While much of the excitement at Comic-Con on Saturday was reserved for the Marvel panel, which had the first footage from Thor and Captain America, as well as the Avengers cast lining up, there were also a lot of people waiting expectantly for Jon Favreau to talk about his upcoming Cowboys & Aliens.
He didn’t disappoint, bringing along Daniel Craig with him, as well as Comic-Con virgin Harrison Ford (yep, apparently Han Solo has never been to Comic-Con, which is almost unbelievable). Favreau confirmed the film won’t be in 3D, because he wants to shoot on film and doesn’t like post-conversion. He also promised it would be a by-the-book western, infused with the sort of scary (but still family friendly) sci-fi of the likes of Close Encounters.
He also screened two scenes from the film, one featuring Daniel Craig riding through a virtually deserted western town, and the other featuring Craig fighting with Paul Dano and Harrison Ford, only to be interrupted by aliens arriving from above in UFOs and causing chaos. Finally, the first official image from the movie was released, which you can see above, which features Craig holding using some sort of strange device.
In case you don’t know much about Cowboys & Aliens, here’s the official synopsis: ‘1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Daniel Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). It’s a town that lives in fear.
But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.
Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents-townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors-all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.’