The Battleship panel at WonderCon 2012 today featured director Peter Berg, actor Alexander Skarsgard, and actress Brooklyn Decker. Berg began by explaining how his childhood revolved around the Navy, giving him the passion for helming a naval film.

Berg also explained that even thought at first Battleship may seem like a ridiculous concept for a film, this movie encompasses the brutality that the board game can bring. Berg expressed that, “When I say hit, I try to kill you as brutally and quickly and mercilessly as possible… that is good DNA for a movie.”

Berg introduced the first clip for Battleship saying, “At its core it is suppose to be a big rousing piece of Summer popcorn madness.”

The short clip introduced Taylor Kitsch as a down and out Alex Hopper while he attempts to impress Samantha Shane (played by Decker). What resulted was a series of physical comedy gags as Hopper breaks into a convenience store and is subsequently arrested.

Both Skarsgard and Decker explained that Berg was deeply invested in creating realistic and practical effects with big guns and tons of action.

The next clip featured Alex Hopper five years from when the first clip saw him. As a cleaned up Navy man, Hopper is the captain of a ship that has just fished an alien from the sea. What results next is the crew of the ship attempting to repel an alien attack with tons of guns, CGI, and explosions.

According to Berg, Kevin Costner contacted the director to warn him about the perils of shooting on the open ocean. Berg explained that Costner was extremely helpful in the film’s open ocean production.

Berg went on to explain that much of this film was inspired by the Stephen Hawkings documentary about Goldilocks planets and the attempts that our planet is making to contact them, which would explain the alien invasion theme of Battleship.

Panel Photos

All photos by Mr. BabyMan for Geeks of Doom

Amazon.com Widgets