AVP-R — another irreverent marketing hook

Four months ago, I noted that there was a curious religious — or at least seasonal — element to the green-band trailer for Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem. As the trailer reached its climax, the Christmas carol ‘Silent Night’ played ethereally and ironically over images of various violent deeds, and a series of title cards told us “there will be no peace on Earth” this holiday season.

Now, Lou Lumenick of the New York Post notes that the studio behind the film is explicitly positioning it as a rival to one denomination’s religious observances:

20th Century Fox offers a novel alternative to midnight mass on Christmas Eve: midnight showings of “Aliens vs. Predator: Requieum” an 86-minute horror sequel starring nobody you ever heard of but featuring a cross between the titular creatures. Moviegoers at the Union Square in Manhattan and the Chinese Theater in LA will receive T-shirts emblazoned with “I survived Midnight-Mass-Acre Christmas Eve 2007.” Classy! Does Bill Donohue know about this?

I am neither Catholic nor a fan of the Alien Vs. Predator movies — I love the first two Alien movies, but not the sequels, and I thought the first cross-over film was pretty bad, though tolerable if you really lowered your expectations — so I can’t say the new movie’s release pattern clashes with anything on my schedule. I might see it out of curiosity, though, somewhere down the road.