Ben Stiller introduced the first footage of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which he directed. The footage showed Stiller as a man romantically interested in Kristen Wiig’s character but can’t say anything to her. Stiller’s character is constantly daydreaming about the adventurous life he could be living. He embarks on a real adventure to find a missing photo negative.
Getty ImagesLAS VEGAS — 20th Century Fox launched the final day of CinemaCon with visits from The Heat stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy and an extended early look at Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos hosted the presentation Wednesday, and one of the biggest highlights was the final part of the presentation, when Stiller came to the stage after Gianopulos said that they wanted to end on as high of a note as they had last year, with the presentation of Life of Pi.
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“Yes, Ben Stiller and Ang Lee. The two of us are being constantly compared,” Stiller joked with the crowd.
Stiller spoke about his upcoming directorial project, which stars Stiller, Adam Scott, Sean Penn and Kristen Wiig and hits theaters Dec. 25.
Stiller eventually was interrupted – by Wiig.
“You told me, I think, that this was tomorrow? In the late, late night, tomorrow,” said Wiig, pretending that she wasn’t wanted onstage.
Before the early look ran, Stiller warned that it was tough for him to show the footage because all the special effects weren’t complete.
The footage showed Stiller as a man romantically interested in Wiig’s character but can’t say anything to her. Stiller’s character is constantly daydreaming about the adventurous life he could be living. He embarks on a real adventure to find a missing photo negative.
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It’s clear that Stiller’s character will be put to the test, jumping from a helicopter into the choppy sea, nearly being killed by a shark and biking and climbing his away across stunning terrain. In one scene, Wiig even gets to do some singing (in a fantasy of Stiller’s character).
As Stiller said in his speech, he wanted to make a film that couldn’t be categorized and that felt “epic.” The buzz after the screening was very much about the film becoming a possible awards contender.
The other celebrity appearance was by McCarthy and Bullock, who both took the stage to reveal a new red-band trailer for their comedy, The Heat. The comedy was shown in full earlier in the week at CinemaCon.
“I have always really been a fan of cinnamon,” says McCarthy to the crowd.
The duo got plenty of laughs with their shtick, with McCarthy cracking the jokes and Bullock throwing it right back at her.
“At least midway into this, I had never cared for anyone, at all, that I’ve ever worked with,” McCarthy said.
“Melinda, here, is just like my sister,” Bullock said of McCarthy.
“No one wants to say it, but there’s something so wrong with you,” added Bullock after McCarthy revealed that she had been watching Bullock sleep on set.
A longer clip showed the audience footage from the star-studded The Counselor, which stars Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz.
Clips from the rest of the 2013 slate also were shown, including The Wolverine, The Internship, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Runner Runner (starring Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake) and Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie.
The DreamWorks Animation slate also was covered, which featured footage from Turbo, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Mr. Peabody & Sherman.
Also, a new logo for Blue Sky Studios premiered and an announcement that the Peanuts film would hit theaters in November 2015, the 65th anniversary of the comic strip.
Email: Rebecca.Ford@thr.com; Twitter: @Beccamford
