Wizard Entertainment Group announced today that it drew 24,500 fans to its annual Wizard World Los Angeles event, posting more than a 20% increase from its inaugural 2004 show. At this years show, event organizers revealed plans to relocate the three-day pop-culture extravaganza to the Los Angeles Convention Center, March 17-19, 2006.
The increase in attendance can be attributed to a lineup of premier celebrity talent that included Avi Arad (ceo, Marvel Studios), Chris Evans (FANTASTIC FOUR), Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George (THE AMITYVILLE HORROR), Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes, Joss Whedon (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), as well as Stan Lee, among others. Additionally, Wizard World Los Angeles featured special content from several comic, sci-fi and horror-themed properties from seven different movie studios, which included clips from THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, FANTASTIC FOUR, as well as never-before-seen footage from BATMAN BEGINS and Steven Spielbergs upcoming WAR OF THE WORLDS.
In just two years, Wizard World Los Angeles has grown into a show thats nearly half the size of the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) were ready to move to the Los Angeles Convention Center, said Gareb Shamus, chairman/ceo of Wizard Ent. Group. Our fans are the early adopters that fuel the broader interest in comic-themed content and being in Hollywoods backyard will allow the studios to provide our fans with greater access to talent.
Wizard World Los Angeles, Wizard World Philadelphia, Wizard World Chicago, Wizard World Dallas and Wizard World Boston are produced by Wizard Conventions Inc. Wizard Conventions is a sister company of Wizard Ent., the industry leader in the comicbook and collectibles market that publishes four magazines, WIZARD: THE COMICS MAGAZINE, INQUEST GAMER: THE GAMING MAGAZINE, TOYFARE: THE TOY MAGAZINE and ANIME INSIDER: THE JAPANESE ANIMATION MAGAZINE, as well as co-publisher of TOY WISHES: THE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE. Wizards publications have a monthly national readership of more than 2 million and are sold in 25 countries and five languages. Wizard can be found online at www.wizarduniverse.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
