Bullock hosts red carpet premiere in New Orleans

Agencies

HOLLYWOOD: Hollywood South gets true star treatment tonight as New Orleans rolls out the red carpet for a true Hollywood-style premiere.

Actress Sandra Bullock is hosting a New Orleans benefit premiere of her new movie 'The Blind Side' this evening at the Prytania Theatre.

Owner Rene Brunet says actress Sandra Bullock personally chose his theater as the venue for the event.

"Sandra lives up in this neighborhood, in the Garden District, and she's familiar with the theater. She wanted a really red-carpet event and that's exactly what it's going to be," says Brunet.

"We're going to red-carpet everything...the sidewalk, the street...and we're going to treat Sandra as the big movie star that she is," Brunet says.

The event is a benefit for Warren Easton Charter High School. No tickets will be sold and the public is not invited to attend.

"Well, of course we can't stop people from being out in the streets," says Brunet.

WWL movie critic Alfred Richard says that means fans and the local papparazi will likely be nearby.

"For those people who are star-gazing, you'll probably get a chance to get a glimpse of Sandra Bullock and Jesse James and some others who are involved, says Richard.

He says the celebrities are expected to arrive around 6 o'clock for the 6:30 screening.

Richards is not surprised Bullock is holding the premiere here as a benefit for the local high school. "Because Sandra Bullock, who has become a New Orleanian as well, along with her husband Jesse James, has been a huge patron of Warren Easton Charter High School on Canal Street."

Only the celebrities and others who are making donations to help Warren Easton will attend, and the Prytania is completely sold out, according to Brunet.

Among those from the film who'll be present are Bullock, director/screenwriter John Lee Hancock, and producer Gil Netter. Also in attendance will be Michael Lewis, author of 'The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game.'

The Prytania Theatre is the only single-screen movie theater in Louisiana. It's also the oldest operating theater in New Orleans, opened in 1915 but recently renovated.