SXSW means a lot of movie stars are in town for those red carpet premieres. Source Code premiered at the Paramount Theatre.
Source Code is no indie film. It's a big budget, sci-fi production. The film's director wanted to premiere it at SXSW because of his last experience here two years ago with the movie Moon.
Source Code is a sci-fi thriller about a computer program that allows someone to enter another person's body in the last eight minutes of their life to try to prevent a deadly catastrophe. It's directed by Duncan Jones.
"I think it's the right kind of a sci-fi for now," said Jones. "It's a bit of a thinking man's sci-fi film but more to it. It's a contemporary thriller."
Lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal says he was intrigued by the movie's concept from the moment he read the script.
"I loved the idea of someone in the middle of a situation, and they had to figure out the clues as they went along," said Gyllenhaal. "They were also going to save if they did, hundreds of thousands of people."
"I haven't really done any work in sci-fi and it was romantic, dramatic and opportunity to work with a great film maker in Duncan Jones who I think has really brought a resurgence to sci-fi," said Michelle Monaghan, one of the stars of the film.
For Jones, it was a chance to debut his latest film at what is now one of his favorite venues, SXSW.
"This is an audience's festival; it's a festival that really embraces people who just want to come see movies," said Jones. "It's not a market, it's not just for critics, it's for everyone who enjoys movies."
"He just had such positive feedback from this town and this festival," said Monaghan. "We were so excited that they agreed to premier it here, and he's so excited to be back here."
This is the first night in more than a week of red carpet premieres. The film portion of SXSW runs through March 19th.
