Film studio Blumhouse recently partnered with Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, to create an app for viewers to use on their phone during a movie.
Instead of chiding moviegoers to stay off their personal devices, the studio and Meta instead had viewers use the chatbot for their 2023 horror movie “M3GAN” at screenings Wednesday. The sequel to “M3GAN,” titled “M3GAN 2.0,” releases in theaters on June 27.
The bot was only accessible through directly messaging the movie’s Instagram account after scanning a theater-specific code. Interaction with the bot offered users never-before-seen content, trivia and behind-the-scenes information on the film synced with the action in real time, according to industry publication Boxoffice Pro.
“The M3GAN in-theatre Movie Mate is a first-to-market moviegoer experience. We are happy to introduce filmgoers to it by way of Instagram Direct and Click-to-Messenger Ads,” said Omar Zayat, Meta’s group lead for entertainment, tech, travel & gaming, and auto, according to Boxoffice Pro.
One viewer at a screening in Los Angeles, Flannery Johnston, told The New York Times that the bot was “really cool,” but eventually put her phone away and just watched the film.
“I started to feel uncomfortable looking at my phone — I didn’t want to be obnoxious — and basically just waited until after the movie was over to read through all the messages,” Ms. Johnston said.
At another screening, Variety writer Peter Debruge claimed that he was the only person in the theater who took out their phone to use the Meta Movie Mate chatbot.
Not every theater chain that showed “M3GAN” on April 30 participated. While the two largest chains, AMC Entertainment and Regal Cineworld, obliged the Meta Movie Mate trial, Alamo Drafthouse and several other movie theaters declined.
For Blumhouse bigwigs, however, the trial was worth it as a way of redirecting in-theater phone use towards something purposeful.
“It’s not us saying, ’Come to a movie theater and randomly be on your phone.’ It’s about enriching the experience. Younger audiences love to interact with their entertainment,” Blumhouse President Abhijay Prakash told the Times.
