Danny McBride and James Franco will host the world premiere of the upcoming blockbuster “Your Highness” at UCSB this Friday.

The university won an “epic feast and festivities party” with the actors through a nationwide college competition conducted online.

McBride and Franco, who star in the adventure comedy alongside Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel, will appear at 4:30 p.m. in Storke Plaza. Free screenings will follow in Pollock Theater at 7, 9:15 and 11:30 p.m.

The contest was organized by Eventful, which allows fans to request appearances by their favorite performers and notifies those artists about where they are in demand. Rutgers University and University of California Irvine placed second and third, respectively. The top eight campuses were all granted free advanced movie screenings before the comedy’s nationwide premiere in theaters on April 8.

McBride announced the winning schools during a video livecast hosted by CollegeHumor on Saturday. He also answered audience questions posted via Facebook and Twitter.

“We’re going to be bustin’ nuts and partyin’ hard [at UCSB],” McBride said. “Just kidding, we’re not going to bust nuts.”

McBride said he couldn’t have asked for a more convenient destination to make an appearance.

“What’s amazing about that is that I can drive there,” he said. “Maybe I’ll arrive on horseback.”

All three showings sold out within a few hours after the winning college was announced Saturday. However, a group of UCSB students are currently appealing event organizers for an additional showing.

UCSB is no stranger to winning contests to invite performers to the university. The campus won MTV’s Ultimate College Bowl Contest several years ago by registering the most student voters of any campus in the nation for the 2008 presidential election. As a result, UCSB was awarded a free concert from indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie in 2009.

—Staff Report

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