Still No Plans For Paramount Trek Comic Con Panel

In the 10 days since Paramount announced they would not be doing any movie panels (including for Star Trek) at Comic-Con, the world of fandom has been going through the various stages of grief, and apparently some are still in the denial phase. Some websites are even questioning TrekMovie’s recent update on Comic Con. And G4 TV is running a new Comic Con Preview Show which is fueling the conspiracy theories. 

Does G4 know something?
G4 TV is running a Comic Con preview show hosted by Blair Butler and Chris Gore which was actually shot at the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas. It covers all aspects of Comic Con, but frequently referred to how one of the most exciting things about Comic Con will be learning more about JJ Abrams Star Trek. The hour-long show first aired the evening of July 2nd and has been repeating since. Many have emailed TrekMovie about this G4 show and another website has even used it to bring into question TrekMovie’s update from last week.

Screenrant notes "I’m certainly not disputing TrekMovie’s sources… but…" and concludes that it is "not bloody likely" that Paramount would be skipping Comic Con. Screenrant looks to the G4 report and concluded that G4 was "quite obviously connected to sources" at Paramount who made it "quite clear that there would be some sort of major preview and/or news about J.J. Abrams much anticipated Star Trek reboot." However, TrekMovie has checked with G4 and a producer tells TrekMovie that they do not have any specific information about Star Trek, and G4 had just assumed that Paramount would have a panel (as they did last year). This was a resonable assumption three weeks ago, when the preview was shot at Star Trek The Experience. This was well before the Paramount announcement and was just bad timing.

…but what about the ad?
Screenrant isn’t the only site doing this kind of speculating. Pop Culture Geek also points to our update, but notes that Paramount’s Star Trek movie is an official sponsor of the Comic Con website, running ads on the left column of the site. They conclude therefore:

Sorry Trekmovie.com, I’m just not buying it. I’ll believe there’s no Paramount panel when I see it for myself.

Again this is just a coincidence. A spokesperson for Paramount has again confirmed with TrekMovie that they have no plans to hold a panel for Trek. The sponsorship was something set up long ago and is not indication that there is some kind of panel.

Sometimes a no panel announcement is just a no panel announcement
It is understandable that some find it hard to believe that Paramount would not hold a panel for Star Trek, but as of now that is what they are saying. Bear in mind this is not Trek-specific. They are also not doing panels for their other 2009 movies like Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe. This is not an indication that they have no faith in Trek or their other films. Nor is it some elaborate conspiracy to roll out some big surprise. They just decided to skip panels at Comic Con. That being said, Paramount will have a booth and there will be some Star Trek ‘presence’ at the booth.

It is possible that this presence can go beyond just some new marketing materials and there are still talks going on regarding Comic Con and Star Trek. But there is not any kind of ‘secret surprise panel.’ TrekMovie will continue to keep track of any movement on Paramount’s end and will provide more updates as Comic Con approaches.  

 

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It’s unfathomable that Paramount would not take advantage of this opportunity to promote the film. Do they want it to succeed or not? If so they need to get the community of people who shows up for Comic-Con fired up about it. I find it hard to believe they wouldn’t have any footage to present considering the fact it was originally scheduled for a December release date.

Bad, bad move on their part if you’re right – and it flies in the face of the great marketing they did for Cloverfield and Iron Man.

I just doesn’t make any sense.

Vic

It’s semantics.

Just because there is no “panel” does not mean there isn’t something else.

But I still maintain that whatever happens or does not happen, JJ and his group are responsible—not Paramount.

Favreau had no problem getting information out.

WELL I TOLD YOU GUYS SO!

Will Shatner be at the convension since he’s not in the movie?

reposting from the last Comic Con thread….

“Most of the public doesn’t know about or care about Comic Con. And IMO, most Trek Fans are the same. I love Trek, but was unaware of that Con until last year and it’s too far away to attend. The tidbits of knowledge that resulted were nice, but not overwhelming. I didn’t see and drool for a year because IronMan was promoted at the Con.
This isn’t stupid..just too early.”

