Stallone, Lundgren, Austin toughen up Comic-Con

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.

As Crews was introduced, he unbuttoned his shirt and made his pec muscles dance. He later did the same with his biceps.

The former football star described the film as "the manliest movie ever made" in which the actors did their own stunts and the fight scenes were real.

Austin broke Stallone's neck during one scene, sending the star to the hospital for surgery.

Lundgren, who sent Stallone into intensive care when they made "Rocky IV" together, said he was thrilled to work with the filmmaker again and be part of such a big, tough cast.

"It was a great experience for me," he said, "one that only comes along once in your career."

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.

Near the end of Thursday's hourlong presentation, a representative from the Guinness Book of World Records presented Stallone and Lundgren with plaques marking their record-breaking achievement.

Stallone said he had planned to retire after concluding his "Rocky" franchise with 2006's "Rocky Balboa."

But after the success of that film, and "Rambo," which followed, he said he "got greedy again" and wrote "The Expendables," which opens next month.

Comic-Con continues through Sunday at the San Diego Convention Center.

Rodriguez unveils 'Machete' in 7-minute clip

Robert Rodriguez loves Comic-Con, but the San Diego Convention Center is just too limiting. So the filmmaker decided to unveil his new movie, "Machete," on a street corner instead.

Rodriguez showed about seven minutes of footage from the film at an outdoor party Thursday night that featured free tacos and margaritas, scantily clad dancers, a dozen tricked-out low-rider cars and a graffiti wall.

Stars Danny Trejo and Michelle Rodriguez were on hand for the celebration. The film also stars Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, Don Johnson and Lindsay Lohan.

The seven-minute clip was sexy, bloody and action-packed. In one scene, Alba puts out an attacker's eye with a stiletto heel. In another, Trejo's character slices open an opponent's stomach and rappels down a wall with his intestine.

"The human intestine is 10 times longer than the human body," Robert Rodriguez said. "True fact."

The writer-director said "Machete" is a film of and for the fans, who clamoured for a full-length movie after seeing a trailer in 2007's "Grindhouse."

"I was never going to go beyond the trailer," he said.

The film focuses on Trejo's character, Machete, a renegade who's fighting against corruption in the United States and Mexico. Robert Rodriguez wrote the part for Trejo, his first starring role in a 25-year career.

"No matter where you go, there's always going to be corruption," Robert Rodriguez said. "So you almost have to create this superhero that can solve a problem that we find unsolvable ourselves."

"This is the first Latino superhero," said Michelle Rodriguez, who sports an eye patch in "Machete."

Lohan plays a pistol-packing nun in the movie. The director said her character has "a really great, surprising arc."

"I was playing with icons a lot in this," Robert Rodriguez said. "She was already so iconic in one way, I thought, 'How can you play with that, play with these images in pop culture?' And everything that's going on with her now only fuels that even more."

"Machete" opens in September. Comic-Con continues through Sunday.

Abrams and Whedon talk pop culture

Before Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams got too deep into a discussion about pop culture, Whedon confirmed some major Marvel news: He's directing "The Avengers."

He made the announcement Thursday at Comic-Con, San Diego's annual pop-culture convention.

In a panel moderated by Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly, Abrams and Whedon discussed the future of 3-D, the viability of the Internet as a vehicle for original programming and what they love about comics, sci-fi and making movies.

Whedon says he's working on the outline for the "Avengers" script.

Abrams says he'll start shooting his new film, "Super 8," in September.

Comic-Con continues through Sunday at the San Diego Convention Center.

'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' screening creates pandemonium

"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" won over Comic-Con.

At the end of the "Scott Pilgrim" panel at the pop-culture convention, director Edgar Wright had a surprise for the crowd. He invited anyone handed a button marked with an 8-bit rendition of the title character's face at the start of the session to follow the filmmaker to a world premiere screening of the movie.

"Would you people like to follow me to the theatre right now to watch the film?" he asked.

Wright stepped off the stage away from assembled cast members and quickly disappeared into a sea of more than 6,000 convention goers. Outside the San Diego Convention Center, masses of people split off into different directions, eventually converging seven blocks away on the historic Balboa Theatre for the comic adaptation debut.

