April 08, 2005 - It was "lights, camera, action!" at Fenway Park in Boston for the world premiere of Fever Pitch. The movie, directed by the Farrelly brothers (There's Something About Mary) and starring Jimmy Fallon (TV's Saturday Night Live) and Drew Barrymore (The Wedding Singer) kicked off its opening weekend with a Boston-sports themed premiere that had local fans in a frenzy.

Hosted by EPSN Baseball commentators Peter Gammons and Steve Levy (who also appear in the movie), the two introduced Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino, the Farrelly brothers, and stars Barrymore and Fallon.

"I love Boston, I love the team, and I love the people that are so emotionally affected by this sport and this team," said Barrymore.

	-Photo: Steve Head Drew Barrymore

"Thank you very much for an experience I'll never forget it as long as I live," said Fallon.

"Thank yous" to the city and everyone who put Fever Pitch in motion were followed by the best in Boston sports: Emerging from the dugout was Bruin and future Hockey Hall of Famer Ray Bourque, Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady; and then the guys that put the fever in Fever Pitch, Boston Red Sox teammates Johnny Damon (who received the highest decibel screaming from female fans), David Ortiz, Kevin Millar, Trot Nixon, Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefied, each of whom appear in the movie.

	-Photo: Steve Head (l to r) Directors Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, author and executive producer Nick Hornby, and Drew Barrymore

Commenting on the movies' makeshift ending due to the Red Sox winning the World Series, Peter Farrelly told IGN FilmForce, "Like a lot of things we've done in life, it was a result of really poor planning. We never planned well. People say, Did you always really want to make movies? No, never wanted to make movies. Not until our mid-twenties did we even think of it, and that was because had no jobs. We were like, How about writing? So, we got there in St. Louis. We had no cameras, no tickets or passes. We had nothing. But luckily Fox was broadcasting the game. We were a 20th Century Fox film and we were able to finagle our way down there."

Asked about this second film version of his novel being changed from soccer to baseball for American audiences, author Nick Hornby said, "I think that if Fever Pitch was going to make any sense to American audiences, then the sport had to be changed, so I don't mind that at all. There is a relationship between fan and sport in America just as there is between fan and sport in the UK. I think it's silly to be kind of prissy about what that sport is, otherwise people just won't care that much."

	-Photo: Steve Head Directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly

Star Willie Garson (TV's Sex and the City), who plays a Red Sox fanatic, provides one of the movie's funniest moments, a shaving scene. He was asked if he will be doing any Gillette ads. "We're going to see," he laughed. "We feel that this is the There's Something About Mary-hair-gell joke of this movie. We're going to see if we'll be selling Fever Pitch razor blades in a couple weeks. Let's see how we open."

	-Photo: Steve Head Willie Garrison

Red Sox star center fielder Johnny Damon was informed that his restaurant scene was trimmed a little. But Damon didn't mind. "Jimmy [Fallon] kind of told me," he said. "I feel fine about it. It's their movie to produce and I was just happy to do it."

However, Damon does have his scene in which he's being heckled by a female fan intact. "I haven't seen anything yet," said Damon. "But you know, I'm glad they respect what I do. And some women think I'm kind of cute, so that's kind of cool."