At the recommendation of the venue, Otakon 2017 will require bag inspections upon entering the convention space at the Mt Vernon Place doors of the Walter E Washington Convention Center and the M1 level of the Marriott Marquis. We apologize for any inconvenience or disruption this may cause. The bag inspections will be conducted by a third party contractor, and we are working with them to streamline the process as much as possible. You can help by keeping your bag organized and accessible, and by making sure you are not bringing in anything you are not supposed to (our list of restricted policies can be found on our website at http://ift.tt/2vJOWMz). If you have any questions about the new procedures, you can contact our Access Control team at help.otakon.com.
The Programming Schedule for Otakon 2017 has been released on our website. Just click on the “Schedule” button on the top of any page or follow this link: http://ift.tt/2tB02lA.
As with previous years, we will also be making the schedule available on the Guidebook application. We’ll announce on our website when the download for Guidebook is available.
The running mantra of Kingsman: The Secret Service was “Manners maketh man,” though for the spy movie’s successor, it’s more like “Sequels driveth the director mad.”
“Making this film has been the hardest endeavor I’ve ever done in my life,” says British filmmaker Matthew Vaughn, who’s taking a break from finishing Kingsman: The Golden Circle (in theaters Sept. 22) to promote the film to ravenous fans Thursday at San Diego Comic-Con.
“I genuinely had no idea how difficult it was. But I’m happy with the end result. You need a bit of time for the bruises to go before you start remembering the good stuff.”
After saving the world from the nefarious businessman Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) in 2014’s original Kingsman, newly minted superspy Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) and what’s left of their covert British organization — including Merlin (Mark Strong) and Roxy (Sophie Cookson) — have to scramble in the sequel when their headquarters is blown up.
British superspy Eggsy (Taron Egerton) finds a cultural rivalry with his American counterparts in ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle.’ (Photo: Giles Keyte)
They come to the USA and join up with their American counterparts in Statesman, a bunch of wild spirits including Southern secret agent Tequila (Channing Tatum), whip-cracking Whiskey (Pedro Pascal), tech guru Ginger Ale (Halle Berry) and their leader Champ (Jeff Bridges).
The resulting team-up is “a healthy rivalry with cultural clashes,” Vaughn says. “There’s a great line that Churchill said about America: The only thing we really have in common between England and America is the language, and even that’s debatable.”
While the first Kingsman was “very much a celebration of Britannia,” The Golden Circleis all about Americana.
“In the ‘70s, America was leading the world’s culture, whether it was music, television or movies, and we were all obsessed with America and being American,” Vaughn says. “There’s a lot of those memories I have that I wanted to bring back.”
Agents Tequila (Channing Tatum, left) and Ginger Ale (Halle Berry) are among Statesman’s finest in ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle.’ (Photo: Giles Keyte)
The director told Colin Firth in the first movie that he wanted him to channel David Niven (“The classic English gentleman being forgotten”), and in the sequel, Vaughn asked his American contingent to embrace the style of James Coburn and Burt Reynolds. “There is a bit of a love letter going on to those two in the film.”
Even though his buttoned-up character Harry Hart was shot in the head in the first movie, Firth returns sporting an eyepatch, though Vaughn teases that fans will have to wait until the movie’s out to learn how he survived. “You have to buy a ticket for that!”
Champ (Jeff Bridges) is the leader of the American spy organization Statesman. (Photo: Giles Keyte)
The Golden Circle does introduce a new villain for Kingsman and Statesman to face, criminal mastermind Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), who’s like “Martha Stewart on crack,” Vaughn says. “She identifies a problem in the world where her point is valid but her solution is crazy and insane and not good.”
The goal of the Kingsman franchise is to pay homage to the James Bond movies and other secret-agent fare while also upending familiar tropes. And in most of those spy films, the bad guys exist simply to give the heroes something to do — but not Poppy, Vaughn says.
“I wanted to make sure she had moments where you were like, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe what she’s doing.’ ”
Studios know when they have a hit franchise on their hands. For example, Marvel announced that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 had been given the go-ahead a few days before the second film had even premiered.
Fans of the Kingsman franchis should rejoice, because it looks like the Matthew Vaughn movies will be getting a similar treatment. While the second installment, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, doesn’t hit theaters until the fall, Matthew Vaughn has already begun working on number three.
At a Fox premiere event in London, Vaughn treated those in attendance to a screening of The Golden Circle’s first act. After debuting the footage, which was received extremely well, the director talked a bit about the franchise.
At one point, Vaughn revealed that there was definitely a third movie being planned. He started the plans way back when he was still writing the second movie. He claimed that the third Kingsman would tell a surprising story, and that “no one will predict where Eggsy winds up.”
The film is being directed by Matthew Vaughn. The script was co-written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, based on the “The Secret Service” comic book created by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. It is produced by Vaughn, David Reid, and Adam Bohling.
The cast features Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Halle Berry, Sir Elton John, Channing Tatum, and Jeff Bridges.
The trailer opens with Eggsy (Taron Egerton) having plenty of fun in a spy car — complete with missiles. But soon things turn south, as the Kingsman learns they are up against an an underworld organization whose members are unidentifiable — finger prints are removed and teeth are filed smooth.
When the Kingsman’s mansion is blown up, Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong) travel to Kentucky for some backup. There they meet Tatum’s character, some sort of southern spy operative who has plenty of gadgets of his own (among them: a lasso that can cut a man in two).
There’s also a look at Harry (Colin Firth), who returns wearing an eye patch.
Mégane à trois 