COMIC-CON 2010

Comic-Con 2010: Fincher and Giamatti Rock The Goon Panel

by Alex Billington
July 23, 2010

After watching that badass short teaser for The Goon that debuted earlier this week, I made it a priority to stop by the panel held at Comic-Con today for the upcoming animated comic book adaptation based on Eric Powell's comics. It was a very good choice as not only was the panel thoroughly entertaining (thanks to Reno 911's Ben Garant as the moderator), but on top of that, producer David Fincher and actor Paul Giamatti showed up as well to support the indie project, which is still searching for a studio to finance and distribute the movie. They also debuted an awesome extended version of that same test footage from earlier this week.

"Everything is going great, [we] could not have asked [to be in] a better situation" with David Fincher and Blur Studios, The Goon's author Eric Powell said at the start of the panel. I think the fact that both Fincher and Giamatti (who voices sidekick Franky) appeared here to support the movie is a great sign. Alas, they still don't have the money, and this is just a test but it's in the works. For the last year, Powell's been developing the script (with Fincher's input), working on test animation, and lots of artwork for the film. The panel was to test their "sales pitch" and they're planning to meet with studios next month using the buzz from today.

And boy was there some buzz! The footage was shown three times, the audience cheering louder each time, and the whole thing was just a kick ass experience that I'm glad I made time to include in my busy schedule. I'm not even that familiar with the comic book this is based on, but I want to see this as soon as possible! Giamatti was sold when he read three pages of the script which was "crazy" and Fincher has been spending a lot of time with Powell developing it, not just leaving it on its own. There was no other person they thought would be perfect for Franky than Giamatti and it's great they got him (Clancy Brown voices The Goon).

Although the test footage seems violent, crude, and totally something not made for kids, they confirmed that The Goon movie will most likely end up being rated PG-13, although Fincher would only say it's not going to be "hard R." But since this is an animated movie, they don't really have to worry about ant of the violence in it. "We plan to have lots of violence," Powell said. "There's not a Hollywood moment in it, this is 100% Goon from the comics," he stated. Never once did they ask them to change anything about the characters, they are exactly as Powell made them. If you want to start reading The Goon comics, you can visit: thegoon.com.

I'm now a full-on support of The Goon and this panel proves that there are enough fans to get this made! It wasn't packed to the gills, but they were definitely loud, loyal and loving everything they saw (and heard). It was even more awesome to see Fincher and Giamatti here in person supporting this indie project, a worthy surprise. Finally, MTV has now debuted the extended footage, which can be watched in full below - enjoy!

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