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Tucked into one of the smaller rooms at the convention, many fans of the great Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto (and some curious stragglers, as identified by their quick exit several minutes into the panel) huddled around a humble presentation of his new project, a second sequel to his first film Tetsuo: The Iron Man. The film marks Tsukamoto's first English-language work.

Having shot the film in Tokyo in secret over a period of 8 months, Tsukamoto and his producer chose the San Diego Comic-Con to debut the world premiere footage from the film. They also announced the film's final title for the first time here, even before the Japanese media. The third film in the Tetsuo series is officially called Tetsuo: The Bullet Man, which was the name of a project Tsukamoto was rumored to be doing last year.

The Bullet Man was chosen, Tsukamoto joked, because there was already another movie called Iron Man. He described the character in the film as "bursting out, bursting away" like a bullet. The project started when an American producer approached him to make an American Tetsuo for an international audience, which intrigued Tsukamoto to do a third Tetsuo film with a fully American cast, crew, location and even filmmaking style. "A Hollywood version," Tsukamoto called it. In the end, however, he ended up making it in Japan with American photographer Eric Bossick in the title role.

Potential sour news for fans: Tsukamoto describes the film as an entry point for people unfamiliar with Tetsuo. It's a little easier for the mainstream and Tsukamoto hopes that it can draw a big international audience, hence the need for a more clearly defined narrative. In this case, the main character is an American businessman working in Japan trying to solve the mystery of his son's murder. When he said this, I immediately feared for the worst: a toned down, audience friendly Tetsuo film? My worries were quelled, however, when Tsukamoto then said that he would be showing the first 10 minutes of the new film.

Any Tsukamoto fan should know that sound design is incredibly important in his films. I'm sure he won't skimp on this one, but the sound mix on the edit he brought with him was not at all done, so slack must be given for the amateurish quality. The film starts with the new Tetsuo waking up from a bad dream next to his ten-year-old son. His Japanese wife cries at a corner, predicting that something terrible is going to happen. We find out that he and his son regularly receive health check-ups from Grandpa, who is a scientist at some kind of biological research facility. This relationship hints at this Tetsuo having a very American sci-fi explanation behind it. On their way home, a car driven by a mysterious driver comes out of a tunnel and deliberately runs over the son. Upon seeing his son's running blood on the road, our Tetsuo starts to violently convulse into a fit, as the camera jitters in that familiar Tetsuo style. After 3 straight minutes of just this mad dance, TETSUO - THE BULLET MAN scrolls through the screen.

According to Tsukamoto, the film will see completion in September. Given the English language, he has high hopes for the film to find US theatrical distribution soon. I can't wait to see if it lives up to the utter insanity of the first two, whatever language it speaks in.