Austin Lands World Premiere of 'Predators'

The Troublemaker Studios-produced summer action blockbuster Predators will have its world premiere here in Austin, at -- where else? -- The Paramount. Austin Film Society is hosting the gala event on Wednesday, July 7 at 8 pm. Tickets go on sale this Thursday at noon via the Paramount website.

No word yet on which cast and crew will be there, but a red carpet is planned so we know some celebrity-spotting will be happening. I assume we'll see director Nimrod Antal there as well as Austin producers Robert Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellan. I'm hoping for Danny Trejo, myself.

You may remember that Fox hosted some sneak peeks at bits of Predators during SXSW this year: Rod Paddock gave us the scoop on the extremely popular "first look" event, and I was up bright and early the next morning for a press conference (where I took the picture of Rodriguez at right).

Predators was shot here in Austin (as well as in Hawaii), but I don't think any of it was shot outside of Troublemaker Studios, so we may not see any recognizable landmarks in the film. After all, it is primarily set on the Predator planet, so far as I can tell. Although I'm not normally a big summer action-film lover, I liked what I saw at the SXSW preview and the cast is a very interesting combination: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga and -- the man who probably steals the film -- Laurence Fishburne.

Ticket prices start at $30, which gets you a seat in the balcony for the screening and Q&A, then increase for VIP tickets that also get you into an after-party at The Belmont as well as better seats for the event -- those run from $100 to $500. The premiere is a benefit for the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund and the Texas Motion Picture Alliance (TXMPA). Bear in mind that since this is a Paramount-sponsored event, Paramount donors will get presale access to tickets before Thursday. If the tickets are out of your price range, you still won't have to wait long to see the movie -- Predators opens in Austin theaters on Friday, July 9.