Comic-Con 2011: Fox pilot “Locke & Key” will be screened with panel
In an unprecedented move, the pilot Locke & Key, which Fox passed on and will not be bringing to series, will screen and have its own panel at San Diego Comic-Con this summer. Traditionally, the con is used to promote genre shows airing in the fall and big budget tentpole films for the studios.
Locke & Key was to be a TV series adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. Here's the official synopsis from the publisher:
"Locke & Key tells of Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them…. and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all…! Acclaimed suspense novelist and New York Times best-selling author Joe Hill (Heart-Shaped Box) creates an all-new story of dark fantasy and wonder, with astounding artwork from Gabriel Rodriguez. Hill has received the Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection, the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story, and the Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award-2007, among his growing collection of critical accolades."
Seeing as how this pilot will not be continuing to series, it won't function as marketing for the Fox show, but rather as a push for the graphic novel. The show had great reviews from critics, but given its unique story it proved a marketing challenge and was eventually passed over for easier to digest fare like The Finder and Exit Strategy.
It will be interesting to see if the panel has any effects on the show. After Fox passed, it was shopped around to cable networks but the heavy price tag and genre left it with no prospects. Could a successful Comic-Con appearance get the cable networks interested? Or make Fox reconsider? In recent years, Comic-Con's influence has come in to question. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD was one of the highlights of last year's con, but went on to flop miserably at the box office. AVATAR failed to drum up much positive buzz a couple years back, yet went on to be one of the highest grossing films of all time. Only time will tell.
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