Smells like Desperation Movie Marketing over at New Line.

Read an interesting item at Cinematical today about how New Line Cinema is releasing a special DVD version of the movie Final Destination 3 with a special “Thrill Ride” feature that allows you to choose certain options presented within the movie, thereby determining the characters’ fates.

What I find interesting, exactly, is that anyone thinks this is a good idea.

Sure, it’s a nifty gimmick, and gimmicks have a way of selling. But is it really a good thing for a gimmick to determine a movie’s narrative? If it’s possible for a movie to have “seven interactive intervals” each with their own options and outcomes, what was the point in coming up with a story for that movie at all?

Maybe this is just a one-off, the result of some New Line Marketing Genius showing off to impress his boss – as we’ve seen, they’ll offer a movie deal to just about anyone. But if we bemoan the fact that Hollywood isn’t making good movies, then maybe we shouldn’t purchase Hollywood content that features a silly, pointless piece of programming that undermines what we’re supposed to love about going to the movies in the first place.

Movies of quality have only one ending: the one earned by the characters and the situations that the writers, directors and actors have placed them into.

An interactive piece of entertainment where we make choices that impact the outcome? I liked that better when they called it a “videogame“.