The Cannes of Comics

The Terminator, having already received a standing, clapping, hollering, whistling ovation from several thousand comic book fans jammed into a ballroom here, returned the adoration.

“You’re the biggest, the best fans we have,” roared Arnold Schwarzenegger--setting off another round of exuberant applause.

To reward such devotion, the star and his director chose the Comic-Con International gathering as the ideal venue for the first public peek at their “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” set to be released next July.

Call it the Cannes Festival for the comic book-superhero-sci-fi-full-fantasy subculture.

The annual gathering of the tribe for the makers and consumers of comics has also become the place for stars and directors of movies geared to the same demographic to strut their stuff.

“A lot of regular people laugh at us as just a bunch of comic-book geeks,” said Brett Hermann, a college student who arrived dressed as a Klingon. “But the people who make movies show us respect.”

Comic-Con is seen by Hollywood as an excellent spot to reward the box office faithful, to spark that all-important prerelease buzz, and maybe to counteract Internet “spoilers” who love to dis current movies as unworthy of their cinematic or comic book origins.

“You couldn’t distill down the fan base to a more pure essence than the people in this room,” “Terminator 3” director Jonathan Mostow said of the crowd Saturday in the convention center ballroom here.

In hopes of influencing that essence, LucasFilm, Paramount, New Line, Warner Bros., Universal and 20th Century Fox all brought stars and directors and never-seen-before film clips of movies to be released during the next few months.

“This is a rough cut; nobody has seen it,” said James Cameron, producer of “Solaris,” which stars George Clooney. “You’re on the inside, baby.”

While Comic-Con, now in its 33rd year, has always had a movie tie-in, the Hollywood presence has gotten progressively larger over the years and took a quantum leap this time out, when upward of 75,000 people flocked to the four-day event.

“This is a mecca for pop culture,” said Jim Gianopulos, chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment. “It’s like they put out a homing signal and tens of thousands of people arrive. It’s a fascination, a hobby, a cult.”

Of course, there is always a danger in meeting aficionados who know the source material intimately and take a proprietary interest in its sanctity.

Peter Crisscoula, a retail clerk, wanted to make sure that the second installment of “The Lord of the Rings,” due out at the end of this year, is consistent with the first and with J.R.R. Tolkien’s book. He left satisfied after a peek and the question-and-answer session with New Line executives.

“They’ve captured the wonder of it,” Crisscoula said. “They’re smart to show us first. They know their audience: It’s us.”

Most of the audience questions at the mini-screenings were of the polite-to-gushy variety about autographs, future projects and specific characterizations, but there were some assertive queries.

One questioner noted that Mostow was not the director on the first two “Terminators” and asked pointedly: “Are you going to ruin this like somebody ruined ‘Batman’?”

Mostow’s response was diplomatic: Buy an $8 ticket next July and decide for yourself.

“If you guys don’t like the movie, we’re really [messed up],” Ben Affleck joked after showing a clip of “Daredevil,” in which he plays the first blind superhero.

Wanting approval, however, does not mean currying favor at all costs. Jason Lee, star of “Dreamcatcher,” drew the line at a request from a fan to insult one of the fan’s former friends. Lee took it in stride and fired a jocular shot back, referring to a previous convention panel with Lucy Liu, star of “Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever.”

“With Lucy Liu, it was all about ‘overcoming obstacles [for Asian women],’ ” Lee responded. “But with us, it’s ‘call him an [insulting name].’ ”

A Colorful Exchange

Some semi-raunchy dialogue ensued among Lee, co-star Timothy Olyphant and the audience, and when the two stars rose to leave, Lee offered upraised finger gestures. The fans appeared to love it and jumped to their feet in raucous appreciation.

With the success this summer of “Spider-Man,” “Men in Black II” and “Road to Perdition,” comic books and graphic novels are hot as a source for films. The Web site comics2film lists more than 200 movie projects that have comic book characters and themes as their starter dough.

For movies such as “Daredevil,” “X-Men” and others that are taken from comic books, there is a cultural symmetry in the trip to Comic-Con.

“These are the people who kept ‘X-Men’ alive the last 40 years, so it was available to filmmakers like me,” said director Bryan Singer, now making “X-Men 2.” “It’s absolutely appropriate that this is the place to talk about the project for the first time.”

Along with movies and comic books, the conventioneers are also devotees of the Internet--where numerous sites, authorized and unauthorized, provide information about movies in progress. An appearance at Comic-Con can help the studios straighten out--or spin--the story in a helpful way.

Rumors abound on the Internet about what comic characters will or will not be in which movie and how they will be portrayed. It is the kind of information that moviemakers are reluctant to release before the premiere.

“You all know who the characters are,” said Singer, trying not to be pinned down. “You all have computers.”

At the Comic-Con showings, the barrier that often exists between the makers and the consumers of popular culture is virtually nonexistent. Many of the makers of comic-book movies began as avid readers of comic books.

“It feels weird being up here like this,” said Mark Steven Johnson, director of “Daredevil.” “I used to attend the convention just like you.”

Still, the emergence of the annual Comic-Con gathering in San Diego on the must-do list for stars and directors has caught some a bit by surprise.

“Before I came to America, I dreamed about becoming a big movie star,” Schwarzenegger said. “I did not dream I would be at the world’s greatest comic book convention.”

But even for a superhero from the future who returns to the present on occasion, a trip to Comic-Con is easy to explain.

“These are the people who stand in line to go to movies,” Singer said.