SXSW Lineup Includes ‘Dungeons & Dragons‘ On Opening Night, ’Evil Dead Rise’, Eva Longoria’s ‘Flamin’ Hot’, A24’s ‘Problemista’ & More:

Paramount and eOne’s Dungeouns and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will fire up this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival with its opening-night world premiere March 10 before its theatrical release on March 31.

The fanboy demo title is one of a handful looking to gain steam at the Austin, TX event, which will be in its second year live and in-person after going virtual during Covid from 2020-2021. The 30th annual SXSWE runs until March 18 and will be in-person only (no virtual).

Other notable spring cinefile titles in Wednesday’s reveal of the fest’s first titles include Warner Bros’ Evil Dead Rise, the next installment in the Sam Raimi horror franchise; A24’s Emma Stone-produced, Tilda Swinton-starring Problemista; and Searchlight’s Eva Longoria directorial Flamin’ Hot about the Mexican American Frito Lay janitor who revolutionized the snack industry with his idea for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

Also announced today by SXSW are titles in its Feature and Short Competitions, Midnighters, and select titles from other categories and XR Experience. Other big movie and TV shows in addition to those in the fest’s Global, Visions, 24 Beats and Festival Favorites sections will be unveiled early next month.

‘Parachute’
Among some starry indies this year already are Pitch Perfect star Brittany Snow’s directorial debut Parachute, about food addiction and love, starring Kid Cudi, Dave Bautista, Gina Rodriguez and Joel McHale. There’s also Lisa Steen’s Late Bloomers starring Guardians of the Galaxy’s Karen Gillan; and movies starring Luis Guzmán (the Jamie Foxx-produced Story Ave); Anthony Mackie (If You Were the Last); Clancy Brown, Yvonne Strahovski and June Diane Raphael in Lionsgate’s Scrambled; and Jake Johnson’s directorial debut Self Reliance, which boasts an all-star lineup including Anna Kendrick, Andy Samberg, Emily Hampshire, Natalie Morales, Wayne Brady, Christopher Lloyd and more.

‘Mrs. Davis’
On the TV side, Starz is unrolling its second season of Blindspotting at the festival in addition to Peacock premiering the Damon Lindelof A.I. series Mrs. Davis. Roku has Zoe Lister-Jones’ romantic comedy series Slip, HBO the documentary Being Mary Tyler Moore and Amazon the Boots Riley-created series I’m a Virgo.

If a studio is looking to create social-media wattage for its adults 18-34 targeted pics, then you go to SXSW. It’s where Paramount first debuted A Quiet Place in 2018, rocketing the pic to global-phenom status. Paramount was also the first back after Covid last year, reawakening moviegoers to the romantic comedy with the world premiere of Sandra Bullock-Channing Tatum-Brad Pitt title The Lost City, which went on to gross more than $105 million stateside.

A24 set flame to dynamite last year with the SXSW opening film Everything Everywhere All at Once. The Daniels-directed movie became an arthouse sensation, the studio’s highest-grossing movie with $70M domestic/$104M global, and a lynchpin awards-season contender with two Golden Globe wins (for Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan) and five SAG noms including Feature Cast Ensemble.

Also creating a stir on the ground last year in Austin were the world premieres of the Nicolas Cage satire The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and A24’s horror title Bodies Bodies Bodies.

“We are thrilled to announce the first wave of our incredible lineup for SXSW 2023,” said Claudette Godfrey, VP Film & TV, in today’s press release. “It’s an amazing collection of films, TV series and XR experiences that promise to inspire, entertain and challenge our audiences. We’re also proud to open with Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, a raucous and engaging fantasy adventure, and look forward to welcoming everyone to Austin in March for what promises to be an unforgettable event.”

Dungeons and Dragons, based on the popular role-playing game, is directed and co-written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. In the film, a charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. The pic stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman and Daisy Head.

For the SXSW lineup, view this article at Deadline.