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Wizard World 2015 Schedule
May 7-10 Wizard World Comic Con Philadelphia
Read MoreMay 22-24 – Wizard World Comic Con St. Louis Jun 12-14 – Wizard World Comic Con Des Moines Jun 19-21 – Wizard World Comic Con Sacramento Jun 19-21 – Wizard World Comic Con Albuquerque Jul 31-Aug 2 – Wizard World Comic Con Richmond Aug 20-23 – Wizard World Comic Con Chicago Aug 22-23 – Bruce Campbell’s Groovy Fest Sep 4-6 – Wizard World Comic Con San Jose Sep 11-13, Wizard World Comic Con Pittsburgh Sep 18-20 – Wizard World Comic Con Columbus Sep 25-27 – Wizard World Comic Con Nashville Oct 2-4 – Wizard World Comic Con Ft. Lauderdale Oct 23-25 – Wizard World Comic Con Tulsa Oct 30-31 – Wizard World Comic Con Austin Nov 6-8 – Wizard World Comic Con Louisville Nov 20-22 – Wizard World Comic Con Reno
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The second annual Wizard World Minneapolis at the Minneapolis Convention Center just ended on Sunday. Compared to last year, I felt this year more fans were attending the panels... which sometime "sold out" with more fans than seats (the Weasley Brothers could have used a bigger room).
This recap is just for Saturday only, for all other Wizard World-related items, including the two concerts (Critical Hit and Peelander-Z) from last week, be sure to read the report:
Critical Hit at Wizard World, Mpls Convention Center (02 May 2015)
Official Wizard World After Party, feat. Peelander-Z at Pourhouse, Minneapolis (02 May 2015)
Wizard World at Minneapolis Convention Center (01 May 2015)
Wizard World Minneapolis - MOA Kickoff event (30 Apr 2015)
Saturday, traditionally drew in the largest crowd... and it also brought in the big headliner stars (in this case, it is certainly Gillian Anderson and Karl Urban).
Last year, I was blown away by how popular Doctor Who was, with the room completely full for Matt Smith. This year, Wizard World brought in Sylvester McCoy, who played the 7th Doctor. What was really fun about McCoy's panel is that he refused to stay on stage, instead would just walk right up to the audience and answered all their questions. This left announcer/moderator Aaron Sagers with very little to do, except to watch McCoy do his thing.
The highlight and funniest moment was when two latecomers tried to sneak in to sit down and McCoy spotted them and said, "You're late!" Then he grabbed the younger girl's phone and started talking to the person on the other end.
Star Trek's Karl Urban just flew into Minneapolis from New Zealand (filming for 2016's Pete's Dragon), using four planes. If Urban was tired from flying, it certainly didn't show, because he was really smart and funny.
Fans sometime ask really difficult questions, particularly names from the Lord of the Rings stories, and I felt like Urban didn't know who/what they were asking. I don't blame him for being stumped, because even I didn't know what they were talking about. Also, fans would ask questions about the upcoming Star Trek 3 script, as if Urban wrote it and had the power to alter the script. I don't have to be Urban to tell you that he is just the actor, not writer and certainly not able to just change the script! To those questions, Urban had to make it clear, "I have zero influence."
Some interesting things that came of out Urban's Q&A, that he absolutely love the Vikings show that airs on History Channel. He would love to play a viking, even throwing in his Travis Fimmel impression.
He will also reprise his role as Dredd, if they can get Dredd 2 off the ground. While nothing is officially announced, he told us that people are working on this. He said that the film did not do well in theaters, but had a large cult following when it was available on the home video market.
When asked about his advice for aspiring actors, Urban said that his father was very against it, "No, son, you're pronouncing it wrong. It's doctor." Urban laughed it off, "Well, now I'm a doctor!" (referring to his role as Dr. McCoy).
One of the hardest working Hollywood actor, Lance Reddick spent his time at his panel answering questions about Lost, The Wire, and, of course, Fringe. Recently, Reddick is most recognizable from American Horror Story, and per a fan's request, he re-created his Papa Legba character and did a line in the Cajun voodoo accent.
The Refuge in the Mall: A Mallrats Reunion with Jason Mewes and Michael Rooker was a lot of fun. It's been more than 20 years since the Kevin Smith film Mallrats, in some ways, was ahead of its time. The two joked about meeting in a hot tub (a recurring joke throughout the panel) and reflect back on that film. Apparently Rooker broke Jason Lee's beloved skateboard off set.
