L.A. Comic Con Universal Studios Hollywood Panel: Drifting...
Read through for the tiniest tidbit of news, stay for the commentary?
I thought if any panel might make news at L.A. Comic Con, it would be the one from Universal Studios Hollywood. They just announced the return of Fanfest Nights, and this would have been a really good time to announce more, besides the Scooby-Doo x Universal Monsters we knew about. Welllll…not so much. But I wrote up the panel anyway, and you may find some of the tidbits at the very end slightly interesting.
Todd Martens of the LA Times moderated a panel featuring:
John Murdy, executive producer of Halloween Horror Nights, who started as a tour guide.
Stephen Siercks, executive producer of Universal Fan Fest, in his 21st year.
Abbye Finnan, show producer.
John Corfino, VP of Universal Creative.
HHN started in Hollywood in the ‘80s, but it was only one year. Then it came back a couple of years in the ‘90s. After Murdy finished the Mummy ride, he was asked if he was interested in bringing back Horror Nights, and his vision is what you see today. The recipe is really movie quality, and it has been 20 straight years today. Initially the focus was “more narrow” – it was Freddy/Jason/Leatherface...and then they did them all, so what was next? They try to evolve with horror, looking to music artists, video games, TV for more source material. The goal is to tell the story visually, since you can’t really stop and give a monologue.
Do people read the intros? Murty: “I don’t think anyone reads anything in a theme park.” The crowd protests a bit, with a small show of hands. For the Jason house this year, he was inspired by Urban Explorers on YouTube: all the fresh kills have crew gear from a show like that. “If Jason was going to kill anybody today, it would probably be influencers.”
Talking about Terrifier, Murdy says he looks in the park to see what everyone is wearing, and what’s on their shirts. After Terrifier 2, he saw lots of shirts, and made the deal. He felt the slasher icon kinda got left behind in horror’s evolution, and Art the Clown is the new one. When he tried to book a ticket to see it on a Tuesday night in Ireland, there was one seat left, so he knew it was a phenomenon. “Doing a season of Horror Nights is like doing eight movies at the same time.” They start construction in March, but also have to start thinking about the next year’s concepts.
They always want to do something contemporary, something classic, at least one video game, and “brand extenders” – taking chances on things you might not think of as horror, like The Weeknd, or WWE’s Wyatt Sicks. They lean heavily into licensed content, but like original stuff too; Slash happened to be learning the banjo, and so it worked well for the dust bowl theme of Scarecrow.
Part of the reason for so much Latino-themed folklore is that people kept asking him about it. Despite its popularity, this year will be the final Monstros house because they previously said it would be, but they will do something else in that vein.
The conversation moves on to Stephen, who says Fanfest nights really builds on HHN, but has a different rhythm, more of an interactive, exploratory experience. Like in Hill valley, you get to choose your own adventure a bit. It’s a celebration of fandom – content and the fans themselves. It took them about three years to develop, and they looked at what resonated the most. They ran tests 4-5 months early to make sure the execution worked.
What they saw at the event was that their fans wanted to interact, engage, and explore.
For 2026, they have announced Scooby-Doo x Universal Monsters. Being able to go back and watch all the old episodes has been fun and seeing how often it has crossed over with other brands. It will be on the backlot, and possibly as interactive as BTTF.
“More information soon” is a bit of cop-out – it seems no news will be announced here.
Abbye and Jon are asked about the Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift coaster.
Jon says they’ve always known they wanted an attraction like this. One of the ideas was to go back to the original idea of behind-the-scenes, and the queue will show you lots of props and how the movies came up with the stunts for the movies. Abbye says they were able to work really closely with the movie crew, and learn how they actually do the stunts.
They had to really work with partners to ensure the construction wasn’t too disruptive to anyone. The first pass on the idea was nine years ago. Optimistically, it takes four years from design to execution. You have to use every square inch of real estate, “like living on a sailboat.” Building on the hillside has been challenging, but it’s changed the whole landscape. Abbye notes that you’ll see it from the 101, and it’ll no longer just be the Minion.
It’s imperative to honor the IP, says John, “No ride vehicle will be more highly scrutinized.” A lot of work went into the design so that it’s everything you would love to see. The partners from the franchise can actually see the ride from their office.
The creative conceit and ride story is not trying to take you into the movie – instead you, the parkgoer, are part of testing out the stunts.
Why do these spaces matter, asks Martens? Abbye says as a huge reader, she loves being able to walk into the worlds. Corfino says he’s very humbled by the whole experience, and that there’s plenty more coming. Knows we all feel an emotional connection with these worlds, but he also works around some of the smartest people he knows. ‘What we do is invention.” Feels there’s no better experience than opening day when the fans come in and lose their minds.
Siercks loves the fact that it’s “theater turned on its side.” Murdy was a Frankenstein fan from the age of four, and was thrilled by the idea that you could go where they made that movie and meet Frankenstein. It’s your home, with like-minded fans, and a sense of community, where nobody makes fun of your interests.
Panel ends with everyone getting a Fanfest mug, after one lucky kid was gifted for HHN express passes.
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