Legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola kicked off Day 3 of Comic-Con with footage of his new gothic mystery, Twixt .
Receiving a standing ovation from the crowd, Coppola extolled the virtues of 3D, before admitting, “I don’t like watching 3D with glasses.”
Nonetheless, he urged everyone to put on his specially designed Edgar Allan Poe masks - with in-built 3D lenses - to watch the 10-minute reel.
Starring a ponytailed Val Kilmer as a “bargain basement Stephen King”, Twixt sees the paperback writer investigating a bizarre murder that may or may not have something to do with a vampire cult – helped along by the spirit of Poe himself.
Coppola used his slot to conduct a cinematic experiment, using editing software on his iPad to re-shuffle the footage live and show a second, different version.
The director enthused about embracing new technology, saying he’d like to take the film on tour and play it with a live score, re-editing the film in real-time according to what “the audience like and dislikes.”
The room wasn’t entirely sold – come the third showing of the footage, there were several audience walkouts.
But the 3D was well received and most applauded Coppola for his experimental approach, making for one of the most interesting panels of the Con so far.
Twixt opens later this year.
