Well this is new.
THR has learned that Warner Bros. and Walmart have teamed up to sell tickets to an advance screening of MAN OF STEEL. Tickets for the screening go on sale in store locations at 8 a.m. on May 18th and the showing will be on June 13th, the night before MAN OF STEEL officially opens on June 14th. The film will be shown in select local theaters so you want to make sure MAN OF STEEL is going to screen early in your area before you go running out to get tickets.
Besides getting to see the new Superman movie before everyone else you will get a digital comic written by David Goyer with your purchase. You’ll also be able to pre-order the film on Blu-ray or digital download and have access to “exclusive movie content.” There will also be signs throughout Walmart that will have secret movie photos that can be revealed by using the MAN OF STEEL augmented reality app. Walmart is encouraging people to express their excitement for the early screening through Facebook and Twitter by using the hashtag #SeeSteelFirst. Merchandise for MAN OF STEEL like t-shirts, posters and electronics will start hitting Walmart’s shelves on April 28th.
It might be the first time a studio and a retailer have partnered up to sell tickets for a film and I’m sure many people in the industry are interested in seeing how it pans out. Warner Bros. domestic distribution president Dan Fellman had this to say about the team-up between the two companies:
We are extremely pleased to partner with Walmart on this unprecedented initiative, which will allow devoted fans to be among the first to see Man of Steel. We know the movie delivers and believe this unique partnership will kick off strong word of mouth that, thanks to the reach and immediacy of social media, will propel moviegoers to theaters nationwide.
Obviously this is just a giant marketing ploy to get people to go to Walmart and build buzz for MAN OF STEEL before it officially opens but you have to applaud them for thinking a little outside of the box. Does that mean you’re going to have to deal with the People of Walmart to see MAN OF STEEL early? Yes…but it’s probably worth it.
If you can’t get tickets to the early showing you’ll still be able to see Henry Cavill, Michael Shannon, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, and Diane Lane when MAN OF STEEL flies into theaters on June 14th.
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