Sony plans innovative Twitter campaign for Moon in Japan

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has announced details of an innovative internet campaign employing Twitter to promote the April 10 release of Duncan Jones’ Moon in Japan.

From midnight on March 25 until midnight on March 31, the first 1000 Twitter users who follow the account promoting Moon and tweet a special hash tag will be given special access to view footage from the movie online.

Selected users will be able to watch the first 18 minutes of the film on April 5 while they tweet their impressions and predictions for the rest of the story among the community created.

SPE claims this move marks the first such use of the social networking service, which is rapidly growing in popularity in Japan.

The experiment comes amidst a difficult time for imports, particularly smaller titles, in the territory. SPE had its best year ever in the territory in 2009 with $211.74m (Y19.55b) in earnings.

Moon tells the story of  a scientist (Sam Rockwell) who attempts to escape his lunar base after he discovers a cache of his own clones. The film has won a clutch of awards, including a BAFTA for outstanding debut, best film at the British Independent Film Awards and the National Board of Review spotlight award.