Hello! Movie Here…I Love You, Mobile
The
romantic infatuation between movies and mobiles is now touching serious
limits, as most young movies prefer to embrace mobiles in one form or
the other – trailers, promos, games, et al.
By
Rakesh Raman
Among
the recent ones is
Hannah Montana Star Moves mobile game, which is
available on major wireless carriers. It’s a story-driven adventure in
which Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana must outsmart aspiring pop star
Mikayla, all while keeping Hannah’s big secret.
Also,
for Universal Pictures’ April 3 release, “Fast & Furious,” mobile
interactive ad company GoldSpot Media and Solid Ground Communications of
Central Europe launched an
interactive mobile trailer.
The
trailers are available for download free-of-charge to Bluetooth-enabled
mobile phones at select cinemas and other public locations throughout
Germany. The interactive trailers offer the mobile viewer a one-click
access to “Fast & Furious” sweepstakes contest and allows them to
purchase movie tickets for the screenings of the film in select cinema
chains in Germany.
While
movie makers are increasingly offering film-based mobile games, iPhone
family of devices are among the most popular handsets. For example,
Warner Bros. Digital Distribution offered the Last Legion Games’
‘Watchmen: Justice is Coming’ online multiplayer game for the iPhone and
iPod touch. The game is based on the film Watchmen, from Warner Bros.
Pictures and Paramount Pictures, in association with Legendary
Pictures.
As
Paramount Digital Entertainment is moving aggressively in the
movie-mobile convergence market by bringing a slew of games on iPhones,
it brought Shooter! The Official Movie Game produced in collaboration
with Artificial Life for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Mobile
craze is catching up even in underdeveloped film markets like India.
Here movie makers using archaic production systems roll out a large
number of films without any quality. However, they’re now trying to
leverage the reach of mobile devices in the country.
Last
year, a free mobile entertainment service mywaves entered
Bollywood (a
loose term for Mumbai-based Indian film industry) by signing a deal with
Mukta Arts, a leading film studio. The partnership was supposed to cover
mobile marketing, trailers, interviews, music videos, and outtakes of
its films, beginning with Mukta Arts’ film, Yuvvraaj.
The
Indian film producer had decided to use mywaves “click to download”
advertising unit to help users get free Yuvvraaj wallpapers for their
phones. Ringtones of popular Hindi film songs are already being used
here by millions of mobile users.
Film
vendors’ eyes are obviously on the huge global mobile market, currently
hovering around 4 billion mobile connections. Though all of these
devices can’t support multimedia content like games or videos, still
there are millions of smartphone users who could be potential movie
content consumers. Plus, mobile operators would also be keen to bring
their ARPU (average revenue per user) levels up by delivering
high-quality entertainment content mainly based on Hollywood movies to
mobile users.
Paramount Digital Entertainment and Freeverse are offering Days of
Thunder, a stock car racing game for the iPhone and iPod touch from the
Apple’s App Store. Paramount says it’s an action-packed excitement of
full contact stock car racing while battling the field and racing your
way to the finish line.
Paramount seems to have tremendous faith in mobile phones to promote its
flicks. In December last year, it had introduced Iron Man: Aerial
Assault game for the iPhone and iPod touch. The game is based on the
2008 Marvel Studios film released by Paramount Pictures.
Also
last year, Paramount and mobile game developer and publisher Magmic
Games had launched mobile game on Eagle Eye, based on DreamWorks’ “Eagle
Eye.” The game was designed in parallel with the movie’s climactic
plot.
Games
vendors are equally aggressive. Glu Mobile, a leading mobile games
publisher, will launch a mobile game based on the summer blockbuster
movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The movie is scheduled to be
released on June 26, from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, in
association with Hasbro.
Moreover, Gameloft, a developer and publisher of video games on mobile
phones and consoles, has signed a licensing agreement with Fox Mobile
Entertainment to develop, publish, and distribute the mobile game of the
upcoming Fox action adventure-comedy Night at the Museum: Battle of the
Smithsonian.
Movies-on-mobiles market will get further impetus with the availability
of movies on another category of popular smartphones – BlackBerry. Now,
BlackBerry App World is launched in the United States, Canada, and the
United Kingdom on April 1. It’ll provide BlackBerry smartphone users
with easy access to games, social networking, and productivity
applications on-the-go.
As
games are being introduced for Android-powered devices, such as the
T-mobile G1, you can hope to see movie-based content on them as well.
Though
there are issues such as mobile’s form factor, short battery life, weak
networks in most markets, and so on, still mobile screen is fast
becoming the fourth most popular entertainment screen after theater, TV,
and computer.
With
the evolution taking place in the mobile market, it may soon be possible
to deliver full-length feature film on a mobile device. So be ready to
watch the next blockbuster on your mobile handset.
Now,
it’s time for intermission.
Rakesh Raman
is the managing
editor of My Techbox Online.
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