Fans Compete for More Than $100,000 in Cash and Prizes Online at www.operationswordfish.com
BURBANK, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--May 30, 2001--Warner Bros. Pictures today announced the official rules for the Operation Swordfish Sweepstakes, an online contest inspired by the counter-espionage action thriller ''Swordfish,'' which opens June 8.
The contest, at www.operationswordfish.com, challenges fans to test their decoding skills by attempting to crack their way into the site`s progressive levels for a chance to win a GMC Yukon Denali, $25,000 in cash, a Dell Inspiron laptop and other prizes.
Since its launch in March, the ''Swordfish'' Web site has triggered widespread speculation and a flurry of postings on message boards across the Internet as fans discovered clues and tried to find passwords that would enable them to negotiate the site`s various levels. The fervor even prompted one individual, unaffiliated with the studio, to create his own independent Web site about the official film site.
A total of 10 specific passwords are required to advance through increasingly complex levels of the film`s Web site, (www.operationswordfish.com or via AOL Keyword: Swordfish), where Web surfers can watch video, access photos, view outtakes and CGI visualizations from the film and sample music from the ultra-hip ''Swordfish'' soundtrack, featuring tracks from world-renowned DJ Paul Oakenfold.
Hidden in the content of each level are keycodes, which players must identify and save. When all 10 keycodes are successfully collected, the player can enter the $100,000 Operation Swordfish Sweepstakes for a Grand Prize package consisting of a GMC Yukon Denali (MSRP $46,680) filled with $25,000 cash, and additional prizes that include $25,000, a Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop and 50 unique ''Swordfish'' gift packs.
Passwords are being revealed not only through traditional advertising such as the trailer, television and radio spots, magazine ads, billboards in Times Square and on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, subways and bus shelters, but through various Internet sources.
On AOL, passwords can be found in a custom ''skin'' for the PC-based WinAmp MP3 player. Additionally, via AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ (an alternate instant messenger service) and e-mail, fans can contact a mysterious correspondent identified as Gabriel Shear (the name of John Travolta`s character in the film), for cryptic clues about how and when the latest passwords will be revealed.
Passwords are also popping up on Palm OS-based PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) through infrared signals beamed from telephone kiosk posters in New York City and through wireless networks to cell phones and other hand-held computing devices. Newspaper ads prior to the film`s June 8 opening date will carry exclusive bar codes that can be read by the computer-linked infrared scanning device known as CueCat, distributed by Radio Shack retail stores nationally.
The bar code, when scanned, leads players to a special Web site containing more information about ''Swordfish'' and the game.
Meanwhile, ''Swordfish'' stars John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Don Cheadle, will be slyly slipping passwords into their conversations during television appearances. The contest`s final password will appear in the end credits of the film.
The Operation Swordfish Sweepstakes entry deadline is July 20, 2001.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment, a Silver Pictures/Jonathan D. Krane Production, starring John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Vinnie Jones and Sam Shepard. The film is directed by Dominic Sena and produced by Joel Silver and Jonathan D. Krane, co-produced by Dan Cracchiolo and written by Skip Woods. The director of photography is Paul Cameron; production designer is Jeff Mann; and editor is Stephen Rivkin, A.C.E. Music is by Christopher Young and Paul Oakenfold.
''Swordfish'' will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, an AOL Time Warner Co., and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures. www.operationswordfish.com/AOL Keyword: Swordfish.
This film has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for ''violence, language, some sexuality/nudity.''
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