Spielberg, Abrams film trailer launches on Twitter
Steven Spielberg is teaming up with J.J. Abrams on the new "Super 8" film, the trailer for which launched first on Twitter earlier today.
Paramount Pictures is looking to social media to help promote its upcoming film, "Super 8."
The studio premiered the trailer for the film, which is being produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams, on Twitter early this morning.
Set in a small town in 1979, "Super 8" tells the story of kids who must endure the arrival of an unknown force wreaking havoc on their community following a horrific train crash. It's scheduled to be released on June 10.
Paramount says that this is the first time it has launched a trailer on Twitter. It's also the first time Twitter has been the original home to the first run of a theatrical preview. Most importantly, however, Paramount's launch is perhaps another sign that film studios are starting to realize that social media could play a central role in the popularity of movies going forward.
"The partnership creates a new viral means of distributing a trailer to fans first on Twitter and allows them to share amongst their peer networks on a global scale," Paramount Pictures said in a statement.
Paramount's launch of the "Super 8" trailer on Twitter is the second social-related move film studios have made this week.
On Monday, Warner Bros. announced that it would start testing film sales and rentals on Facebook to gauge interest in people watching movies away from traditional streaming services, like Netflix. The next day, the social network's users were able to pay about 30 Facebook credits, or about $3, to rent "The Dark Knight."
"Making our films available through Facebook is a natural extension of our digital distribution efforts," Warner Bros. Digital Distribution President Thomas Gewecke said in a statement earlier this week. "It gives consumers a simple, convenient way to access and enjoy our films through the world's largest social network."
"The Dark Knight" is still available to rent on Facebook.
Those interested in checking out the trailer for "Super 8" instead can do so on the film's Twitter page. The video had been viewed more than 120,000 times as of this writing.