Audiences Could Get Cars and Cash on Their Way to Stop The International

Audiences Could Get Cars and Cash on Their Way to Stop The International

Sweepstakes in Anticipation of Columbia Pictures' The International

CULVER CITY, Calif., Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Moviegoers can become immersed in the world of Columbia Pictures' highly anticipated motion picture The International by entering the multi-platform game at www.StopTheInternational.com, it was announced today by Valerie Van Galder and Marc Weinstock, presidents of worldwide marketing for Sony Pictures. The International will be released in theaters nationwide on February 13, 2009.

The game offers players the chance to take part in the investigation of a rogue bank at the center of the film, the IBBC. The hunt begins by visiting the site, where players can join the online investigation headed by the film's lead character, Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen). Once there, players can participate in two ways.

Audiences can search for clues online that lead them to evidence in the real world in the form of hidden caches of money in 50 cities in the US and Europe - and get to keep hidden cash bounties of up to $500. There is also a US and a European sweepstakes on the site where the prizing is two Volkswagen Tiguans (one per sweepstakes), like the one featured in the film. Winners will also have the chance to attend a star-studded premiere of the film - the U.S. winner to the U.S. premiere in New York and the European winner to the World Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

The experience also includes a unique "money tracker" where participants can enter real serial numbers off cash in their wallets and track where their money has been and what criminal activity the currency might have been used to fund. The money tracker even knows where the money - and you - are right now.

Weinstock said, "We have found that immersive experiences and alternate reality games like 'Stop the International' have a way of involving moviegoers on a unique and fundamental level. Audiences seek out programs that blend reality and entertainment, blurring the line between them and pushing the boundaries of each. Bringing that approach to The International at a time when banks are very much on everyone's minds seems a natural."

In The International, a gripping thriller, Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) are determined to bring to justice one of the world's most powerful banks. Uncovering myriad and reprehensible illegal activities, Salinger and Whitman follow the money from Berlin to Milan to New York to Istanbul. Finding themselves in a high-stakes chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk as their targets will stop at nothing - even murder - to continue financing terror and war. Directed by Tom Tykwer (Perfume, Run Lola Run), produced by Charles Roven, Richard Suckle and Lloyd Phillips from an original screenplay written by Eric Warren Singer, The International was shot on location in Germany and throughout Europe.

About Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures, part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com/.

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Source: Columbia Pictures

CONTACT: Steve Elzer, Senior Vice President, Media Relations of Columbia
TriStar Motion Picture Group, +1-310-244-7142, steve_elzer@spe.sony.com

Web Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/
http://www.spe.sony.com/
http://www.stoptheinternational.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment