A single red balloon, tied to a railing over the Tunungwant Creek, was bobbing and weaving in Wednesday afternoon’s light wind.
To most, it would be an odd sight.
To fans of horror writer Stephen King, the balloon was terrifying.
“It” is nearly here…
Tomi Dolan, marketing manager of Main Street Movie House, confessed the balloons were part of the promotion for the brand new horror movie “It,” which will be showing at a special preview at 7 p.m. today at the Movie House on Main Street, and then for at least one week.
“We thought of the red balloons with promotional coupons inside them because the red balloons are a signature prop from the movie,” Dolan said. The villain in the movie takes the form of an evil clown, Pennywise, who lures a child with a red balloon. The movie, a remake of a television miniseries in 1990, has been called creepy and terrifying, as fans of the book know.
“We really wanted to have an interactive promotion with the community so the balloons were just one of the ways we could get the word out,” Dolan said.
And there’s more.
“We also hid several ‘It’ rocks in town for people to find,” she said. “These rocks can be turned in to the theater during the first week of ‘It’ to receive free popcorn.”
There is one special rock out there that will make one fan very happy.
Dolan explained on Wednesday, “We also wanted to be able to give our community members a chance to win some movie memorabilia, so we have a special ‘It’ rock with the grand prize of an official framed ‘It’ poster, two medium popcorns, two medium fountain drinks and a coupon for a free pizza from A Slice of the 80s. As of today, this special rock has not been found but we hope some lucky person will find ‘it.’”
She added that all the promotions are valid for the first week of the film.
“We’ve had quite a bit of attention” for the movie, she said. “We are excited to be able to have an advance show for those who can’t wait for Friday when it is officially released.”
Dolan said the Movie House staff pride themselves on being able to offer popular titles at the hometown theater.
“As a thank you to our customers we offer specials and fun promotions for new releases and supporting your local theater,” she said.
The Era asked Facebook fans if they were planning to see the film. While several confessed to a fear of clowns, most seemed excited to see the film — with one going so far as to say he would be “rocking the clown outfit.”
Yikes.
