Johnny Depp scolded Comic-Con International attendees in character as Ebenezer Scrooge as the nation's biggest pop culture convention opened Thursday (Jul 23).“Do you have jobs? It seems as though you have so much spare time. Why are you here?” said the actor, clad in an overcoat and top hat as he emerged from a faux snow-lined downtown San Diego storefront marked with a “Scrooge and Marley” sign. A crowd gathered, recording on mobile phones and calling out “Merry Christmas!”"I can only say you're all very, very strange people. Humbug!" Depp called out gruffly, shuffling back inside the building.Ebenezer, set for release Nov 13, is the embattled star’s first studio film in eight years. His appearance on the streets of the Gaslamp Quarter – outside any official panels – fits the more guerrilla-style approach to marketing and promotion that some Hollywood studios have taken at the expo in recent years.More than 120,000 people are expected at the four-day convention, which began in 1970 with a gathering of several hundred sci-fi and comics fans and an in-person appearance from Marvel icon Jack Kirby.FAN 'MECCA' THROUGH 2030Organisers have said in recent years that the San Diego’s event and hotel space may not be enough to hold growing crowds, and have floated moving to Los Angeles or another large city. But the city’s mayor Todd Gloria said Wednesday as the expo opened that it would remain in San Diego through 2030. He said the announcement “reflects our shared commitment to the fans, creators, businesses and workers who make Comic-Con unlike anything else in the world”.PJ Richardson, 44, drove cross-country from Orlando, Florida, with his family for his first Comic-Con International. He’d visited a smaller convention in his hometown – but it hadn’t prepared him for the magnitude of toys and collectibles on display at the bayfront expo.“It’s the Mecca. It’s once-in-a-lifetime, so we had to come. This was a thousand times more,” he said. “The setups of all the booths and everything are absolutely amazing.”