Why stir things up now, 300+ days ahead of the film release? The hype and sizzle loose their punch. The howling about Paramount being a no-show isn’t fans worrying about the promotion and success of the film, they’re howling because they lose an opportunity to see more pictures, teasers and spoilers.

It is a very bad move to have so little presence at Comic-Con, as well as no footage. I think it’s about time as we’ve been waiting for over a couple years now for something (anything) big. As much as it’s claimed that Paramount has faith in their products, this hurts that faith in the eyes of fans.

I will not be surprised is the new Trek bombs (I really hoping I’m wrong), because I just have a bad feeling about it.

#1: “It’s unfathomable that Paramount would not take advantage of this opportunity to promote the film.”

Because something sounds sensible does not make it true, and much that is true makes no sense.

Yea, too bad shatner is not is the film. What a missed opportunity.

#7 These are the type of comments that are completely insane. The movie is not coming out for almost a year. You don’t think JJ and Paramount are going to do a huge marketing campaign before then?

You think the movie will be a bomb because they MAY not be at Comic Con? Amazing. These are same clueless fans that predicted that Iron Man would fail because he was not a MAJOR character.

Movies stand on their own merits. Hype didn’t help “Snakes on a Plane” did it?
Yes, Comic Con has become a fantastic vehicle for promotion to US. The “US” is the group that was ALREADY GOING TO SEE IT ON THE FIRST DAY.

While I agree it’s unfathomable to think that Paramount would miss such an opportunity as Comic Con, I also find it unfathomable that there are sites out there questioning the validity and veracity of TrekMovie.com. Seeing Pop Culture Geek’s and Screenrant’s comments made me laugh. Not to disrespect those sites (and great sites they are), but they should know by now that if TrekMovie.com reports it, then it’s no bs. ;)

Certainly it’s true that none of the other sites has a record of accurately reporting this kind of behind-the-scenes thing with enough success to cause one to question Trekmovie’s information in favor of theirs.

Maybe eventually another site – other than AICN – will scoop Anthony in some significant way…and maybe not. If and when they do, I’ll pay as much attention to what they report as I pay to Trekmovie.

That’s simply reasonable.

Exactly, Charles. Never question anything. That’s a good way to go through life. I think it’s great that other sites question these things, because then Anthony posts a new article which bolsters my ‘belief’ in Trekmovie.com’s information.

Question everything.

I don’t think it will fail because of not being at Comic-Con. I think it will fail because it will be marketed the same as Cloverfield, not to mention that it’s a Star Trek movie, and Trek doesn’t have the best track record at the box office. Sad, but true. If this movie isn’t a success, Trek is done.

It certainly doesnt hurt Paramounts effort to promote the fim with a panel.
They may decide just to show an image of thEnterprise to get the ball rolling,
but if they have completed footage they should show that too.

#6 is right on……………They are trying to avoid Burn Out. There aren’t many movies that can sustain over a year of hype. CHILL PEOPLE IT’S FREAKIN COMIC CON NOT THE OSCARS. It will happen soon enough…breath, breath

15. GaryS – July 7, 2008

Why?

#15

Agreed. It doesn’t hurt. It can only help.

Star Trek, sadly, has a stigma attached to it and I’m worried that as big as they’re trying to make the new one seem, it could end up like Nemesis.

#16 Spiked,

Thanks

Still Lame too!!!

Anthony,
Once again you guys are doing good reporting…ON THE FACTS, NOT ON OUR WISHES!
Congrats on keeping the cred and for checking the sources for these guys reports. Too many bloggers [ and G4, too! ] just “assume” instead of checking the facts. {…and some question you and your sources! That’s just foolish! ]
This is why I am a loyal reader of this site.
Keep up the fine fine work…

Compare Trek XI to Christmas presents.

It appears most of you would sneak open your presents now in July if you could.

JJ and his crew worked very hard crafting this movie to relaunch the Enterprise and her crew. I don’t disagree at all with the secrecy and the decision to avoid possible leaks at Comic Con.
As Spiked Canon said… breathe.

