Relativity Media and Zynga, the world’s leading provider of social games services, announced their partnership to promote Relativity’s upcoming thriller House at the End of the Street in Zynga’s popular social game CityVille. The movie ticket promotion, which will be the first time Zynga has ever done an in-game ticket giveaway, launched Wednesday, September 19th for a select group of CityVille gamers. In theaters this Friday, September 21, 2012, House at the End of the Street stars Oscar®-nominee Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games, Winter’s Bone), Oscar®-nominee Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas, Piranha 3D) and Max Theriot (My Soul to Take).
Zynga will use high profile in-game editorial placements for participants to receive the special offer while playing. The trailer will appear on an in-game platform and after viewing the full trailer, CityVille players will have the opportunity to win tickets and receive a unique Fandango code. Winners will also have the opportunity to share their results on their social media outlets.
This unique partnership will give Relativity the opportunity to engage directly with the 78 percent of Zynga’s audience that has reported personally going to the movies at least once a month in the past three months and the 50 percent of its audience that has seen a suspense/thriller film in the past month.
“We recognize that our core audience of moviegoers are influenced by their peers and the content and experiences they share. We set out to create a fan event on opening weekend that is driven by our audience’s core community. What better way to harness peer-to-peer endorsement than to tap into Zynga and Fandango’s vast reach to create an urgency surrounding our opening,” said Relativity’s President, Theatrical Marketing, Terry Curtin.
“We are thrilled to partner with Zynga on such an innovative way to engage and activate moviegoers,” said Relativity’s Senior Vice President, Digital Marketing, Liz Jones. “Zynga pioneered social gaming and currently has the top five social games on Facebook. CityVille alone has 25 million Facebook fans and we are incredibly excited to bring our film into their world in a new and unique way.”
“Zynga has been excited to work with Relativity Media on this groundbreaking campaign to promote the theatrical release of House at the End of the Street,” said Julie Shumaker, vice president global sales, Zynga. “The innovative ticket giveaway is a first for Zynga and the collaboration speaks to the importance of Zynga’s audience to film and television show marketers. Zynga players love going to the movies and our games provide a unique platform to enhance their experience offline at the box office.”
In House at the End of the Street, newly divorced Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) and her daughter Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) find the house of their dreams in a small, upscale, rural town. But when startling and unexplainable events begin to happen, Sarah and Elissa learn the town is in the shadows of a chilling secret. Years earlier, in the house next door, a daughter killed her parents in their beds, and disappeared – leaving only a brother, Ryan (Max Thieriot, My Soul to Take), as the sole survivor. Against Sarah’s wishes, Elissa begins a relationship with the reclusive Ryan – and the closer they get, the deeper they’re all pulled into a mystery more dangerous than they ever imagined. The film was directed by Mark Tonderai (Hush), written by David Loucka (Dream House) and produced by FilmNation Entertainment’s Aaron Ryder (The Prestige), A Bigger Boat’s Peter Block (Saw franchise), and Hal Lieberman (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines).
