Three major Hollywood studios, which have mounted major operations at the San Diego Comic-Con in recent years, have decided to skip the pop culture event this summer.  Warner Bros., Disney, and the Weinstein Company have decided not to mount a major presence at the nation’s premiere pop culture show in2011, which means that there will be no major push and or preview for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises or Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. 

 

But in spite of what someone who reads the first half of Brooks Barnes and Michael Cieply’s article in today’s New York Times might think, it’s not as if Tinseltown has decided to desert San Diego en masse this year.  Dreamworks is presenting the world premiere of Cowboys & Aliens, and rumors have it that Paramount may bring Steven Spielberg to hype his Adventures of Tintin, which debuts in December, and Fox is planning a major promotion for its Rise of Planet of the Apes, which is due to debut on August 5th.

 

In fact timing may have played a major role in the decisions of Warner Bros. and Disney to bypass San Diego this year.  Nolan is deeply involved in the production of his final Batman film, while Snyder is in pre-production on the Superman movie, and Warners Green Lantern movie debuts a full month before Comic-Con begins.  Also with DVD revenues shrinking and the bo office only down in 2011 so far, the studios are in austerity mode and looking to  shed personnel and cut expenses.

 

According to The Times, Marvel Studios has not yet decided on its level of participation, but it does have Captain America: The First Avenger set to debut the week after Comic-Con.  Meanwhile smaller studios such as Summit Entertainment, which will put on a panel for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part I and Relativity Media will be pushing The Immortals, The Raven, and Shark Night 3-D. will mount major efforts.  Other mid-majors like Lionsgate are also planning a major presence, and the producers of TV series understand that Comic-Con’s late July timeslot is perfect for hyping fall-debuting series.

 

So the studios are not abandoning Comic-Con, though it must be said that they are not as gung-ho as they were just a year or two ago.  For every District 9, which benefited greatly from a preview showing at San Diego, there is the countervailing example of a Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, a Tron: Legacy, or a Sucker Punch, which all lost money in spite of expensive Comic-Con promotions.