"Blair" What? Promos Spin New Web

It's the summer movie season.

For all the talk of dot-com implosions and Internet pessimism, this year has been the most ambitious yet for Hollywood's online marketing machine. Among the latest efforts: 20th Century Fox's Planet of the Apes is using the Web to send moviegoers on a high-tech "geocaching" scavenger hunt for studio swag buried in remote locations. Warner Bros. is luring movie goers to Swordfish with more than just Halle Berry's breasts--Netizens can win $100,000 and gain access to a secret site if they find all 10 passwords. And MGM has created a handful of fake Websites to launch its forthcoming Reese Witherspoon comedy, Legally Blonde.

Then there's Steven Spielberg's A.I. which--based on a few small hints in the film's trailer (and some gentle nudging on movie fansites)--has created an astonishingly complex game using mock Websites, phone numbers with chilling voice-mail messages and a steady flow of cryptic email correspondence. (Which reminds us, if we get one more damn email from that "laia" woman...)

The Blair Witch Project may have pioneered Internet buzz-building in Hollywood, but big budgets and creative wizards are helping movie studios take dramatic steps to market their potential blockbusters on the Web. As A.I. and Planet of the Apes prove, it's no longer sufficient to post a measly Website with some photos and a plot summary.

"Even if they're not cost-effective, they've generated press, and it's hard to say in dollars what it would take to advertise in those spaces," says Dwight Caines, v.p. of Internet strategy for Sony's Columbia Pictures.

In fact, Sony is making its own run for attention by pushing one of its new movies, without even revealing the title or its stars. The studio has begun posting dailies from an unnamed film, asking viewers to guess which film it's from. The clips feature only unknown actors, and few plot details, prompting guesses such as American Pie 2 and Riding in Cars with Boys. "It's a big experiment right now," Caines says.

Jesse Jacobs, a Web columnist for iFilm.com, says it's a promising sign that the studios are getting more inventive with their campaigns.

"They're finally learning that the success of an Internet campaign should not be judged by the number of page views to their Website," says Jacobs, who sifts through studio sites for the most inventive stuff. "They have the money to do the traditional advertising, and because they don't have to rely on the Web they can get a lot more experimental. A.I. is a perfect example. It's easily the most brilliant campaign since Blair Witch. And Planet of the Apes is interesting...if it works."

Fox's Project A.P.E. (Alternate Primate Evolution) seems geared toward only the most devoted (read: nothing else to with their lives) Apes followers, but it's still generating plenty of attention. Using high-tech compasses called Global Positioning Systems, movie goers can go on an elaborate search for goodies planted by Fox. The studio also is giving away one GPS unit per week in the promotion.

"But the one thing I was wondering was, who has the time?" Jacobs asks.

Apparently some people do. And some studios apparently have the cash to try it out. But despite the perception that studios are devoting more money than ever to their online campaigns, Sony's Caines says it simply depends on the film.

"There's a lot of flux," he says. "When the dot-com market was booming, it was very easy to get a budget to experiment with. It's now case by case, and I've got to go sell it."

One campaign Caines won't have to sell is Spider-Man, which, although it's not due in theaters until next year, launched its Website in March and currently has 60,000 subscribers to its newsletter. Next week, those subscribers will be given an early peek at the film's new one-sheets. All of which will continue to build Net buzz for the comic-book flick. "Publicity is something you can't buy," he says.

Or at the very least, something you can't buy cheap.