The panel for the remake of Robert Wise’s classic The Day the Earth Stood Still was delayed over half an hour due to faulty scaffolding at the San Diego Comic Con on Thursday July 24 2008. However, when the event finally got underway, the large crowd (that had waited in line for hours to get in) was not disappointed.

To start off, stars Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly, director Scott Derrickson and producer Erwin Stoff took the stage to a roar of applause.

Early on, Derrickson discussed the effect Robert Wise had on his career. Apparently, when Derrickson was an aspiring film student, he was fortunate enough to have dinner with the renowned director. “He told me that if I was interested in genre films, which I obviously was, to make my first film a horror film. Because he said a horror film can really show what you can do as a director. I kept that in mind. And I think that’s why I made The Exorcism of Emily Rose my first film.”

A scene was then shown to the audience where Klaatu is questioned by an agent in a government facility. After answering a few questions, Klaatu uses his powers to violently stun the agent and all of the other agents in the vicinity. Klaatu steals the agent’s suit, then calmly escapes the facility.

When asked about becoming Klaatu, Keanu said, “It’s this entity trapped in this human body. He’s sent to see, to judge, so there’s this kind of objectifying quality to him. As Klaatu kind of goes on his journey, of seeing and looking, he is slowly affected by the humans, and in a way, being human.”

Next, a brief scene was shown of Klaatu and Jacob (Jaden Smith) talking in the back of a flat-bed truck.

Afterwards, Derrickson addressed rumours that the character Gort wouldn’t be appearing in the movie. “There’s definitely a Gort in the movie. It wouldn’t be The Day the Earth Stood Still without Gort. We went through various explorations of artwork and how big should he be. Should he be human? Should he not be human? Hundreds of possibilities. And we ended up coming back not far from the original concept because I began to see the simple brilliance that the human form is chosen by this alien entity for this instrument of enforcement.”

To wrap up the panel, a new trailer was shown which gave those in attendance the first look at the Gort character. Gordon Holmes

The Day the Earth Stood Still is currently scheduled to be released on December 12, 2008.