I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised by this. An idea takes off, people are bound to try capitalize on that idea for themselves. But this particular marketing strategy is one I feel may be taking it a bit too far.
Walking Distance, an indie horror film, has changed its name to Experimental Activity. Given the runaway success of this fall’s smash thriller Paranormal Activity, a film with a similar title may hope to see the same success on that factor alone.
Luckily, the title change of Experimental Activity does fit with the movie’s content, which focuses on a small town where a government medical experiment is taking place.
What makes the switch from Walking Distance to Experimental Activity appear to very obviously be money-making move is the fact of who is a part of the cast: Katie Featherston.
For those of you who’ve been out of the loop the last couple of months, Katie Featherston is one of the stars of Paranormal Activity.
So not only is Showcase Entertainment, who owns the international rights to Experimental Activity, using a takeoff of an already successful movie to garner its own success, they also have that film’s lead.
However, Showcase claims that these are simply bonuses to accompany a movie that its producers expect to do well on its own. Said Showcase president David Jackson, “Clearly having the fastest-rising star in the business is a feather in the cap, but we feel the film stands on its own as a cool psychological thriller.”
