'Moon' Director Duncan Jones Returns to SXSW With 'Source Code'

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Duncan Jones' time-warping action thriller Source Code will be the opening night film of the 2011 SXSW Film Festival. The world premiere screening will take place Friday, March 11.

Last year, the Austin-based festival launched with Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass, while John Hamburg's I Love You, Man and Robert Luketic's 21 have opened the fest in previous years.

Written by Ben Ripley, Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a soldier who continually wakes up in the bodies of different train commuters in the last eight minutes before each dies in a bombing. Eventually, it becomes clear that he is on a mission to discover who set the explosive so he can prevent a second, larger detonation. Vera Farmiga, Michelle Monaghan and Jeffrey Wright co-star. Summit Entertainment will release the film April 1, right after the fest ends.

Jones screened his directorial debut, the low-budget sci-fi thriller Moon, at the 2009 SXSW festival.

“We are delighted to welcome Duncan Jones back to SXSW," said film conference and festival producer Janet Pierson. "His debut Moon showed an intelligence, skill, and exceptional use of limited resources that’s exactly the kind of filmmaking we love to support. Source Code is a terrific follow-up; it’s a smart, suspenseful thriller, and a perfect fit for our 2011 Opening Night!"

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, whose new film Red Riding Hood opens nationwide on the opening night of the fest, will also return to SXSW in March to run a directing workshop.

The complete festival line-up will be announced in early February. The film festival runs through March 19.