TEMPE — It was easy to mistake this city for Hollywood Monday night. Thousands of moviegoers swarmed into the Tempe Marketplace strip mall to hail the world premiere of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.”

 

After keeping the roped-off crowd north of the mall waiting for nearly 45 minutes after the schedule red carpet start time of 5 p.m., the movie’s star Hugh Jackman dazzled the crowd by rolling into the frenzy on a motorcycle.

 

Helmetless and using one hand to steer while waving with the other, Jackman took the stage and thanked the crowd for showing up so enthusiastically to support the movie.

 

“It’s great to be here,” Jackman said. “You voted for it and you won it and I'm so proud to be here.”

 

Jackman had to dodge outstretched arms of the masses as he tried to conduct interviews. He reached over a temporary fence to sign autographs.

 

Tempe’s Harkins Tempe Marketplace hosted the premiere thanks to a unique contest in which fans nationwide competed against one another by voting to bring the premiere to their ZIP codes. Tempe’s 85281 won out over about 1,300 competitors.

 

The audience was good-natured and boisterous. Many fans dressed up in toy Wolverine claws, face paint or in full costume, and several carried signs, one which read “I didn’t download the movie,” referring to the film's widespread Internet pirating. The movie opens in theaters Friday.

 

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman and Harkins Theatres owner Dan Harkins were among the most satisfied Valley residents because they led the campaign that brought the premiere to Tempe. Hallman and Harkins worked in concert to drum up support from their high-powered friends and spread publicity about the contest.

 

One of the most excited fans was 9-year-old Phoenician Stephen Green, who coaxed his mother, Kathy Green, to wait with him for four hours just for the chance to see the stars, which included Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Will i Am of the Black Eyed Peas and Taylor Kitsch (“Friday Night Lights”). Other celebrities not involved with the movie were on hand, including Phoenix toy and comic book magnate Todd McFarlane, Don “Wolf” Yates of “American Gladiators” and rock star Alice Cooper.

 

“I’m excited to see the movie stars,” Stephen Green said. “I’ve seen the other X-Men movies and I really want to see this one.”

 

Another geeked-up Jackman fan was Jesus Delgado, a 19-year-old Art Institute of Phoenix student, who heard about the contest while watching TV news Monday morning. He wedged his way up to the front of the crowd while donning a shirt emblazoned with a leaping Wolverine.

 

“This is a really big deal,” said Delgado, who showed up at 2 p.m. — five hours before the movie was scheduled to start. “It’s been really fun.”

Jackman who is fresh off of hosting the Oscars, was one-upped by Hallman, who took the stage in a fist-pumping fervor reminiscent of a WWE announcer.

 

He and the other cast members flew into Phoenix close to 5 p.m. and were scheduled to depart Monday night. “To quote Wolverine, we’re the best we are at what we do,” Hallman said while giving Jackman an honorary sign that gave him access to any parking space in the city and declaring April 27, 2009, as “X-Men Day.” “This will not be the last premiere in Tempe.”

 

To view pics from this event, click here!