Comic Con International

The entertainment industry’s hugely popular media extravaganza, Comic-Con International , has added cast members from TV hits such as "Glee" and "Bones" to the July 21-24 lineup at the San Diego Convention Center.  Attracting more than 100,000 fans annually, Comic-Con was launched as a comic book convention but has grown into an international happening that features all facets of Hollywood entertainment. And it may not be too late to snag tickets, if you're persistent.

Kristen Stewart has come a long way since her "Panic Room" days. Just ask her former costar Jodie Foster, a newcomer to last weekend's Comic-Con International in San Diego. "[Kristen] really should've given me some tips" on dealing with screaming fans, the actress told "Access Hollywood. " Foster was there to promote her own flick, "Elysium," costarring Matt Damon. Foster said Stewart was "absolutely brilliant" in "Snow White and the Huntsman" and was happy to reflect on her former costar, who was only 12 years old when she played Foster's daughter in the 2001 thriller.

If you look closely at some of the most popular comic book and collectible characters featured at Comic-Con International in San Diego, you notice some unexpected similarities. "X-Men's" Professor Charles Xavier uses a wheelchair. "Daredevil's" Matt Murdock is blind. "Iron Man's" Tony Stark doesn't have a healthy heart. But it's not just the superheroes who are living with disabilities.

At this year's Comic-Con International, Warner Bros.  set up a VIP-only tent so packed with luxury that some of those allowed in said it reminded them more of the Cannes Film Festival than the annual gathering of geek fans. There was little indication outside that there was anything special about the white tent that sprouted up for the first time this year. Located in between the San Diego Convention Center's Hall H, where the most popular panels for movies and TV shows are held, and the "Extra" stage where Warner touted many of its TV shows in an outdoor setting, it was surrounded by shrubbery.

Robert Zemeckis has never been to Comic-Con International in San Diego, and the director's "Disney's A Christmas Carol" seems like an unusual choice for a first appearance. But like several filmmakers heading to this week's colossal fanboy convention, Comic-Con -- with its new 3-D projection system -- offers an exceptional occasion to position upcoming releases. Snippets of film shown at earlier Comic-Cons have helped launch several blockbusters, including "300," "Iron Man" and "Twilight."

Shannon Page, 18, an aspiring actress and self-proclaimed "nerd" from Carlsbad, took a step toward breaking into the movies this weekend. She joined would-be record producer Stephen Matteson, 20, of Chula Vista and scores of others performing in "video auditions" at Comic-Con International, the annual gathering of youth-entertainment purveyors and customers.

Comic-Con International Where: San Diego Convention Center, 111 W. Harbor Drive, San Diego When: Wednesday (preview night) 6-9 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Price: Sold out Information: http://www.comic-con.org

SAN DIEGO - More than 24 hours after arriving in town for Comic-Con International, movie producer Daniel Alter had an admission: He hadn't actually been to the Con. "The truth is that for industry people, there are so many great parties that you don't have to go to the convention center anymore," said Alter, chatting at an exclusive rooftop bar with a drink in his hand and a VIP pass around his neck. Most know Comic-Con as the jampacked geekfest where 130,000 fans wait in long lines to see movie, TV, video game and comic book presentations at the San Diego Convention Center and listen as their favorite stars repeatedly say things like "Without you guys, the show would not exist," as "The Walking Dead's" Andrew Lincoln told the enthusiastic crowd during the panel for the hit AMC television series.

SAN DIEGO - They came alone, in pairs or with their children. Some wore costumes, most did not. But nearly all of the 200 fans waiting patiently in a long line inside the San Diego Convention Center late Thursday afternoon were in search of one thing: a moment with their favorite new author E.L. James, the 49-year-old West London woman who penned the literary sensation "Fifty Shades of Grey. " James, a mother of two teenage boys, was at Comic-Con International to sign copies of her racy romance trilogy, which has sold more than 20 million copies in the United States.

If a geek-chic lifestyle came with a primer, it might read something like Bryan Lee O'Malley's "Scott Pilgrim" graphic novels. A six-part series influenced equally by rock 'n' roll and old Nintendo games, O'Malley's tale of one hopeless romantic's quest to win the girl of his dreams is filled with relationship-challenged characters who come of age the same way Mario and Luigi battle pixilated turtles — with a kick, a jump and a prayer for a...

