Ben Affleck brings 'The Town' premiere home to Fenway

Now here's something you don't see every day: a shiny new Hollywood movie premiering in a classic American ballpark. Fenway Park, to be specific, because the movie is "The Town," and director-co-writer-star Ben Affleck shot that puppy in Boston, his not-quite-hometown.

Also taking the field for "The Town" team: Blake Lively, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper and Jon Hamm, with Jennifer Westfeldt of course. Still, this is not a baseball movie -- it's about four bank robbers from the city's Charlestown neighborhood who have crime-fighters hot on their heels.

The film was shown on a giant screen placed on the third-base dugout, the Boston Globe said, with 1,770 fans in the stands cheering some of the movie's familiar landmarks, and 500 or so invited to a VIP after-party on site. Childhood pal Matt Damon brought his dad Kent -- both of them in Red Sox caps -- and Penn Badgley, whose "Easy A" premiered in L.A. on Monday, showed up for girlfriend Lively's big night. (Click the picture of Damon at right to launch a photo gallery of red carpet arrivals.)

Renner chatted with WBZ News about the "terrifying" local accent. Said the guy whose ...

... "Hurt Locker" character practically laughed at IEDs: "I wasn't afraid of anything else but that accent, because it can really screw up a movie."

Affleck and Hamm, hot off film festivals in Toronto and Venice, talked to the Boston Fox station about bringing it home -- see the video below.

"The Town" opens in U.S. theaters on Friday.

-- Christie D'Zurilla

 

Top photo: The cast of "The Town" -- Chris Cooper, left, Rebecca Hall, John Hamm, Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner and Blake Lively -- show for the film's Boston premiere at Fenway Park on Tuesday. Credit: Michael Dwyer / Associated Press

Second photo: Matt Damon at Fenway Park on Tuesday. Credit: Brian Snyder / Reuters