In a first for Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the Jake Gyllenhaal thriller, Source Code will have a social media game called Source Code Mission that can be activated by Microsoft Tag technology within the movie poster. That bit of code, which any smartphone can read, will lead to a game that takes 10 to 20 minutes and is based on the movie’s plot, which features Gyllenhaal returning to the scene of a bombing of a Chicago commuter train and trying to change the outcome.
Summit worked with The Visionaire Group on the game. The movie will premiere this weekend at SXSW in Austin, Texas, and then open in wide release April 1.
Though other studios have used QR codes to hype releases, most recently DreamWorks for I Am Number Four, Jack Pan, executive vice president at Summit, says he wanted to create “a true value proposition for anyone who scanned the code,” instead of just leading to a dedicated website.
As a bonus, those who complete the game will be automatically entered for a grand prize of a trip to SXSW in 2012.