The highlight on their panel was when Mewes jokingly asked to be in one of Rooker's films. Rooker then said he will call up director James Gunn to get Mewes a part as one of the Ravagers in the next Guardian of the Galaxy film. Gunn answered the phone and played along, ending the call by offering Mewes the part of Yondu (Rooker's role)! That got a lot of laughs. Check out the video clip here.
With the X-Files returning to television after a 13-year break, there's never been a more exciting time to be a Gillian Anderson fan. Scully's still got it, working regularly on such current shows as Hannibal, The Fall and upcoming show War and Peace.
As expected, many of the questions were about the X-Files, Chris Carter (the show's creator), and how her personal life was affected by UFOs.... which Anderson had a hard time answering because the show was so long ago and she couldn't remember. I can relate, if you asked me about some concerts I went to in 1996, I couldn't tell you either.
She tried to tell us about this one time on the set, that she made a face and it affected David Duchovny (Fox Mulder). She kept laughing and unable to finish (or really tell us what really happened). She said it was embarrassing, but she kept laughing to herself.
Minnesota's own Kevin Sorbo was humble and really down to earth. He talked about his time and the fun he had in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and how that television show created an entire New Zealand movie industry... spawning Xena, Legend of the Seeker, Weta Workshop, etc.
Regarding some of his film work, he regretted that Kull the Conqueror was "toned down" from the script. He felt that movie should have been a hard R, like Conan the Barbarian.
The Saturday show ended with a concert from Critical Hit (which you can read all about it here) and a costume contest.
There were a ton of great costume. The biggest reaction from the audience was for Lumière, who got a standing ovation. He won best in show, but he had no hands to accept his award!
Photo gallery for Saturday and Sunday will be posted in a future article. Sunday's wrap-up will be posted by tomorrow.
This recap is just for Saturday only, for all other Wizard World-related items, including the two concerts (Critical Hit and Peelander-Z) from last week, be sure to read the report:
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Sylvester McCoy
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The highlight and funniest moment was when two latecomers tried to sneak in to sit down and McCoy spotted them and said, "You're late!" Then he grabbed the younger girl's phone and started talking to the person on the other end.
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Karl Urban
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Some interesting things that came of out Urban's Q&A, that he absolutely love the Vikings show that airs on History Channel. He would love to play a viking, even throwing in his Travis Fimmel impression.
He will also reprise his role as Dredd, if they can get Dredd 2 off the ground. While nothing is officially announced, he told us that people are working on this. He said that the film did not do well in theaters, but had a large cult following when it was available on the home video market.
When asked about his advice for aspiring actors, Urban said that his father was very against it, "No, son, you're pronouncing it wrong. It's doctor." Urban laughed it off, "Well, now I'm a doctor!" (referring to his role as Dr. McCoy).
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Lance Reddick
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Jason Mewes and Michael Rooker
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The highlight on their panel was when Mewes jokingly asked to be in one of Rooker's films. Rooker then said he will call up director James Gunn to get Mewes a part as one of the Ravagers in the next Guardian of the Galaxy film. Gunn answered the phone and played along, ending the call by offering Mewes the part of Yondu (Rooker's role)! That got a lot of laughs. Check out the video clip here.
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Gillian Anderson
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As expected, many of the questions were about the X-Files, Chris Carter (the show's creator), and how her personal life was affected by UFOs.... which Anderson had a hard time answering because the show was so long ago and she couldn't remember. I can relate, if you asked me about some concerts I went to in 1996, I couldn't tell you either.
She tried to tell us about this one time on the set, that she made a face and it affected David Duchovny (Fox Mulder). She kept laughing and unable to finish (or really tell us what really happened). She said it was embarrassing, but she kept laughing to herself.
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Kevin Sorbo
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Regarding some of his film work, he regretted that Kull the Conqueror was "toned down" from the script. He felt that movie should have been a hard R, like Conan the Barbarian.
The Saturday show ended with a concert from Critical Hit (which you can read all about it here) and a costume contest.
There were a ton of great costume. The biggest reaction from the audience was for Lumière, who got a standing ovation. He won best in show, but he had no hands to accept his award!
Photo gallery for Saturday and Sunday will be posted in a future article. Sunday's wrap-up will be posted by tomorrow.
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Wizard World Minneapolis at Minneapolis Convention Center (02 May 2015) runner-ups: Cowboy Marty McFly, Willy Wonka, Lord Tony Stark, How to Train Your Dragons
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