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In a press release this afternoon, 20th Century Fox has notified us that Tempe, Arizona has won the “Hometown Premiere” contest and will now host the world premiere of the upcoming action film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I’ve included the full press release below, as I have very little to say about this announcement. It is mostly because my lovely town of Austin finished 4th. We were even beaten by Hastings, Nebraska. I was not even aware that anyone even watches movies in Hastings, Nebraska.

The good news for Austinites is that we already hosted the surprise world premiere of Star Trek. Take that, Tempe.

Full press release from 20th Century Fox is below:

“X” MARKS THE SPOT FOR TEMPE, ARIZONA – WINNER OF THE X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HOMETOWN PREMIERE CONTEST

Tempe’s Schools, Businesses — and X-Men Fans — Come Together to Narrowly Prevail Over Davis, CA for World Premiere of Summer Blockbuster

LOS ANGELES, (April 20, 2009)….In a hard-fought contest stretching over thousands of cities and towns across the Unites States, Tempe, Arizona has emerged triumphant in its far-reaching, citywide bid to nab the world premiere event of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, on April 27.

The announcement caps a frenzied two-week period in which entrants launched innovative and viral campaigns, urging fellow residents to enter the Hometown Premiere contest by marking their town with a digital “X” on a special contest website. In each locale, schools, businesses, and of course X-Men and Wolverine fans, joined forces to create special videos posted on YouTube, as well as websites urging residents to enter the contest.

Tempe accumulated the most “X’s,” narrowly beating out Davis, California in a hard-fought battle to bring home a major “Hollywood” style event.

The “Origins” of the event came from Hugh Jackman, who plays the famed antihero in X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE. Jackman wanted to express his appreciation to the fans by hosting the premiere, in which he will bring the movie and a few of his “friends and enemies” from the film to Tempe. In addition to the stars and filmmakers, the event will have all the other trappings of a mega-Hollywood premiere, including the red carpet, klieg lights and media coverage.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, the first chapter in the X-Men saga, unites Wolverine with several other legends of the X-Men universe, in an epic revolution that pits the mutants against powerful forces determined to eliminate them. Twentieth Century Fox releases the film everywhere May 1st.