Poster of Water for Elephants (DOUBAN.COM)

Director Francis Lawrence's latest romantic drama Water for Elephants starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson will open the 14th Shanghai International Film Festival.

The opening ceremony is bound to be a spectacular with over 300 celebrities from home and abroad walking the red carpet.

Among them are media mogul Keith Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi Deng Murdoch; Hollywood star Susan Sarandon, Matt Dillon, and Mischa Barton; director John Woo and Feng Xiaogang; and of course Barry Levinson. Levinson is the president for the seven-member jury for the Golden Goblet Awards.

The ceremony will be held at the Shanghai Grand Theater at 6:30 p.m. on June 11.

Over the past five years the Shanghai industry's growth has exploded in terms of quantity with this growth accompanying a rise in movie-going culture in China.

(China.org.cn June 9, 2011)