#13 Mawazitus — that’s one way to twist or misinterpret my comment, I suppose. I was speaking as a writer on TrekMovie.com and as someone who is in constant contact with Anthony. Since I know anything posted on TrekMovie.com is correct, I find it laughable when other sites question it… but of course they’re going to question it because it’s not they’re site and because they don’t have a working relationship with Anthony. I never said they absolutely should not or must not question the site. It is their right to question things, just as it’s my right to find it amusing when they do question things. And now I will end this comment the same way I ended the one above — with a nice “don’t take this comment too seriously” winky-face. ;)

Shame. I really thought they would have something big and special at SDCC this year. The Supreme Court will be there for other projects, so if anyone here is going to San Diego, sit in on those panels because they would want us to be interested in their upcoming stuff, and are probably expecting Trek questions anyway. Just don’t turn the panels off-topic too much, lest you be thrown out.

it is disappointing that Paramount will not take advantage of an opportunity at comic con.. that said, they still have many opportunities to promote this movie, the merchandising of trek alone this fall will generate a lot of buzz.. so this is not the end of the world..

question everything…

believe nothing…

listen intuitively…

speak indiscriminately…

button your lip…. baby….

button your coat….

let’s go out dancin’….

let’s rock-n-roll…. yeah….!

It’s because the movie will not be marketed to fans. It will be marketed to non-fans, since THE FANS WILL COME ANYWAY.

Makes sense, in a suit kind of way.

To go or not to go…the second I cancel my plans, suddenly Paramount WILL decide to have a panel after all. I just know my luck….

Who cares?

Timing is everything. It’s too bad this Con is so far ahead of the release date to be of much use as a promotional tool for Trek XI.
But…
To think that participation in Comic Con is a necessity for this film to succeed is, in my opinion, a silly notion. The geeks can rant and rave, but their only true reason to almost demand a Trek presence is to see spoilers.
And I DO agree that it’s also silly for the other sites to question Trekmovie’s information. That’s the real shame on this thread.

You guys keep missing the point. The timing on this would be the same as what was done with Iron Man. That was also a niche film that used the Con to launch the momentum for that film.

Vic

Paramount’s Plan
Step #1 Announce there will be NO Movie Panel from Paramount at Comic Con.

Step #2 The fans get agitated, worked up and even more hype is created for the New Star Trek movie and it doesn’t cost Paramount a dime.

Step #3 Paramount makes another annoucement that there WILL be a panel.

Step #4 Throw the fans some crumb of info that largely consists of information the fans already know, but add in just enough new information to fuel even more rampant speculation.

Step #5 See Step # 2 for results of Step #4.

Does anyone know if the G4 ad for ComicCon 08 is available online anywhere? I dont have cable, but I would be interested in watching it.

Well, I’m not plannin’ on goin’ to SDCC, anyway, but I’ll be at next year’s WonderCon in San Francisco (run by the same folks, but less congested), and Parmount/Trek is sure to be there since it’s positioned nicely just before the summer movie rush. Heck, it’s the home of Starfleet, kinda makes sense to have a big whoop there, eh?

31. ScreenRant.com – July 7, 2008
“You guys keep missing the point. The timing on this would be the same as what was done with Iron Man. ”

I am saying one Con doesn’t make or break a film… Iron Man or Star Trek. It’s too small of an audience to make a difference and JJ’s been a secrecy-freak so far. There’s likely little he would give the fans right now.
I enjoyed Iron Man, as did my friends, but none of us were caught up in the hype for it based on last years Comic Con. It’s too far in advance to effect people’s awareness at 300+ days until launch and counting.

#10 First, the Star Trek Movie is coming the first week of May 2009. So the new Star Trek Movie is only 10 months away. Second, Iron Man had a huge presence at last year Comic Con and that movie premiered the first week of May 2008. Also, trailers for the Dark Knight Movie started coming out last June, a full year before the movie comes out.
The only way I see it if Paramount is waiting for the Las Vegas Star Trek convention in August to promote the movie, but if this movie is supposed to appeal to both non-Star Trek fans and die hard Star Trek fans then the Comic Con would be a logical place to promote the movie not the Vegas Star Trek Convention. Not everybody who attends a Comic Con is a Star Trek fan. So if you want people who are not familiar with Star Trek attending the movie then you heavliy promote the movie at the Comic Con. You have to wonder why Paramount is not taking this opportunity to promote this movie where thousands and thousands of people will be coming to that weekend. After the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention in August there isn’t another place to promote the movie to a massive gathering. If Paramount sticks to their decision and doesn’t heavly promote the movie at the San Diego Comic Con, then this movie is only for the die hard Star Trek fans. How is Paramount going to get the word of mouth going about this movie if they skip the Comic Con???

