R: Angelina Jolie leaves a panel for the movie “Salt”: Will Ferrell speaks at the “Megamind” panel and (below) attendees dressed as “Chef Vader” (R) and a storm trooper from Star Wars arrive at the pop culture convention Comic Con in San Diego, California, Thursday. - Agencies SAN DIEGO - Hollywood took over downtown San Diego Thursday as the giant annual Comic Con convention kicked off a four day celebration of pop culture. Angelina Jolie flew in to promote her new spy movie “Salt”, Johnny Depp greeted fans by video from the set of the fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, and Jeff Bridges and Olivia Wilde turned up to chat about their hotly-anticipated sci-fi thriller sequel “TRON: Legacy”. Around 126,000 fans of comics, movies, video games and TV series are expected to descend on the San Dieo Convention Center for the show, which started life as a gathering of comic book fans but has now become a key stop in Hollywood's bid to attract influential young male audiences. Will Ferrell kicked off Comic-Con in costume. The funnyman stepped onto the pop-culture convention's stage Thursday decked out as his villainous animated character from the upcoming Dreamworks superhero tale “Megamind.” Ferrell, donning blue facepaint and a bulbous helmet, also brought breakfast for the attendees, which numbered more than 6,000: a box of doughnuts and a jug of orange juice. Ferrell was joined by his costumeless co-stars Tina Fey and Jonah Hill, who respectively play a perky reporter and nerdy cameraman caught in the middle of a battle between a superhero and supervillain. TRON legacy Lines for the “TRON:Legacy” panel wrapped around the convention center long before the show officially kicked off. But before some 6,500 lucky fans were treated to eight exclusive minutes of 3D footage from Walt Disney's Dec. 17 release, Disney had a few other surprises. “Hellboy” director Guillermo del Toro will write and produce a big screen adaptation of Disney's “Haunted Mansion” theme park ride, Disney announced. No release date was given. In an event Disney dubbed “ComiTRON”, Bridges, Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, Michael Sheen and Garrett Hedlund joined the original 1982 film's creator, Steven Lisberger, and new director Joe Kasinski on stage for an hour-long panel. Salty Jolie Jolie joined her “Salt” co-star Liev Schreiber, producer Dino di Bonaventure and director Phillip Noyce to promote the Russian spy thriller, which opened Friday. “You can get away with so much in fantasy like bending a bullet, for example. So this one was a nice challenge because we had to work so much harder to convince the audience that all of these things are possible. I think these stunts in this movie are better than in other action movies that I've done,” she said. Rocky power It started with chants of “Rocky, Rocky,” and ended with Sylvester Stallone accepting accolades Thursday from the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the most successful sports franchise in film history: “Rocky.” Stallone and a cast of tough guys came to Comic-Con to present their new movie, “The Expendables.” Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Randy Couture and Dolph Lundgren appeared alongside Stallone, the film's writer, director and star. Bruce Willis popped by unannounced to thank Stallone for casting him in a cameo role in the film. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also makes an appearance in the movie.
