SAN DIEGO, Calif. (AP) 鈥 Tens of thousands of fans 鈥 many in costumes 鈥 descended Thursday on Comic-Con International, the four-day pop culture spectacle that will feature updates on the new 鈥淧redator鈥 movie, 鈥淎lien鈥 series and a special appearance by George Lucas.
Fans packed into the convention's famed Hall H for updates on the 鈥淔ive Nights at Freddy's鈥 sequel and the 鈥淭oxic Avenger鈥 reboot, with coming later in the day.
The convention won't have major news about any upcoming Marvel movies or what's next for the hit relaunch of . Both studios are sitting out Comic-Con 2025, as far as their film slates go.
An estimated 135,000 people will attend the convention, which will greet Lucas on Sunday for his first Comic-Con appearance. The 鈥淪tar Wars鈥 creator will discuss his that will open next year in Los Angeles.
Fans of the 鈥淎lien鈥 and 鈥淧redator鈥 franchises will have plenty to cheer. Elle Fanning, star of 鈥淧redator: Badlands,鈥 will discuss the film this week. FX will also bring the stars and creators of 鈥淎lien: Earth,鈥 a series that will unleash the Xenomorph species on Earth next month.
鈥淎lien: Earth鈥 will be one of the projects that brings a massive interactive experience to San Diego, with a replica of spacecraft from the series. The attraction will feature what's described as a terrifying mission at night.
Marvel may not be presenting new movies, but it will have a attraction near the convention, a tie-in to Friday's release of the latest attempt to in theaters.
A main feature of the convention is its 460,000-square-foot (42,700-square-meter) exhibitor section, which features exclusive merchandise, comic book art and exhibits from brands like Star Wars, Lego, Nickelodeon, Paramount and more.
鈥楩ive Nights at Freddy鈥檚 2': More pizzerias and murderous bots
No animatronics 鈥 or humans 鈥 were harmed when 鈥淔ive Nights at Freddy鈥檚 2鈥 came to Comic-Con.
That wasn鈥檛 necessarily the case on the movie set for the robots.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e there, you can actually hug them,鈥 star Piper Rubio said. But she noted that the animatronics sometimes malfunctioned, whether it was odd facial expressions, 鈥渇ingers falling off or the occasional foxes catching on fire.鈥
The movies are based on the popular Five Nights at Freddy鈥檚 video game about a cursed pizza restaurant with possessed, murderous animatronic characters.
The first film was Blumhouse鈥檚 biggest opening when it dual-launched in theaters and on the Peacock streaming service in 2023, in its first weekend.
Director Emma Tammi said the second movie has three times the number of animatronics as the first. Star Josh Hutcherson said the movie also features multiple Freddy Fazbear's Pizza franchises and new animatronic characters, like Mangle.
Teo Briones, who鈥檚 starred in 鈥淔inal Destination Bloodlines鈥 and 鈥淐hucky,鈥 is a newcomer to the series and said he was immediately excited to be part of a movie based on a game he played as a child.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really special to be a part of something that has been such an important cultural thing for my generation,鈥 he said.
鈥淔ive Nights at Freddy's 2鈥 will be released Dec. 5.
From the wastes to Hall H for 鈥楾he Toxic Avenger"
A year ago, 鈥淭oxic Avenger鈥 seemed lost in the waste. But on Thursday, the earnestly gory reboot of the classic 1984 B-movie from Troma Entertainment was in Comic-Con's vaunted Hall H like it was a regular blockbuster.
The movie was shot in 2021 and had a festival premiere in 2023, but struggled to find a distributor. It had been deemed unreleaseable by some with its ultra-graphic, though weirdly warm comic violence, most of it incurred by the tutu-wearing title character鈥檚 toxic mop.
Cineverse is now giving it an unrated wide release on Aug. 29.
Blair said he had a few non-negotiables that were gladly granted when he agreed to make the film.
鈥淗e had to have a tutu. He had to have a mop,鈥 the director said, and, he said. No CGI.
鈥淚 was pretty insistent that we had to have a performer in a suit,鈥 Blair said.
Peter Dinklage plays the hero in his pre-toxic form and provides the voice throughout the film that also stars Elijah Wood, Taylour Paige and Jacob Tremblay. All but Bacon were on the stage.
鈥淭here's other people up here!鈥 Dinklage said after the first bunch of questions during the Q&A were all for him. 鈥淓ver seen 鈥楲ord of the Rings?!' I wasn't in that!鈥
Wood, the 鈥淟OTR鈥 star sitting next to him, laughed as much as anyone in the room.
Comedy takes over Hall H
Comedians Gabriel 鈥淔luffy鈥 Iglesias and Jo Koy whipped Hall H into a frenzy during a mostly-packed session to promote their massive 2026 comedy show at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium.
The pair traded light 鈥 and mostly family-suitable 鈥 banter about their inspirations and heroes (Iglesias cited his mother, which led Koy to want to change his answer from Eddie Murphy) and their passionate fan bases.
They said their show would involve each doing at least 90-minute sets, special guests and befitting a show at a football stadium, probably some tailgating. They said fans should expect to be there all day.
Koy joked that it was 鈥渃hallenging to get back here" and that he was ignoring calls from family and friends to get them passes to the convention.
They ended the session handing out autographed Funko collective figures of their likenesses and a selfie with the crowd. They warned anyone who was there with someone they shouldn't be to take cover. 鈥淲e're not Coldplay,鈥 Iglesias joked, citing the involving a tech company CEO captured embracing an employee at one of the band's concerts.