Movies that open at South by Southwest tend to be boilerplate fanboy flicks (Kickass, anything from Robert Rodriguez, etc.) looking for an exuberant reception from a baseball- and cowboy-hatted throng that’s ready and willing to cheer any film with any kind of heat, if for no other reason than to celebrate Austin’s center-of-the-worldness. Jodie Foster‘s The Beaver is a different kind of deal (i.e., a mildly creepy oddball comedy) but it’ll still benefit from being exuberantly greeted, etc.

Following the 3.16 SXSW centerpiece premiere, Summit will open the Mel Gibson dramedy limited on 3.23 and wide on April 8th. In a statement festival director Janet Pierson has said that The Beaver shows “an actress/filmmaker carefully and beautifully tackling a heartbreaking subject in her finest work yet.” Duncan Jones‘ Source Code will open SXSW on 3.11.11. Greg Mottola‘s Paul — an almost whore-ishly typical SXSW-type entertainment — will also be shown.