South by Southwest announced this week the festival will open with “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” with Steve Carell on March 8.
According to the Associated Press, Burt Wonderstone is a comedy starring “Carell and Steve Buscemi as a washed-up Las Vegas magician duo, with Jim Carrey a rival street performer.” In addition to the main stars, the film features Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin and James Gandolfini.
The film was directed by Don Scardino and will not be released in theaters until March 13 by Warner Brothers.
South by Southwest is an annual film, music and interactive festival that takes place during two weeks in March in downtown Austin, this year from the 8th to the 17th. The interactive portion – which includes tech trade shows, entrepreneur workshops and discussions – will take place in hotels and the Austin Convention Center from the 8th to the 12th. In a similar fashion, the music portion takes place in different venues and bars around the city from the 12th to the 17th.
In such a warm climate, a festival known for its innovative and eclectic taste could benefit from outdoor movie screens. By screening films outdoors, festivals can offer entertainment to large volumes of people, and in an unconventional way.
In all, South by Southwest offers over 5,000 events during the two weeks, with many still to be unveiled. Joining “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” are the films “Downloaded,” a documentary by Alex Winter, an “Evil Dead,” remake, and “Good Ol’ Freda,” about Freda Kelly, the Beatles’ secretary for the 10 years they were a band.
South by Southwest is a unique festival offering a number of events of different varieties in the city known for its funky music scene. This year will be the 20th anniversary, and, as mentioned previously, events will continue to be announced as the festival nears.