The “FX Fearless Arena” Makes SDCC More Nuts
There are Comic-Con booths, and then there are practical theme parks. FX Networks is going big, loud and expensive this year to make sure everybody attending the San Diego Comic-Con knows about the shows they’ll be broadcasting over the next few months. So much so that they’ll be offering a series of rides based on four of their shows, located at the Hilton Bayfront Park in between the Hilton hotel and the convention center.
The giant FX Fearless Arena will feature the following attractions, and according to FX, this is how they’ll work:
The Strain
Prove your fearlessness by entering a live-action virtual reality experience inspired by The Strain, the vampire thriller from Carlton Cuse and Guillermo del Toro, based off the best-selling book trilogy by del Toro and Chuck Hogan. Using the Samsung Gear VR – powered by the Galaxy Note 4, fans will be taken on a two-and-a-half-minute adventure created exclusively for Comic-Con and featuring series regular Kevin Durand (“Vasiliy Fet”). It’s the perfect preview for the second season of The Strain, which premieres on FX on Sunday, July 12th at 10 PM ET/PT.
American Horror Story: Hotel
Ryan Murphy’s hit anthology horror series American Horror Story is back this fall with its fifth installment, Hotel, and FX is building a two-story model hotel to give viewers a taste of the era. Then fans will be able to venture inside one of eight “gifting suites” in order to capture the most flying bills and earn prizes.
The Bastard Executioner
“Escape the Forest” is the ideal duel inspired by Kurt Sutter’s upcoming medieval drama The Bastard Executioner. Visitors don the mantle of “warriors” and square off against each other to prove their prowess with a high striker, a cross-bow, and a final puzzle challenge that will help them escape the “forest” and win a TBX-themed hooded t-shirt. The Bastard Executioner will debut on FX this fall.
Fargo
Aw jeez, a blizzard in San Diego? Step inside a giant 20-foot inflatable snow globe featuring snow flurries and a façade of a Waffle Hut – a key location in the second installment of the award-winning limited series Fargo which returns to FX this fall.
That’s not even half of it. There will also be a giant LED wall display with a live social media scroll, tons of prizes being given out including a trip to a luxury hotel in Los Angeles or New York City, an It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia sunscreen station, a Kwik-E-Mart truck outside giving free Squishees, and an Archer-themed water fountain shaped like Pam’s dolphin puppet. All of this is free, if you don’t mind the obvious commercial aspect of it. There’s all this, and then the convention itself. Don’t you wish you were in San Diego?