Sony Pictures got a leg up on marketing at the Cannes Film Festival today, launching its trailer for The Emoji Movie and launching TJ Miller literally into the air. In the spirit of Sacha Baron Cohen’s “man hammock” swimsuit Cannes beach stunt in 2006 (and of course Sony’s pre-festival stunt for The Angry Birds Movie last year), Miller strapped in and parasailed along the Cannes coastline, fully mic-ed, and ended up on the pier to present the movie’s trailer.
The Sony Pictures Animation pic has a July 28 domestic release with international rollout beginning August 3. The fact that Sony is continuing with such a promotion this year comes as there is little studio presence expected on the Riviera in the next two weeks.
The pic centers on the world of emojis inside your smartphone and especially on Gene, the “Meh” emoji who can’t help but have more emotions than the one he’s supposed to have. He eventually enlists the help of his best friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and code breaker emoji Jailbreak (Anna Faris) to embark on an adventure to find the code that will make Gene normal.
Tony Leondis directed from a script written by Leondis & Eric Siegel and Mike White. Michelle Raimo Kouyate is producer.
Above is footage of always-game Miller’s stunt (spoiler alert: he mostly sticks the landing) via Columbia Pictures, and below is the new full trailer:
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