Sydney 1st June 2006

On 22nd May, while the stars of X-Men: The Last Stand were making their way up the red carpet at the film's premiere in Cannes, thousands of X-Men fans were right there with them thanks to the first-ever online virtual Premiere party thrown by Rivers Run Red, Mash International and 20th Century Fox on Second Life.

Second Life (www.secondlife.com) is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by over 200,000 people from around the world. Within it stands Avalon Island, where this unique, pioneering X-Men event was held.

A portion of Avalon was converted into a giant screening room, complete with giant posters and cast images, a red carpet, paparazzi jostling for position, a bar with waiters serving cocktails and spotlights lighting up the night sky and illuminating the giant Twentieth Century Fox logo - all virtual, of course.