Watery setting for Shark Tale setting

Historic St Mark’s Square in Venice was a spectacular setting for the world’s premiere of Shark Tale tonight.

Stars of the film Will Smith, Angelina Jolie and Robert De Niro walked down the red carpet with the Basilica di San Marco as their backdrop.

An audience of 6,000 watched the film on a 100ft inflatable screen.

It was the first time such an event has been held in the Square, Venice’s most famous landmark.

“This is one to remember forever,” said Smith.

“This is up there with the No 1 premiere of all time. It doesn’t get much better than this.”

De Niro was equally impressed: “This is great. It’s just amazing,” he said.

Jolie was also overwhelmed by the venue, saying: “It’s absolutely beautiful and I’m just thrilled to be here. It really doesn’t compare to any premiere or award ceremony there has been before.”

The 29-year-old actress brought four-year-old son Maddox to Venice for the event.

“He’s going to watch the film with me and afterwards I’ve promised him a long boat ride,” she said, joking: “I’ll be taking a romantic tour with my son.”

The animated underwater movie is a cross between Finding Nemo and The Godfather.

Smith supplies the voice for Oscar, a fast-talking fish who lands himself in hot water when he pretends to have slayed a great white shark.

He is hailed a hero, but his plan backfires when the shark mafia puts a price on his head.

De Niro sends up his role in The Godfather, playing shark boss Don Lino, with director Martin Scorsese as his puffer fish sidekick and comic Jack Black as his effeminate son.

Jolie is Lola, the femme fatale of the fish world who sets her sights on Oscar when his supposedly heroic feat turns him into a celebrity.

Also lending her voice to the film is Renee Zellweger as Angie, a beautiful angel fish with a secret crush on Oscar.

This is a timely visit to Italy for De Niro – the 61-year-old star is about to be granted honorary Italian citizenship.

But the bestowing of the honour has been held up by protests from the Order of Sons of Italy in America, who say he has “damaged the reputations of Italians and Italian Americans” with his mafia roles.

The film is the latest animation from the DreamWorks studio.

Boss Jeffrey Katzenberg said: “We wanted to find a unique way to introduce this movie to the world. We needed a big idea. This is a pretty amazing dream come true, standing here and seeing the idea realised.

“More than anything, we are in showbusiness. This is the show part.”

Shark Tale was screened as part of the Venice Film Festival.

Tonight’s premiere may not be the most expensive in history – organisers say it does not come close to the £9m (€13.4m) cost of the Pearl Harbor debut but it is certainly one of the most ambitious.

Nothing of this kind has been held in the square before.

Two giant digital projectors showed the film on the inflatable screen, which measured 100ft wide and 63ft tall. Each member of the audience was equipped with a personal headset tuned to either English or Italian.

The square, Venice’s biggest tourist draw and a public space since the 12th century, has been sealed off to the public for 24 hours.

The lights from the buildings which enclose the square were switched off when the film began.

All the cafes, which serve thousands of tourists each day, were closed.

But Katzenberg insisted the owners did not mind losing business although he did not say whether they had been offered any compensation.

“The festival organisers suggested having it here and the cafes have been very accommodating. They are happy because the event is good for Venice,” he said.

Members of the public queued from 6am when tickets went on sale and they sold out within an hour.