‘The Lookout’ to open South by Southwest

updated 7:03 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2007

AUSTIN, Texas - Look for “The Lookout” to open this year’s South by Southwest film festival.

The crime thriller, written and directed by Oscar nominee Scott Frank (who wrote “Out of Sight”), will make its world premiere at the festival on March 9 before opening nationwide on March 23.

“The Lookout” features Joseph Gordon-Levitt (“3rd Rock From the Sun”) as a janitor who helps rob the bank where he works. Jeff Daniels and Isla Fisher co-star.

“We’ve been big fans of Scott Frank’s screenwriting for years, so it’s a true pleasure to launch his impressive and gripping debut as a director,” SXSW film festival producer Matt Dentler said Wednesday. “‘The Lookout’ is the kind of film that packs a punch and should get audiences excited for the films that will be unveiled at this years festival.”

Among the other films scheduled to play at South by Southwest, which runs through March 17, are the documentaries “Manufacturing Dissent,” which follows Michael Moore’s promotional tour for “Fahrenheit 9/11,” and “638 Ways to Kill Castro,” about the various reported plots to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Also on the lineup is “A Conversation With Morgan Spurlock,” director and star of the documentary “Super Size Me.” The rest of the schedule will be announced in early February.

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