USA: Brad Pitt, Ben Stiller and Tina Fey walk the blue carpet at the New York screening of their new animated film, 'Megamind'

Record ID: 219388

  • Title: USA: Brad Pitt, Ben Stiller and Tina Fey walk the blue carpet at the New York screening of their new animated film, 'Megamind'
  • Date: 5th November 2010
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 3, 2010) (REUTERS) FEY POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS BEN STILLER BEING INTERVIEWED ON THE BLUE CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) BEN STILLER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, SAYING: "Well what I like about the movie is that it comes from the point of view of the villain and the villain is the main character and it's, the idea is the villain is a person too and he has feelings and Megamind is going through this mid-life crisis where he's having this existential dilemma of what his life is about. Once he gets rid of his main rival all of a sudden he has nothing to do in life. And so that idea of the villain being the protagonist was a really fun idea for a film."
  • Embargoed: 20th November 2010 12:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA7LGLRIAM2E7IBY7DVOPEBJT61
  • Story Text: He may be a Hollywood mega-star, but not even Brad Pitt can convince his own kids of his superhero status. Promoting his new film, 'Megamind' in New York City on Wednesday (November 3), the actor joked that although he may be a superhero on the big screen, it's a different story at home.
    "I'm a dad and with that comes some superpowers and mostly, you know dads are just not cool. Dads aren't cool. Dads are dads," Pitt laughed.
    Pitt, who has six children with actress Angelina Jolie, voices the character of caped superhero "Metro Man" in the 3D animation.
    As Pitt walked the blue carpet and posed for photographs, his young sons were being escorted through a separate entrance inside the theater. The actor said he looked forward to seeing his kids' reaction to his latest film.
    "I'm sneaking the boys in right now so we'll see what they think," Pitt said.
    Pitt and his sons had earlier flown in to New York from Budapest where Jolie is directing her latest movie.
    "We're all in Budapest right now so we just slipped out, last night, this morning, we left Budapest this morning with the boys and then we'll jam back," Pitt said of their fleeting visit.
    "Megamind" tells the story of the most brilliant super-villain the world has ever known. Voiced by actor Will Ferrell, "Megamind" has tried to conquer Metro City in every imaginable way - each attempt a colossal failure thanks to the caped superhero known as "Metro Man." When Megamind finally manages to defeat Metro Man and a new villain emerges, the fate of Metro City is threatened.
    Actress Tina Fey, who voices the Lois-Lane style journalist character of Roxanne Ritchi, said she hoped her new film would impress her five-year-old daughter, Alice.
    "I hope she likes it, I think she'll like it. I think it will be fun for her to see and I think, you know these movies it's exciting because so many kids see them, then all of a sudden, I'll be a big deal at home. Finally, I'll be a big deal at home," Fey laughed.
    Actor Ben Stiller, who has a small role in "Megamind." is also the film's executive producer. Stiller said "Megamind" is far from the typical villain.
    "Well what I like about the movie is that it comes from the point of view of the villain and the villain is the main character and it's, the idea is the villain is a person too and he has feelings and Megamind is going through this mid-life crisis where he's having this existential dilemma of what his life is about. Once he gets rid of his main rival all of a sudden he has nothing to do in life. And so that idea of the villain being the protagonist was a really fun idea for a film," Stiller explained.
    Unlike his fellow castmates who were still awaiting their kids' verdict on the new film, Stiller said his children, Ella, 8 and Quinlin, 5, had already given 'Megamind' the thumbs up.
    "I actually brought them into the editing room a couple of times just to look at stuff. It's great because you get a real honest sense from them on what's working and what isn't working. But they loved it but it was great to take them into early cuts of it because they would say 'that is interesting' or 'this part got boring' and that kind of thing and with a movie like this we had to kind of keep kids interested and adults interested, so it's a hard balance," Stiller explained.
    For Pitt, voicing the character of "Metro Man" provided a nice change of pace from his usual on-screen roles.
    "Yeah, get off the bike, walk in, say a few lines, you know, but this one we've got Jeffrey Katzenberg behind it so you know you're in the best hands. You know it's going to be a quality project and something I think the kids are going to like," Pitt said.
    "Megamind" opens across North America on November 5.
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