"I'm so, so glad I made it," said fan Jennifer Gladwell. "I didn't know where we were supposed to go!"

In the frenetic flick based on the comic series of the same name, Michael Cera plays a zero-calorie-soda-lovin' bassist smitten with neon-haired delivery gal Ramona Flowers. To win Flowers' heart, Pilgrim must smite her seven deadly exes -- one is a telekinetic vegan, for example -- in duels punctuated with video game flourishes.

The hundreds of fans who made it into Thursday night's surprise screening roared for the "Mortal Kombat"-style matchups and feasted their eyes on the splashy visuals, set in a stylized version of Toronto in which ladies can yank giant hammers from their purses and the "Seinfeld" theme unapologetically blasts before domestic situations.

Cera ditched a Captain America costume he jokingly donned for the panel to watch the film from the loge, along with such cast members as Brandon Routh, Kieran Culkin and Jason Schwartzman and "Scott Pilgrim" creator Bryan Lee O'Malley. After the movie, the screen ascended and rock band Metric, who provided tunes for the movie, performed.

Jolie tells fans that filming 'Salt' left her scarred

She wasn't computer generated, and she wasn't even wearing a costume.

That didn't stop Angelina Jolie, clad in a snug shiny black jacket, from dazzling the crowd at Comic-Con on Thursday afternoon as she promoted her spy action-thriller "Salt," which opens Friday.

"She's so pretty," said convention goer Christina Torres, who waited Thursday morning in a line that snaked outside the San Diego Convention Center to catch Jolie in the flesh. "I mean, I always knew she was pretty, but when you see her in person, you realize just how pretty she is."

The A-list actress tiptoed around fan questions about her mysterious character Evelyn Salt, who may or may not be a Russian spy.

"There's a real duplicity to her personality," she said. "There's a part of her that's not necessarily a good guy, and because of certain things that happened to her, she's a bit damaged. She's not just heroic. She's not even. She's not just brave. There's something a little off about her, and maybe there's something off about me."

Jolie performed her own stunts in "Salt" and recounted an on-set injury to the audience that left her scarred. She sliced open part of her face just above her nose when tumbling into a doorway with a gun.

Jolie said she first thought she suffered a concussion because she couldn't hear anything, but later realized she was wearing earplugs.

Comic-Con continues at the San Diego Convention Center through Sunday.

3D 'Tron' footage wows Comic-Con

The follow-up film to 1982's "Tron" wowed the high-tech crowd at Comic-Con.

The cast and creators of "Tron: Legacy" discussed the new film and shared about eight minutes of 3D footage with some 6,000 fans at the annual pop-culture convention Thursday.

The clip centred on the character of Sam Flynn, played by Garrett Hedlund, entering the digital world where his father disappeared decades earlier.

Hedlund is shown being whisked away from the real world, stripped of his clothes and dressed in the glowing suit that has become a symbol of the "Tron" world.

The actors wore custom-made illuminated suits wired with electricity during filming.

"It was an honour to be able to wear something like that," said star Olivia Wilde. "It was really beautiful."

Jeff Bridges, who reprises his role as Kevin Flynn from the original film, said, "we were working with black velvet and white adhesive tape" back in the '80s.

The Oscar winner actually plays two characters in "Tron: Legacy," including a younger version of himself achieved with computer effects.

Director Joe Kosinski thanked Comic-Con fans for helping make the "Tron" sequel a reality. He said fan reaction to early sketches from the new film at Comic-Con two years ago helped secure funding for "Tron: Legacy."

The film was shot entirely in 3D, Kosinski said, using cameras developed by James Cameron.

Michael Sheen, another star of the film, noted that "Tron: Legacy" is actually in 4D.

"It's a 4D film because Jeff Bridges brings an extra dimension of awesomeness," Sheen said.

Bridges said the second film appealed to him for the same reasons the first did 27 years ago.

"It tickled the kid in me, to be sucked inside the computer," he said.

"Tron: Legacy" opens in December.

Comic-Con continues at the San Diego Convention Center through Sunday.