Mel Gibson slated to attend first-ever fan convention at FanX this September
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — FanX made a huge announcement this morning — Mel Gibson will be coming to the convention this September, marking his first appearance at a fan convention.
“We just feel beyond lucky and beyond ecstatic that he chose Salt Lake as the place to do his debut convention,” Dan Farr, FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention founder and show producer, told ABC4.
Gibson, an award-winning producer and director, is well-known for his roles as Max Rockatansky in the first three “Mad Max” movies and Martin Riggs in the “Lethal Weapon” series, as well as his work in “Braveheart”, “Man Without a Face”, “The Passion of the Christ”, and “Apocalypto.”
“Mel expressed an interest in attending fan conventions and as he and his agent looked for the best one, they talked to other celebrities and quickly discovered that FanX is one of the celebrities’ favorites,” said Farr. “I say this all the time and it’s true, our fans have helped us develop such a good reputation amongst celebrities that they all want to come to Salt Lake to meet and interact with our fans and that’s what attracted Mel to FanX.”
Gibson not only acted in “Braveheart,” but produced and directed it too, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. He also produced and directed “The Passion of the Christ” and directed “Apocalypto.”
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“He’s very, very talented and one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. To think that we get to have him at our convention, and fans will get a chance to get a photo with him or meet him, get an autograph, that is a big deal. We are just so happy about it,” Farr said.
Gibson is the latest to be added to the convention’s lineup of guests. Another recent announcement was that actors Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Elijah Wood, who play the hobbits in the “Lord of the Rings”, will also be at FanX.
Other guests include Cole Sprouse, Anthony Daniels, Randy Quaid, Logic, as well as Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez from “Napoleon Dynamite”. Fan favorite Matthew Lillard, known for his role as Shaggy in “Scooby-Doo”, is returning this year, something Farr said he requested.
“He asked his manager, or his agent, he said, ‘Can you get me back into Salt Lake? I had such a good time there, I would like to go back’… So we booked him again. There’s a lot of guests that have been here before, Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner, who were here in 2019. We’re bringing them back again because they both requested that they come back to the show. And we absolutely want to have them back. It’s just the way the shows come together in such a big powerful way because the celebrities really love being in this market.”
Farr said this is a testament to the community at FanX, which has built a strong reputation of being welcoming.
Farr commented he originally thought FanX this year would have about 80 celebrities, but that number is now looking closer to 100.
“It’s going to be bigger celebrity-wise than anticipated. We’ve got more vendors than ever that want to get into the show, and so this will be our biggest show ever, and the attendance is right on track to break records there too,” he said.
In the press release of the announcement, the convention said that “FanX will continue to announce celebrity guests from fandoms such as Marvel, DC, Disney, Star Wars, 90’s Sitcoms, Cartoons, and many more.”
FanX this year will be from September 26 – 28, with tickets available online. Farr said details for Gibson’s photo ops will be coming soon.
Visit FanXSaltLake.com for more information on photo opportunities and future announcements.
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