Scott Pilgrim vs the Spoiler Alert

If I had to pick one movie I can’t wait to see in 2010, it would undoubtedly be Scott Pilgrim vs the World. I started reading Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels last year, and somewhere in the middle of Book 3, I heard that they would soon be a movie. It seemed too good to be true: directed by Edgar Wright, and starring a solid ensemble including Michael Cera, Anna Kendrick, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Jason Schwartzman… I could go on and on.

For me, the anticipation of an upcoming feature is part of the fun of the movie-going experience.  I love to see a project through from the beginning, each tantalizing detail building excitement for the main event. It struck me as odd, then, that the day before the film’s first trailer hit the Internet, director Edgar Wright posted this note to Twitter (And isn’t it kind of funny that I saw it on Twitter, probably the Internet’s greatest contribution to our open-door culture). 

I love my job, but making a film in 2010 is like trying to decorate a surprise birthday cake with the kitchen door wide open. - @edgarwright

Of course, I see where he’s coming from. Thanks to the Internet, it's nearly impossible to keep high-profile project under wraps. The online leak of Stephenie Meyer’s Edward Cullen-focused manuscript Midnight Sun, for example, eventually convinced her to scrap the project altogether, which surely broke many a Twihard’s heart, including those who just couldn’t wait until it was published to read it.

But it's odd that Edgar Wright, of all directors, should say something like this. It was him, after all, who chronicled the making of Scott Pilgrim with the daily photo feature on his blog. We who followed his journey saw the process from casting to rehearsals to costumes to filming to tireless editing. Wright’s life in 2009 was an open book and so was his filmmaking. He was happy to pull back the curtain then, so why shouldn’t we expect the rest of the process be so transparent?

(image from Edgar Wright Here)

I’m certainly not knocking Wright – I think he’s a great director and writer, and the first Scott Pilgrim trailer proves that, however much we think we saw of the film’s production, there will be plenty of surprises – because I do agree directors are being put in a difficult position. Audiences (not all of them, of course, but a growing number) need increasing amounts of upfront detail about movies, and filmmakers, in order to ensure they keep their attention and pocketbooks, have to placate them. I read recently about the teaser screenings planned for Toy Story 3, in which audiences will be shown a 65-minute portion of the film, with the hope that they'll come back to see the rest later. Surely, if there’s a movie that doesn’t need to work overtime to win audiences, it’s this one, the third movie in a huge-grossing series from mega-successful Pixar.

Because more films are being made and released each week, movies have to tip their hand a little to set themselves apart and remain memorable. The best jokes are always poached for a comedy's trailer, and good luck trying to sneak in a twist ending without it being revealed prematurely. Filmmakers must walk a fine line in the way they market their work. Too much transparency and you have the much-dissected trailer for Sorority Row, which eagle-eyed viewers noted gave away details about the ending of the movie. Not enough and you can slip under the radar - like Uma Thurman's now-infamous flop Motherhood. 

On the other hand, big movies can keep their secrets under wraps. Take a look at Christopher Nolan’s Inception, due for release on July 16. Sure, that’s still a few months away so there’s still time to spoil it, but up until the past few weeks, I still didn’t have a clue what it was about. Even with an enigmatic poster and mind-bending teaser trailer, Nolan has been able to limit what has leaked. I don’t know if being kept completely in the dark has increased my anticipation, but it certainly hasn't lessened it.  (Side note: Can you imagine how Memento would be promoted in 2010 to prevent spoilers? Probably a lot like Inception has been, which seems like a good sign as Memento is one of my favorite movies.)

I think this whole argument boils down to short attention span. Yes, I’m the kid who used to skip ahead to the end of the book when the suspense got too powerful (I don’t do that anymore… usually), and once or twice, I’ve assuaged my anxiety for an endangered movie character by quickly peeking at Wikipedia to make sure they survive. I know, I’m the problem audience that Wright is talking about. I hate surprises, but I think it's worthwhile to keep some distance. It's like the old adage about knowing how sausage is made; if you know too much about the sometimes unpleasant process, the end product doesn't seem so appealing.