I’m glad that people are excited about this movie. I am too. It will be hard to see other actors portray the characters that I saw in the T.V. Series and the Movies. At times I’m sure I will picture Shatner, Nimoy, Kelly, etc.. on the screen when I see the new movie. Who won’t???
I don’t mean to get off on a rant, BUT if you are working at the marketing department at Paramount and the last 2 Star Movies bombed and Star Trek Enterprise made Scott Bakula wish he could jump from body to body again in different time frames again; you would do everything in your power to promote and market this movie properly and make sure this movie is a success to continue other Star Trek Movies in the future. Of course this is just my opinion; I could be wrong.

Xai
Well said. As much as I want to see everything right now, the timing’s not right yet for the production crew to be releasing anything more than non-spoiler teasers. If they released pics of the Enterprise or crew shots, we’d tear ’em apart so fast whether we really liked them or not. My dad had this theory…wait on serving the steak until you can hear the stomach’s growl. It tastes better that way.

37. Tony Whitehead – July 7, 2008
….Bingo.

Xai bro I hate to disagree with you as we have been on the same page for some time but the Con has indeed become quite influential. It recives major coverage and prob did have a huge hand into catapulting Iron Man into to the slam bang success it became. The buzz the came out of last years Con on the film was carried by major media outlets and flooded the web. When you consider that the new film will open before next years Con and therefore will not be able to take advatage of it I think it’s a HUUUUGE mistake on Paramount’s part. If you recall it was at last years Con that Quinto was introduced as the new Spock and that created a great buzz for the film. If I am not mistaked Steven Spielberg also used the Con to present the return of Marian Ravenwood and to show the actors on the set in costume which was also carried by major media outlets and discussed and hyped on sites like Aint it Cool for months. Like it or not sites like Aint it Cool and Harry Knowles can greatly influence genre films. To say that the con is small potatoes is either nearsighted or a ridiculous spin for JJ and co. or a bit of both. Hell even Entourage did an episode about the magnitude of the con among hollywood insiders.

There is no reason that they can’t set something up at the con even if just a little tease to wet the beaks of the geek community. For this film to be as huge as we hope it will be it will take alot more than rabid Trekkies with their toy phasers in tow at the premier to make it so.

And once again to sum it up – L – A- M- E !!!!

#36: ” After the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention in August there isn’t another place to promote the movie to a massive gathering. …How is Paramount going to get the word of mouth going about this movie if they skip the Comic Con???”

Is “SuperBowl” one word or two?

That ad – like the SuperBowl 2008 ad for “Iron Man” – will make a lot more difference than hyping Trek at every convention between now and May 2009 (not all con attendees may be trekkies, but they’re just about all scifi-fantasy geeks and already know about Trek).

There’s a huge difference between Iron Man and Trek and even The Dark Knight. Yeah, there was a teaser (a very, very modest teaser with no actual images) last June but guess what? You saw next-to-nothing in the way of spoilery images prior to that, and then they threw a bone with a pic of Heath as the Joker. YET, it was all misleading as we’re learning the real surprise of the film is Two-Face. Nolan has a grasp of what secrecy means just like JJ does. Favreau was all about openess because Iron Man fans were bitching before he’d shot a single frame, and he wanted to win them over. Trek fans have had a similar reaction but JJ is wisely choosing to ignore it and push forward, counting on a lack of information being just as powerful as too much information. And guess what? I guarantee those same fans that bitch about a lack of Gary Mitchell or the Enterprise looking wrong will still go see it just so they can complain about it.

