Things got off to a very good start today with Paramount Pictures as the first panel to kick off Comic-Con in San Diego Convention Center's monstrous Hall H. They brought with them a slew of goodies, including some casting announcements and footage.

Hot Rod
Paramount had so much to offer in their 2 hour slot that everyone was a bit rushed. Andy Samberg and his "Lonely Island" boys Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone introduced a clip from the film in which Andy's character goes off on a sort of "dancing rampage" in the woods, and then falls continuously down a lot of hills and cliffs. I'm on the fence on how funny I think this film will be, but Andy Samberg was hysterical in the very few questions he had the chance to answer. He mentioned that we can expect more music videos a la "D*ck in a Box" and "Lazy Sunday" from him in the near future.

Stardust and Beowulf
God to all comic nerds (myself included!) Neil Gaiman is this year's "Guest of Honor" at Comic-Con and rightfully so! He's premiering Stardust this weekend, Beowulf in November, and Coraline next year. He showed a clip from Stardust which showcased Michelle Pfeiffer in her villainous role. I've never read this book, but Gaiman claims the film will be enjoyable to those who haven't read it and fans alike. He also premiered the trailer for Beowulf which struck me as sadly mediocre. It had some nice looking effects, but was just a typical trailer. The most interesting thing about this movie is that it will be the widest 3D release ever, releasing in Real D, 3D, IMAX 3D, and regular old 2D. During the Q&A, Gaiman fielded questions about adapting his much beloved comic, Sandman, which he answered in a response I've heard him say before- when the right person, with the right passion for the project comes along, then it will happen. He did mention that before we get Sandman, we will likely get a Death movie (a spin off character from the Sandman series), which is going to be a small movie on a small budget, written and directed by Gaiman himself. I'm very interested to see him take up the helm as director.

Sweeney Todd
Next we were treated to a teaser poster for Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd. I snapped a pic of the poster I got in my goodie bag, so I apologize that it's not a better image.

Spiderwick Chronicles and Drillbit Taylor
Things slowed down a bit during a how-we-did-this presentation of the CGI in Nickelodeon's upcoming fantasy movie, Spiderwick Chronicles. They showed the trailer afterwards and I think it looks like a fun kid's movie. Afterwards, they showed a trailer for Drillbit Taylor with a video intro from producer Judd Apatow and director Steven Brill. The movie, starring Owen Wilson, is about a bum who is hired by a group of kids to protect them from a high school bully. I'm not generally an Owen Wilson fan, but Judd Apatow seems to have another hit on his hands- the trailer is hysterical.

Untitled J.J. Abrams Project
As soon as the "Bad Robot" slug came up at the beginning of this trailer the crowd went crazy. This trailer gave me goosebumps! It showed a kid's going away party that's interrupted by what seems to be an earthquake. When everyone goes to the roof to see what's going on, there's an explosion in the background and debris is flying everywhere, one piece which turns out to be the Statue of Liberty's head. J.J. Abrams came out afterwards to debut the teaser poster (another pic from my goodie bag, again, sorry it's not a better image) and to dispel the rumor that the film will be called "Monstrous." This film doesn't come out until next January, but I'm looking forward to it already.

Iron Man
In what was easily the best part of the panel, in my opinion, Jon Favreau came out and introduced some footage that was to be shown in Marvel's panel on Saturday, but he simply couldn't wait for people to watch it. Most of the footage showed Robert Downey Jr. looking fantastic as Tony Stark, but went on to show a lot of the origin of Iron Man, the first gray suit, and ending with some amazing shots of Iron Man flying. I've got high hopes for this movie and the footage they showed was very strong.

Indiana Jones 4
There's still no title, but they did have a mini teaser poster for us in our goodie bags, as well as video footage of Steven Spielberg as he introduced known cast members Harrison Ford, Ray Winstone, and Shia LaBeouf. He then took this opportunity to bring out Karen Allen, Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark which, of course, made the crowd go mad with excitement.

Star Trek
A slew of producers, writers, and director J.J. Abrams took the stage for this one. While there's still some time before the movie is released (next Christmas) and they haven't even started shooting so there's no footage, they still had a few casting announcements. First they confirmed the rumor, as reported by Buzz earlier this week, that Zachary Quinto would play Spock. They also announced that Leonard Nimoy would return to reprise his role as well, so it seems there will be a "Young Spock" and "Old Spock." Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy came out and joined the panel to rap a bit about how excited they are to make the flick.

Wow! This was a big, exciting panel to start things off with! I can tell this year's going to have a lot of surprises in store!