeny—as well as moderator Aaron Sagers, SYFY WIRE's editor-at-large—to discuss the upcoming action-adventure from Legendary and introduce the world premiere of the new trailer.  The follow-up to 2013's cinematic epic of monsters and mechs, the film will inspire a new generation to become the biggest heroes to ever walk the earth.  Also starring Jing Tian, Rinko Kikuchi, Adria Arjona and Charlie Day, PACIFIC RIM UPRISING hits theaters March 2018.  #JoinTheUprising #PacificRimUprising

The room is packed and the panel is about to start, so stay tuned…

The panel has started, and the lights have gone out. Rules say Kaitlyn has to keep her phone away when footage is playing.

And director Steven S. DeKnight has come onstage, wearing a commander uniform.

Pacific Rim Uprising will be set 10 year in the future, exploring where Earth is at now. It doesn't matter who you are [race, gender, sexual orientation] you can be a hero and make a difference. The PPDC has come together as an international force.

Gipsy Avenger has a gravity swing where he can pick up stuff to throw at kaiju. Saber Athena is the most advanced, wielding pair of plasma swords. Titan Redeemer has a "ball of death" weapon. And there's a little jaeger named Slapper that people have slapped together.

Cailee Spaeny and John Boyega have hit the stage. Boyega says Pacific Rim Uprising was not made to rewrite the first movie but to build on it. Boyega saw himself in a jaeger suit at a meeting and went "oh crap." Boyega's character, Jake Pentecost, son of Idris Elba's character from the first movie, is a guy that doesn't want to lead but is brought in so his name means something.

Scott Eastwood is out and Burn Gorman are out. Eastwood says his character is nothing without his best friend Jake. Eastwood says this has a great story foremost but the action is great. Cailee Spaeney says her character is a badass. This is her first movie and first comic con. She says having all the details really helped jumping into the world because it's such a complete world.

Burn Gorman says his character is at the highest level of the PPDC science division. Exploring his drift the kaiju now that he has a budget to do experiments in dark corners. He talked about laughing with and at Charlie Day. Says it's fun to work with him; It's like being back on the playground.

They're showing the trailer now. Kaitlyn's phone must go away, but this time you can follow along on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcWt8-F1A0A&feature=youtu.be

Didn't you hear us earlier, YouTube? There's no colon. No number. It's just Pacific Rim Uprising.

The trailer got a standing ovation, says Kaitlyn, who is back. Q&A time.

Asked how they'd make the movie original, DeKnight said they wanted to honor what Del Toro created and expand the universe. Hopefully the first step in a bigger Pacific Rim franchise. They wanted to explore the universe, look at the first movie, and expand upon it. There are references to the first movie. They want to understand why the aliens sent the kaiju. Going ten years forward helped to find that balance and bring in new fans.

Asked if she felt intimidated, Spaeny said: "It's terrifying." Had to "put on her research hat," dive in, and make sure she respected everything. Wanted to honor fans' love of the film.

DeKnight pointed out it was also his first movie, and he and Spaeny shared that experience.

Boyega said he wanted creative input because the fans are hopeful about the franchise. He referenced the long debate amongst fans for a sequel. He says he's got old and new fans' backs.

Are all of the Jaegers analog? DeKnight says they built one out of sticks.

What's the most rewarding part of being a sci-fi icon, Boyega was asked? "I don't feel like a sci-fi icon yet. I think so far I've been able to work with the best people. Anything I do is based on a whole team. It's great to jump into various elements of sci-fi that I loved growing up. Do I have the mission to be a part of every single thing? Pretty much, yeah."

From Gorman, asked about how Pacific Rim thrill is different from Torchwood and other geek faves: "The thing that binds all the projects in common is the attention of the whole group. It's a creative endeavor by a bunch of people. There's nothing else like it. We got to film in Australia and in China. We had such a welcome in both those places. Steven runs an extremely relaxed and focused set. You can have creative input. There's a flow to it every morning. It was a touch schedule, but that's what I found in common with the other projects. A team that wants to make it as awesome as they can."

Charlie Day appeared via video. He said he was excited about the music and pitched some silly theme songs with his voice and a piano, including not forgetting about the sword until the last minute, and another highlighting himself as the star of the movie and downplaying Boyega's Star Wars fame.

And that's all, folks.

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