SAN DIEGO--It's hot outside, but that hasn't stopped 120,000 comic book fans, nerds and fanboys (as well as plenty of female fans) from making the annual pilgrimage to the San Diego Convention Center for Comic-Con 07. And many of these fans arrive in costume. I have a whole group of storm troopers staying in my hotel, the Salomar Hotel, which is just a few blocks away from the convention center. Videogame companies and Hollywood have gravitated more and more to this event in recent years.
Last night, Paramount Pictures showed about 25 minutes of Robert Zemeckis' 3D CGI movie, Beowulf, which is amazing. Forget everything you remember hating about reading this oldest of English language stories back in high school. Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins and a stellar cast bring virtual characters to life that look lifelike. After the movie, Ubisoft showed off its Beowulf game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game is shipping November 16 with the film. The game looks like a bloody good time. It's actually rated Mature, while the movie will get a theatrical PG-13 rating. It's going to be the largest 3D movie opening ever.
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The show floor includes booths from companies like Sony and Vivendi Games and there are lots of games spread throughout the various huge booths. Sega's Iron Man is at the Marvel Comics booth and it's Golden Compass game is at the New Line Studios booth. Ubisoft is debuting its "Lost" videogame trailer at the ABC "Lost" panel today. Comic-Con is also the place where lots of new Hollywood-licensed games are announced. Ubisoft is bringing James Cameron's Avatar to next gen consoles. The French game maker is also working with NBC to turn the hit TV series Heroes into a new console game. Game maker D3 Publisher has partnered with Top Cow Comics to turn its upcoming game, Dark Sector, into a comic book series.
I'll have more on this show, which is the furtherest thing from even the old E3 that I've ever experienced...later.