The happy happening will go down at the massive, 800,000 square foot Anaheim Convention Center and will feature all things Disney, including much lauding of Tim Burton's highly anticipated — we can't wait! - Alice and Wonderland. While that's all well and good, Disney president and chief executive Robert Iger hopes the event will help persuade "very ardent" fans to flock to the company's wide-ranging products:

We live in a world where digital communication enables people to express their opinions about things to a much broader set of people. We call it the combustion of digital world of mouth... Their ability to communicate with others is unlike anything we've seen at any time before.

Translation: "We want to make sure the little buggers don't use twitter against us, as they have others." Yes, the D23 Expo may sound simply like a company-specific Comic-Con, but it's far more than that: it's so much more than that. Disney crazed masses can also join "a high-end, elite-level access" fan club.

So, what does membership cost you? $75-a-year. Now, tell us: who on this green planet of ours, in this recession of ours, would shell out that kind of money simply to get into a glorified trade show that doesn't feature comics?

[Image via Getty]

1. In the nerd equivalent of heaven, James Cameron and Peter Jackson attended their first Comic-Con, and did a panel together where they talk about the future of film-making and Jackson reveals that a script for The Hobbit, his Lord of the Rings prequel, will be finished in a month. [Zap2It]

2. Lost isn't known for parting with information easily, but they did have some good tidbits at their panel. Characters Juliet and Daniel Faraday will be back for the final season. Also in season six: no more time travel, the return of Charlie and Boone, the backstory for the enigmatic Richard Alpert, and some allusions to what may be alternate timelines. Damn, that shit makes our brain hurt. [EOnline]

3. Warner Bros. tried to roll out the new Patricia Heaton comedy The Middle at their Mom-A-Con. No one showed for the counter programming. Everyone said, "Mom, stop embarrasing me!" [THRFeed]

4. Hayden Panettiere is going to get some girl-on-girl action for the new season of Heroes. Yeah, cause that is what is going to fix this show. [io9]

5. Two scenes from the upcoming Twilight sequel, New Moon, were screened. Lots of girls screamed. [CelebrityCafe]

6. Iron Man 2 is going to fucking rule. Fans were excited by footage that shows Samuel L. Jackson's return as Nick Fury, Mickey Rourke playing new villain Whiplash, and a bunch of awesome special effects. Robert Downey Jr, director Jon Favreau, and new additions Scarlett Johannson (who plays sexy spy Black Widow) and Don Cheadle (replacing Terrence Howard) were all in attendance. That's either an A-List Comic-Con panel or a night at The Waverly Inn. [EW]

7. Ok, Iron Man gets two entries because the sequel is laying the foundation for Marvel's much anticipated (among comic geeks) Avengers movie (not the crappy Uma Thurmond one, this one has Captain American and shit). [EOnline]

8. We haven't seen the last of Battlestar Galactica, Edward James Olmos' career to continue. [io9]

9. You're probably not going to see Family Guy's "Abortion Episode," at least on the air, but it will probably be on DVD. What? Fox suddenly has standards? [LAT]

10. Alien invasion drama Vis back and the geeks love it. Is there anything left from the '80s for us to bring back? Alf, maybe? [THRFeed]

·You'll never believe it, but Nikki Finke also stayed home, instead publishing dispatches by the New Times chain's resident nerd-hack Luke Y. Thompson. And what a run he's had, with his marathon Thursday bringing us hints at a Keanu Reeves love-in (we'll get to that) and the indelible image of Rose McGowan's Red Sonja knife-licking. She and Robert Rodriguez apparently remain a couple despite all kinds of fun rumors otherwise and, obviously, despite the worst movie poster to ever debut at Comic-Con. That said, hemogravy is hot with the ladies these days, so maybe we're the ones out of touch.

·LYT draws praise, meanwhile, from David Poland, who also decided to crunch some numbers from the comfort of his own couch:

How ironic is it that every studio in L.A. is scrambling to get to San Diego this week/weekend, but The Dark Knight barely did anything (except for very basic viral marketing stunts) last year and underperformers Beowulf, Halloween, The Incredible Hulk, Shoot 'Em Up, Southland Tales, Drillbit Taylor, Spiderwick Chronicles, Hot Rod, and others all had a big presence at The 'Con.

