Since its announcement, Screen Rant has been keeping a small fire burning for Disney’s adaptation of sci-fi comic book Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis.
So far we’ve seen some early concept pics from the film; a pic or two of Mr. Willis in character; even a viral marketing website where you can design your own “surrogate,” the robotic avatars which live peoples’ lives for them in the future society where Surrogates is set.
Today we’ve got an early teaser poster for Surrogates to show you, one that seems to continue the film’s viral campaign of promoting the surrogate avatars, rather than the film itself. The end result is pretty weird.
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So you know what you’re looking at, here’s a quick synopsis of the film:
Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop (Willis) is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others’ surrogates.
Here’s the viral teaser poster:
This poster reminds me of the viral teaser banners they had for I, Robot back in 2003 – the posters that advertised the film’s domestic robots as real merchandise. The first time I ever saw those banners, I totally believed them. That’s right viral marketing, you got me!
What’s funny about this poster for Surrogates, however, is that we’ve got this advertisement for what is supposed to be this ultra-futuristic advanced technology, and how are they trying to (faux) market it? According to the same old credence of “sex sells.”
[SIDE NOTE: One thing I won't EVER need is a robotic avatar to get laid in my place. That aspect of life I think I'll always be able to handle on my own.]
Seriously though, I’m sure the marketing team behind Surrogates is trying to establish the psychology of a very different future society – a society where relationships between human beings have become quite estranged. It’s an admirable effort (and a crucial step if audiences are going to dig the concept), I’m just not sure this was the best way to execute it (unless sex ends up selling, of course).
Surrogates is slated for a September 25, 2009 release (uh-oh… September = dumping ground for crap movies). It is being helmed by Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3, double uh-oh).
What do you think of this viral teaser poster for Surrogates?
Source: First Showing
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12 Comments
jonathan mastow is directing? you said it kofi, uh-oh
Uh oh? Pish posh! On it’s own Terminator 3 is a fun little action movie.
Well, shame for the “uh-ohs” because I think that’s a rather intriguing concept. I’m a sucker for robots.
I’m there for Bruce Willis. Hopefully he can make the movie better than what Mastow can do for it…
I agree Ken J … if Bruce is in it, I’m there.
My friends and I were discussing non-gay male star crushes, we decided for one friend, his male non-gay crush was Jason Statham, he agreed, for another, we decided it was Ryan Reynolds, he agreed, then for me, they decided it was Bruce Willis… I think that sounds about right… Brucey is my man! lol.
Just curious, but where did this teaser poster come from? There’s no source cited in the article, and IIRC this exact image was used as a fake ad on the back cover of an issue of the comic series.
The plot sounds interesting, a lot like Isaac Asimov’s “The Naked Sun” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_Sun), which is kinda what I was hoping I, Robot would go for. Hopefully, Mostow (who also directed the surprisingly-good U-571) can make a better futuristic robot-based thriller.
I’ve been interested to see a movie with this basic premise for some time. If any of you are the reading type, check out David Brin’s “Kiln People”. Humanity in the story has developed a system where you can make a “clay” copy of yourself and send it out to do stuff. The very cheapest models are for basic tasks like cleaning your house, or running to the store that day to get errands. More complex models are used to do more strenuous tasks. The main character is a PI and uses his copies to run the tedious parts of his investigations. At the end of the copy’s life, it returns home and gets downloaded for the master live its experiences. (Very insteresting for parapalegics and the like.)
Occaionally there are the Frankies (or Frankesteins) who are copies that don’t want to go back for download…
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