While talking with reporters Friday afternoon at Comic-Con International in San Diego, creator Bryan Lee O'Malley, director Edgar Wright, and several cast members told CBR News their reactions to Thursday night's first screening of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."

At the end of their Thursday panel, Wright announced that select members of the audience were invited to be amongst the first to see the film. Fans rushed out of the convention center up to San Diego's Balboa Theater where Dan the Automator and DJ Koala were spinning. As they filed in, the duo invited people onstage to engage in a "one-arm pillow fight."

Shortly after that, Wright arrived on stage. "I'm sorry if I lost some of you along the way," he said. The lights dimmed and the film played to its most captive and eager audience. Scattered amongst the crowds were cosplaying Ramonas, Scotts and even a Gideon Graves. Costumed or not, the audience of fans burst into applause as a pixilated Universal Studios logo filled the screen as an 8-bit mix of the studio fanfare played.

Following the screening, the assembled cast, Wright and O'Malley got up on stage and braved the wave of adulation from the crowd. Afterward, the band Metric played for fans. The entire evening deserved on the term "event."

The following day, Wright said he was "pleased by the audible response of the crowd."

For actors Mae Whitman and Alison Pill, it was the first time they saw the completed film. "I cried at the end. I couldn't believe it. It was such an emotional thing to see it all come together," said Whitman, who plays evil ex #4, Roxy Richter. "Me and Michael saw each other afterwards and just started crying."

"You guys are wusses," joked Pill, whose character Kim Pine stole the show with every wry remark. "[She] was written very well by Bryan Lee O'Malley," she explained. While Kim's previous relationship with Scott is mentioned in the film, Pill says it will be explored in other media. "There will be a little something-something that will air on Adult Swim," she revealed. Of course, fans of the comics know that the story is told in the pages of "Scott Pilgrim."

"I'm a complete megalomaniac, so I feel like I deserved it all along," joked O'Malley when asked about the fan reaction. "It was like a rock 'n' roll show. That energy was there right from the beginning of the film and never tapered off," he continued. "It's a completely intense experience to watch this movie, especially with the crowd last night."

Producer Michael Bacall likened the film to the Cinerama movies of the 1960s. "One of the movies was just a bunch of shorts or real life situations, and one of them was a roller coaster, where you'd get the feeling of just flying up and down the rails. I think Edgar kind of set out to make that kind of roller coaster experience," he explained.

"The characters have really resonated with girls," O'Malley observed. "So many comics and movies are aimed at guys; the 18-35 group, and ["Scott Pilgrim"] has been building this female fanbase which is really gratifying to me."

The film screened again Friday night and will screen again Saturday at 6pm. "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" opens wide August 13th.