Well, yeah, but none of them had a Fanboy Blowjob Train. Must we really spell it out?

·SpoutBlog has some of the most comprehensive coverage emerging from San Diego, including a real-time account of Wolfman star Benicio Del Toro falling asleep, a peek at Rocknrolla with attention-loving Gerard Butler and a Lego statue that will never be accused of assaulting its Mom.

· Amy Smart, Crank 2, public sex, etc.

· The NY Times brings a typically dignified tone to the pants-wetting in Hall H, featuring cameos by Hugh Jackman, Mark Wahlberg, the gang from Twilight, and a version of Waiting for Godot starring Dakota Fanning in the title role.

· Finally, /Film features a play-by-play of clips from the eco-sensitive Keanu Reeves remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still — better than the real thing, we're sure. Very sure.

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A Wookie from El Monte attending his first Comic Con in San Diego got separated from his group of friends after getting off the trolley. In a muffled voice, The Wookie said, "I stopped to tie my shoes for a second and, when I got up, I started talking to my friend Paul. He's dressed like Han Solo. But after I started talking to Han, I realized that wasn't Paul, but it was someone else altogether. Then I went to talk to my other friend, John, he's dressed like the Joker and, well, I think you can see where I'm going with this, right?" The Wookie thought about going into the convention center and attempt to find his friends, but he wouldn't know the first place to look. The El Monte native added, "I think I might just go back to the motel, but I don't know if a Wookie would give up so quickly."

[Photo Credit: WENN]

*A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

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One could hear a pin drop at the San Diego Comic Con on Thursday as Robert Rodriguez's muse Rose McGowan popped a squat to take a photo. The alabaster-skinned actress saw a group of really cool looking zombies and wanted to take a picture of them. As McGowan began to crouch down, Rodriguez whistled to McGowan to indicate that she was about to flash the crowd. Much to the dismay of the army of virgin attendees, McGowan repositioned herself. One of the geeks shot Rodriguez the evil eye and mumbled under his breath, "Like I was going to waste my time with a remake of Red Sonja, anyway."

[Photo Credit: Splash Pic]

*A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

No shit — with the exception of CHUD editor Devin Faraci's tasteful incest-joke interlude, Fox and Co. are making out brilliantly with MTV, the LA Times and others among the "23 key journalists and bloggers" handpicked to fellate Ember to an early, rousing throb. And nobody is more grateful than the filmmakers, who think unquestionably highly of Ember and its audience:

"The goal with something like this (event) is to create special awareness for the film. It needs to be nurtured," said Kenan, who admitted he was nervous about how his film clips would play amid the jostling of the train. "In an enormous hall with people dressed up like Klingons, (a film like this) can sort of fall on the floor."

Producer Gary Goetzman (Mamma Mia!) also made the coastal rail trek, marking his first Comic-Con outing.

"My films don't usually appeal to this audience," said Goetzman, who produced such nonfanboy fare as Charlie Wilson's War and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. "But this a great opportunity to spread the word on City of Ember, which should appeal to this demographic."

So, to recap: It won't make you forget about Star Trek, but if you like to mouthbreathe, then you'll LOVE City of Ember. All aboard!

• 'City of Ember' train heads to con [Variety]

The Weinsteins aren't leaving anything to chance, though, bringing out precautionary, surprisingly deferential big guns like producer Kevin Spacey just in case:

"I could not be more excited that Fanboys is being released this September and is the version of the film that the fans want," said Fanboys producer Kevin Spacey. "I am enormously grateful to Jedi Knight Harvey Weinstein for having allowed Trigger Street to restore Fanboys to its original story and am thrilled that it will first screen during Comic-Con. We believe in this film and are honored that George Lucas and all his team gave us permission to film at Skywalker Ranch and let us have so much fun with Star Wars. We also have a couple of surprises in the film that I think will bring added enjoyment to all the fans of Lucas' great and epic movies, and Trigger Street is proud to have produced this film and to have kept the dark side at bay."

"Jedi Knight Harvey Weinstein"? Great — so is this the part of Harvey's story where a disappointed Yoda is stuck raising his sunken business from the swamp? Goldman Sachs is asking for few spoilers, if so.