It’s a sad day for Outlander fans attending the Outlander New Jersey convention. Both Sam Heughan and Tobias Menzies have canceled. What does this mean for the August conventions as a whole?
Creation Ent brought official Outlander conventions to the States for the first time. Back in February, New Jersey was the first location added, with a promising lineup. Las Vegas was added later, although that convention took place last month. Just weeks before the Outlander New Jersey con, fans have been left disappointed in two main guests canceling.
First Tobias Menzies canceled and then just recently Sam Heughan canceled. This isn’t the first time Sam has had to cancel convention appearances due to his schedule conflicts. Since taking on movie roles and doing more promotional spots for those movies, he’s had to drop a couple of planned appearances from his plate.
Menzies, meanwhile, is filming for The Crown Season 3, which is getting in the way of planned dates. He alerted his fans on Twitter at first, with Creation Ent later following up with confirmation of the cancelation.
Tweeting this with a heavy heart, but I'm sadly now not able to attend Outlander con in NJ 17- 19 Aug due to filming commitments sorry sorry, have an amazing few days, jealous of London town @CreationEnt @Outlander_STARZ
— Tobias Menzies (@TobiasMenzies) July 27, 2018
What does this mean for other guests?
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So far, other guests are still scheduled to attend the Outlander New Jersey con. Just recently, Caitriona Balfe canceled her appearance at Starfury in Birmingham, UK for filming work, which is set for later this month. There’s no word yet on whether she’ll cancel this appearance too.
Creation is looking to add more guests to the con lineup to make up for two high-profile guests canceling. When Sam canceled the Outlander Las Vegas con, five guests were added, including Cesar Domboy and Steven Cree. Both are already confirmed for the New Jersey con, so it will be interesting to see who is added in.
What does it mean for other cons?
The canceled appearances are only linked to the Outlander New Jersey con so far. Of course, there is the chance that the actors will need to cancel other convention appearances.
Wizard World Chicago is likely one that many fans are keeping an eye on. This is very Outlander heavy, with Sam, Caitriona, Diana Gabaldon, Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin, Lotte Verbeek, and Graham McTavish currently confirmed as guests. There’s still time for scheduling conflicts to come their way, but fingers crossed none of them have to cancel.
What does this mean for fans?
If you’ve got tickets for Outlander New Jersey con, there’s mixed news. Creation Ent operates a “no refund” policy for guests canceling. That means, even though two high-profile guests have canceled their appearances, you won’t be able to get your money back for tickets and packages.
The only money you can get back is anything that is Sam Heughan or Tobias Menzies specific, including autographs and photo ops. You can check the Creation website for more details.
It’s certainly disappointing and there are a lot of angry people in Facebook groups. This could put a lot of people off getting convention tickets early on in the future. After all, some of these scheduling conflicts would have come up weeks ago and not just recently.
Are you attending Outlander New Jersey convention? Does this put you off attending a convention? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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