36. Roy Burr – July 7, 2008
“… BUT if you are working at the marketing department at Paramount and the last 2 Star Movies bombed and Star Trek Enterprise made Scott Bakula wish he could jump from body to body again in different time frames again; you would do everything in your power to promote and market this movie properly and make sure this movie is a success to continue other Star Trek Movies in the future.”

I am in marketing and I think I’d do exactly what’s being done right now. Why?

Sites like Trekmovie are popular and keeping fans in the know… at little cost to my budget. There IS a buzz and I like it.
Movies like Batman, Wall-E, Hancock are premiering right now. They are getting press and have the movie-going public’s attention. I’d consider dropping a generic trailer of STXI on Batman, but that would be it.
Cons… Too early…too narrow of focus, too few bodies compared to the broad appeal I want when the time comes. I have to strike when the iron is hot. I’d grab any Con late in the year for sure. Right now is too early to show any detail.
When you sell, you sell the sizzle, not the steak. Sizzle and hype NOW leads to a letdown before the movie… and I don’t want that. It would be far too easy to show too much of this movie too early.

#40 “That ad – like the SuperBowl 2008 ad for “Iron Man” – will make a lot more difference than hyping Trek at every convention between now and May 2009. ”

Yep.

39. Lord Garth, Formerly of Izar – July 7, 2008

Thanks for the respectful disagreement. Rather than me rehash what a couple wise people said, I will just point out #40 DB and #41 sean above to answer your post.

I am aware that JJ used Comic Con to welcome Quinto and all the rest you mentioned. I am aware Iron Man was pumped last year at the Con, (and Marion, too), but the announcements there did not make me go to those movies. I was seeing Indy regardless and Iron Man was recommended by a friend who saw it. (I am not a Marvel Fan).

I have nothing personal against Comic Con or any Con, I just feel that the Paramounties are not wrong on this one. They need to protect the secret a while longer, not appease fanboys. (No offense intended, all.)

#40 Dennis B

Agreed on the Super Bowl.
My picks are….

Adrian Peterson rushes for 2 TD’s and 187 yards winning the MVP and leading the Vikings to a Super Bowl victory (finally)

and multiple spots, sponsorships and adjacencies plus a full 2 minute trailer for Trek in the first half.

At this point, I’m sure Paramount knows what a stupid decision it is not to have a panel at Comic Con. Yet they’re still saying they won’t have one. That says to me that circumstances beyond the studio’s control is preventing them from having a panel at the con. At least that’s what I would be assuming. I mean, Paramount wouldn’t be dumb enough to exclude themselves from geekdom’s biggest annual event without a good reason, would they?

Also, while I do agree the Comic Con has a major influence on the hype and business a film receives, it doesn’t have quite the impact of promotional materials (namely, trailers), interviews (namely, talk shows), and reviews. The Comic Con is one event attended by a few thousand people (that’s a guess) and followed by maybe a hundred or so news outlets (if that). But trailers, talk show promotions, and reviews are shown on televisions nationwide (and, in the case of reviews, in national magazines). So even though Trek won’t have its own panel at Comic Con that hardly means the movie will bomb.

By the way, some of you are forgetting the fact that Trek will still be promoted at the con. It won’t have its own panel, but it will still have a “presence” there, meaning you can expect a whole bunch of new promotional materials like posters and shirts and stuff. Should be enough for now. A panel would be better, yes, but, like I said, I’m sure Paramount has a good reason for doing something seemingly so… insane.

46. Charles Trotter – July 7, 2008

I am still going along with the “stupid” and “insane” decision they made. Panels invite questions and the answers are likely something that JJ and co. don’t yet want to answer. It would be truly “stupid” to put a panel up there that could tell you nothing.

47. Xai

They did it pretty well last time. :-)

If they’re wanting something closer to the release date, I suppose there’s Star Fest Denver in April, but there’s not much of a national profile with that approach.

Comic Con makes the national news, and announcements made there hit the fanboy news sources within minutes.

If they skip SDCC, they’re nuts.

Christ. Let’s not wet ourselves. Star Trek has not been insulted her. We can call break off a piece of the poontange next may. Cheers.