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*** 1:30 p.m. ET – Screen Gems panel begins in Madison Square Garden ***
Moderator Josh Horowitz takes the stage to start the panel with Underworld. He teases the stars who are about to take the stage and giveaways for the crowd. Prior to bringing out the cast, Horowitz introduces the final trailer for Underworld: Blood Wars.
The lights come on and Horowitz introduces the new poster, telling the audience they are all going to take it home.
He brings out director Anna Foerster first, then Theo James, and finally Kate Beckinsale.
First, Beckinsale addresses what makes Seleme so exciting for her. “She starts the movie at the lowest she’s ever been at any of the movies,” she says. “And she kind of doesn’t give a shit.”
“He’s kind of tougher and rounder,” James says of his Thomas character this time around before joking, “He’s more of a sexual predator in that way.”
Beckinsale and James recall their first impressions of one another. They make some degrading jokes toward each other, in good fun, throughout.
Foerster is invited to the conversation by Horowitz to talk about how much this film interests her. She is most excited about the cast, though she highlights the action and other elements which make this exactly what she wants to do.
Beckinsale chimes in with “I’m all about as many vaginas being involved as possible,” before going on about Foerster serving as a female director. “I hope that in a few years the conversation of a female as a director being unusual will be unusual, too.”
The film will open up the Underworld. “It broadens the world… More characters,” James says. “You see people and their characters interacting in different environments.”
“World creation is interesting,” James says. “It’s real – as real as vampires and werewolves f—ing each other is.”
Beckinsale tells a story about scaring James with a ferret but he ended up falling in love with the animal. He jokes about the animal dying, prompting and “awe” from the crowd, but tells them he is kidding.
“Will Cleaners come back into the series?” asks a fan… They are unsure but Foerster teases, “Underworld 6: The Cleaners.”
The next fan asks Beckinsale has evolved over the films. “She started out in the first movie as part of an army. She had a mentor. She fell in love. All that turned to shit,” Beckinsale says. “This is a really big deal for her. I think she probably the closest to suicidal a vampire has got in movie history.”
A fan asks about funny moments on set and Beckinsale says that there was a moment where James gets stab in the stomach and had a prop with Theo-accurate pubes on it became an item of interest to the cast.
Beckinsale is asked if she has asked about a crossover with Blade. “No. We had that idea. No,” Beckinsale says. “They’re busy. They’re doing something with Blade.”
Horowitz concludes the panel by pointing out an Underworld mobile game will be available next week.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter takes the screen. Horowitz introduces a new, final trailer for the film.
A detroyed White House takst he screen. Alice climbs to the top of nearby building. A drogin-like creature chases her. She drives off in a humvee, gets ahead of it, turns around and drives straight into the creature to kill it. Elsewhere, a flashback to the Raccoon City outbreak is shown. An army approaches. Politicians discuss whether or not the world will end with humans. A little girl in a computer screen offers Alice revenge. She is going for the hive. A massive army of creatures continues to approach and Alice’s group is going to kill “every last one of them.” She rides through explosions on a bike, hangs upside down in a trap and guns down enemies, and finds herself in the laser trap with Dr. Isaacs. All kinds of creatures are shown quickly. Alice fights Dr. Isaacs and promises to kill him.
Paul W.S. Anderson, Eoin Macken, William Levy, Ali Larter and Mila Jovavich take the stage.
Thhe first topics include being at New York Comic Con and the impressive length of the franchise. “It’s been an incredible, incredibe ride,” Anderson says. “We wouldn’t be here without the fans.”
‘We make the movie for you guys,” he says.
“It’s a voyage of discovery for the Alcie character,” Anderson reveals. “This is the movie where we discover the truth about her and the truth about the Umbrella Corporation.”
Horowitz asks if this is really the final chapter. “This is the conclusion. We’re bringing it full circle. It’s coming back to where it all began,” Anderson explains. “It’s also a very emotional movie, bringing Alice’s story to a conclusion.”
The attention turns to Macken and Levy, the newcomers to the franchise. They claim to have been excited rather than intimidated but Jovavich is quick to tease them about their first days. Levy says his first day was “great” when he got to meet the cast. “It has been a great franchise and for me to be a part of that, not only personally but for my career, it’s gonna be great.”
Horowitz asks Jovavich if she prefers action or dialogue. “I have both,” she says before saying, “I love the action.”
“It’s always nice to get back in my Alice shoes and kick some ass.”
Jovavich tells a story about a young girl who loved the Resident Evil films so much that they inspired her to go to school.
“We were doing it before it was cool,” Larter says about being part of a female franchise.
Fan questions round out the panel.
“This is the best movie in the franchise,” Anderson promises.
“We have some killer death scenes,” Jovavich concludes. “People die so crazy, awful, unexpected but amazing!”
