I’m not sure if there’s an award anywhere out there for thoroughness in marketing, but if it exists I would have to imagine the team promoting The Hunger Games has it in the bag. Back when the film was in pre-production they were sending out casting announcements seemingly every hour on the hour. It got to the point where they were releasing info on which local pizza delivery guys they were picking up to do extra work and which aspiring young nephew of a producer was coming on as a grip. Over the course of a couple of months “The Hunger Games” went from being just a series of cult novels to stoking the fire of revolution and becoming a genre movie blaze of passion sweeping across the dry planes of the World Wide Web. And now that the film is getting closer to release, their efforts have become even more refined. Case in point, these five district posters that Lionsgate has released on the Hunger Games Facebook page. If you remember, the crux of this story is about a future world, made up of 12 districts, that holds an annual tournament where two children from each district battle to the death on a big crazy game board. In order to hammer that point home, it looks like we’re going to get a poster countdown with a seal from each and every district being released over the course of the next who knows how long. And to support these efforts [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

A box just landed on my doorstep, and as the UPS man drove away, I opened it up to find a device that gets rid of germs on cell phones using some sort of UV light. Why would a marketing department send me that? Because inside was a USB drive containing the first trailer for Contagion – the forthcoming viral outbreak thriller from Steven Soderbergh. What better way to kick everything off? Plus, the trailer is gripping. Matt Damon brings the intensity, Laurence Fishburne brings the expertise, the rest of the cast (including Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marion Cotillard and Jude Law) bring anxiety, but behind every single performance is a major element of fear. Holy hell, this looks great:

As we all know, alien lifeforms will soon reach the planet and destroy us all in a feverish, blinding light or a hail of laser blasts. As usual, our only hope is a reckless pilot with magic jewelry. I’ve mentioned 3D Sound before, and this gem comes from Newton and District Astronomers. Give a listen and geek out a bit. The movie it’s promoting should be insanely easy to figure out (if you haven’t already). Pro tip: wear some headphones.

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, we talk with independent film legend and Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman and then bad movie expert Eric D. Snider to try to figure out why we love stuff that’s so bad it’s good. Plus, Jeremy Smith from Aint It Cool and Germain Lussier from /film return to do battle in the Movie News Pop Quiz and discuss the brilliant or accidental viral marketing of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Let the swear words commence. Listen Here: Download This Episode

Film School Rejects has just received a message from the folks over at FlynnLives.com, the website at the heart of the latest viral marketing game associated with Disney’s upcoming sequel Tron Legacy. For a few weeks, the site has been counting down to a ‘zero hour’ that will reveal the next steps…

Ed Sanchez and Dan Myrick want to take us back into the woods. Is there anyway on earth we should trust them again? Should we leave bread crumbs behind?

You know how the site has been down for the past hour? We’re blaming Tron 2 and their awesome viral campaign.

We risk life, limb and no chance of parole in order to bring you this truly beautiful movie poster for Shane Acker’s 9. Plus, you can now befriend one of the film’s fictional characters on your social networking doohicky.

The folks behind Funny People have made a very funny fake sitcom featuring Jason Schwartzman’s character from the movie. Get ready to bring back that nostalgia for late 80s, early 90s classroom television.

An awesome reader named JJ sent over a link to this video earlier today which was posted on the website of 42 Entertainment, the company responsible for the ridiculously successful “Why So Serious” alternate reality game that led up to the release of last year’s highest grossing film, The Dark Knight.

Watchmen extras give us proof that the U.S. won the Viet Nam War, that flamethrowers make a handy accessory and that giant, blue supermen walk among us.

So there was a FedEx package at my door this morning, and inside of it was a little lockbox with a 50 Swedish Krona bill and a note.

Last year, we geeked out every month about The Dark Knight and its brilliant viral campaign. Now, Watchmen is giving us even more to geek out about in this retro news salute to Dr. Manhattan’s super powers.

And no, unfortunately they don’t write for us here at Film School Rejects.

Viral marketing of old served as just a clever ploy to start marketing a film, but few people really took notice. The Dark Knight marketing got people involved. Granted, the people that got involved were probably those who were going to see the movie opening weekend anyway, but MY GOD was it fun.

It’s been over a year since the viral marketing for The Dark Knight really got cranked up. In that time, people have learned second languages, taken first steps, and gotten promotions at work. I, on the other hand, have spent most of my time following the ad campaign and avoiding showers.

It isn’t even July 1 yet and all the web can seem to talk about is The Dark Knight. And now, thanks to some statistics from the world of online movie ticket sales, it is time to start questioning whether that interest might just turn into box office records.

I’m not sure why I’m surprised that the creative team behind the viral goodness that is The Dark Knight keep going the extra mile. They’ve proven over and over again that they’re taking the city of Gotham seriously. Almost as seriously as District Attorney candidate Harvey Dent.

Every day, hundreds of trolls are abused and left without shoes. With just 34 cents a day, less then the cost of a daily cup of coffee, you can make a difference. Or you could just head over to the HETFET.org site in support of Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

Yes, you read that right. We’ve got a lot to talk about this week when it comes to the upcoming Universal actioner Wanted.