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SALT LAKE CITY — He's been a demon, a beast and the onetime leader of a biker gang.
And next week, Ron Perlman will be a guest at Salt Lake Comic Con.
Perlman — best known for his title roles in the "Hellboy" films, the 1987-90 TV series "Beauty and the Beast," and the FX series "Sons of Anarchy," which begins its seventh and final season on Sept. 9 — was among the late additions to the downtown event's list of celebrity guests.
Salt Lake Comic Con also announced Friday that Ian Ziering, most recently of "Sharknado" fame, and Eric Roberts, whose lengthy list of roles includes NBC's "Heroes," will appear at the three-day event that gets underway Thursday at the Salt Palace Convention Center, 100 S. West Temple.
"We're excited to welcome Ron Perlman to Salt Lake Comic Con," said Dan Farr, Salt Lake Comic Con founder and show producer. "He's played so many roles in so many fan favorites and has been a mainstay with voice roles in animated series such as 'Ironman,' 'Superman: The Animated Series,' 'Batman,' and 'Teen Titans' that he is a favorite of fans of all ages."
Event organizers also announced a special screening of Roberts' new movie, "LA Slasher," at Salt Lake Comic Con. The film, directed by Martin Owen and produced by Jeffrey Wright and Daniel Sollinger, described as a social satire about reality TV and the glorification of people who are famous simply for being famous.
A special advanced screening of "LA Slasher" will open the festival, and there will be a midnight screening at the event's close at The Gateway Megaplex Theatres.
"The film is definitely bound to make waves, and to screen at Salt Lake Comic Con is a very exciting experience for us all,” Sollinger said in a news release.
On Thursday, Salt Lake Comic Con organizers announced that VIP tickets had sold out. The second-year comic and pop culture convention is expected to break its own records for attendance and attract more than 120,000 visitors over the three days.
Salt Lake Comic Con attracted 72,000 guests to its inaugural event last fall and had 100,000 at its FanX convention in April.
Previously announced guests for Salt Lake Comic Con include Stan Lee, whose comic book creations include Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four; Simon Helberg, "The Big Bang Theory"; Manu Bennett, "Arrow" and "The Hobbit"; Dean O'Gorman, "The Hobbit"; Jon Heder, "Napoleon Dynamite"; Stephen Amell, "Arrow"; Ernie Hudson, "Ghostbusters"; Cary Elwes, "The Princess Bride"; Bruce Campbell, "Army of Darkness"; John Barrowman, "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood"; Sam Witwer, "Being Human"; Christopher Lloyd, "Back to the Future"; Eliza Dushku, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"; Kevin Sorbo, "Hercules"; Erin Gray, "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century"; and Giancarlo Esposito, "Revolution"; as well as Lou Ferrigno, "The Incredible Hulk," and Michael Rosenbaum, "Smallville."
For more information, visit saltlakecomiccon.com.
