McConaughey Surprises Fans At Comic-Con

British director Christopher Nolan has provided a shock at Comic-Con - by appearing on stage alongside Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey to promote their new film Interstellar.

It was the first true surprise of the four-day festival of pop culture in San Diego with McConaughey sauntering onto the stage, with his trademark catchphrase: "Alright, alright, alright" at the end of a presentation by Paramount Studios.

He was followed by the director of Inception and the Dark Knight trilogy, who told the 6,000 assembled in Hall H that he was making his Comic-Con debut to see "what the fuss was all about".

The plot of Interstellar is shrouded in secrecy and Nolan and McConaughey didn’t do anything to change that with Nolan saying they want cinema-goers to be surprised when the film opens in November.

Comic-Con attendees were treated to some exclusive footage that showed Anne Hathaway and McConaughey's characters having to travel into outer space to try and find a habitable place for humanity with resources dwindling on Earth.

And Nolan also shared his inspiration for the film saying: "I've always been a huge fan of science fiction, I'd grown up being amazed by science fiction of the past, obviously Star Wars and 2001.

"These are things that made an incredible impression on me. But more than that, I grew up in an era when to be an astronaut was the highest ambition of any child."

McConaughey added that Interstellar is the "biggest and most ambitious film" Nolan has ever attempted - film fans only have until November to discover if that is true.

An estimated 150,000 devotees of comics, video games, fantasy and action movies are expected to throng the four-day Comic-Con extravaganza in southern California, with many opting to don costumes of their favourite characters.