For the first time in its five-decade history, San Diego Comic-Con has stepped beyond U.S. borders, launching an international edition in the southern Spanish city of Málaga. The four-day pop culture convention, which opened on Thursday, brings the energy, spectacle, and star power of its Californian counterpart to Europe, drawing tens of thousands of fans, industry figures, and international attention.
Warriors, wizards and other costumed characters flooded the streets of Malaga in southern Spain on Thursday for the opening of the first San Diego Comic-Con held outside the United States.
Mirroring the famous California event, the four-day convention will feature blockbuster film presentations, prominent figures from the worlds of comics and video games, and fans dressed as their favorite characters.
Highlights include appearances by Hollywood action star Arnold Schwarzenegger and Welsh actor Luke Evans who appeared in The Hobbit film trilogy.
Gwendoline Christie, best known for her roles in fantasy-drama series Game of Thrones, is also set to attend.
More than 100,000 fans are expected at the event at Malaga's main congress center, a figure not far below the 130,000 attendees who visit the San Diego Comic-Con annually.
The two most anticipated film premieres at the convention are Tron: Ares, the third installment in Disney's Tron franchise, and Predator Badlands, the seventh movie in the Predator franchise.
"The essence is the same. We share the same DNA; in some ways, we are equal," Javier Barbera, executive director of Comic-Con Malaga, told local newspaper Sur.
Organizers hope to make the Malaga edition an annual event, he added.
Once known primarily for its beaches and historic sites, Malaga has emerged as a hub of culture and technology in recent years that has attracted major players like Google, Oracle and Huawei.
"Malaga is a city full of energy, creativity and warmth, exactly the kind of place we had in mind for this historic expansion," David Glanzer, chief communications and strategy officer of San Diego Comic-Con, said when the event was officially unveiled in March.
Comic-Con began holding events in San Diego in 1970, initially as a low-key and rather niche huddle but has now grown to be one of the world's biggest celebrations of pop culture.
With AFP
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