SAN DIEGO - More than 24 hours after arriving in town for Comic-Con International, movie producer Daniel Alter had an admission: He hadn't actually been to the Con. "The truth is that for industry people, there are so many great parties that you don't have to go to the convention center anymore," said Alter, chatting at an exclusive rooftop bar with a drink in his hand and a VIP pass around his neck. Most know Comic-Con as the jampacked geekfest where 130,000 fans wait in long lines to see movie, TV, video game and comic book presentations at the San Diego Convention Center and listen as their favorite stars repeatedly say things like "Without you guys, the show would not exist," as "The Walking Dead's" Andrew Lincoln told the enthusiastic crowd during the panel for the hit AMC television series.

SAN DIEGO - Director Jen Soska and her twin sister came to Comic-Con with one gory aim: Gross out as many people as possible with blood-soaked footage from their upcoming independent horror movie, "American Mary. " And indeed, clips from the film about a broke medical student who starts performing underground surgeries attracted a healthy crowd of onlookers to a room in the San Diego convention center. "We wanted to physically make you ill!" Soska told the audience cheerfully.

SAN DIEGO - They came alone, in pairs or with their children. Some wore costumes, most did not. But nearly all of the 200 fans waiting patiently in a long line inside the San Diego Convention Center late Thursday afternoon were in search of one thing: a moment with their favorite new author E.L. James, the 49-year-old West London woman who penned the literary sensation "Fifty Shades of Grey. " James, a mother of two teenage boys, was at Comic-Con International to sign copies of her racy romance trilogy, which has sold more than 20 million copies in the United States.

"Breaking Bad's" final season premieres July 15, but the show is getting a special premiere event July 14 in San Diego during the Comic-Con International. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will both be in attendance, along with most of the show's supporting cast, including Anna Gunn, Jonathan Banks, Dean Norris, Bob Odenkirk and Betsy Brandt. (Basically, anyone in the cast who didn't have half his face blown off last season.) While the world of meth dealers and warring drug cartels may seem a little gritty and unusual for the normally fantasy-tinged genre material of Comic-Con, series creator Vince Gilligan has shown an affinity for costume colorations that would do any comic book writer proud.

Comic-Con International Where: San Diego Convention Center, 111 W. Harbor Drive, San Diego When: Wednesday (preview night) 6-9 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Price: Sold out Information: http://www.comic-con.org

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Wednesday. Superfans, geeks and pop culture collide, as Comic-Con International will kick off in San Diego with a preview night Wednesday. Steven Spielberg, Andrew Garfield, Guillermo Del Toro and Jon Favreau are expected to attend the event, which runs through Sunday. ( Los Angeles Times ) "Captain America" director Joe Johnston weighs in on his superhero flick, its star Chris Evans and killing Nazis. ( Hero Complex ) "The Darkness" may be coming to a theater near you. Talks have started to take the graphic novel about a mobster to the big screen.

IT'S THE Cannes of Capes, the World's Fair for Fanboys, the ultimate Bazaar of the Bizarre. Comic-Con International gets underway today at the San Diego Convention Center and 125,000 fans will attend this frothy celebration -- and hard sell -- of pop culture. Like at a rock festival with multiple stages, you can go to Comic-Con and have an experience completely different from the next fan.

For self-proclaimed geeks, superfans and buffs of the popcorn film, San Diego's Comic-Con International is an annual pilgrimage. The convention center's 6,500-seat Hall H is the hallowed ground where Jon Favreau first introduced Robert Downey Jr. as "Iron Man" and where James Cameron's "Avatar" began to generate the kind of deafening buzz that indicated it would be much more than an expensive 3-D movie about blue people from another planet. At this year's sold-out confab, which starts Thursday and runs through Sunday, Steven Spielberg will make his first appearance to discuss his motion-capture movie "The Adventures of Tintin" and Sony Pictures will introduce Andrew Garfield as the new Spider-Man.

"Finding Neverland," a planned stage musical based on the popular 2004 movie, has been grounded. The La Jolla Playhouse said it was removing the musical from its 2011-12 schedule and replacing it with a revival of "Jesus Christ Superstar" imported from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada. The La Jolla Playhouse said "Finding Neverland" was canceled because the Weinstein Co. withdrew from the project. Harvey and Bob Weinstein served as executive producers on the 2004 movie, which was produced by Miramax.