The key players for the highly-anticipated thriller "Contagion" arrived at the red carpet for the Venice Film Festival this past Saturday. The 38-year-old Oscar winning actress, Gwyneth Paltrow stole the spotlight with her blush pink organza gown, along with actor Matt Damon, and director Steven Soderbergh. American thriller, "Contagion", which is out of the competition, just had its world premiere at the 68th International Venice Film Festival. Written by Scott Burns, the feature film, is inspired and partially based on the real life incident of the SARS outbreak in China in 2003. Besides an exciting storyline, the Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh, was brought to the table. Soderbergh, who is recognized for "Traffic", and for his "Ocean's" crime capers, said that it is important to cast Hollywood heavyweights for "Contagion" because of its complex plot, which centers around a group of medical experts as they struggle to find a cure for the global pandemic that's threatening the entire nation. "It's very helpful to have movie stars playing as many of these roles as you can, because you're throwing so many characters and so much information at the audience it's very helpful for them to get a sort of reference point," "There's a reason that movie stars have existed since the beginning of cinema," "It's good for audiences -- they like to have people they can identify with." "Contagion", starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, and Kate Winslet, will hit the cinemas on September 11th in the U.S., and October 21st in Taiwan.