The Angry Birds Movie will have a unique after-credits scene, one that requires viewers to do some extra work in order to watch but also gives out a special addition to the popular game on which the movie is based.
The movie spun off from the popular Rovio video game is hitting theaters this week, and many people are taking to the internet to find out if it’s worth staying all 97 minutes of running time to see a post-credits scene. It turns out there is a scene — one that actually unlocks a new area in the video game — but it will require moviegoers to break a cardinal rule of the movie theater and break out their cell phones.
In order to see the after-credits scene for The Angry Birds Movie, those in the audience will need to open up the game on their phone and run it during the final credits. The credits contain an inaudible digital watermark that activates the bonus content, VideoGamer noted.
“By going to see The Angry Birds Movie in the cinema during the opening weekend and sticking around for the credits, audience members with the game open on their device get treated to more Movie Magic — a whole new area of the game to explore and an additional exclusive movie clip that can’t be seen anywhere else but inside Angry Birds Action!” game maker Rovio noted. “Movie Magic works in the game by detecting an inaudible digital watermark that plays only behind the end credits.”
The Angry Birds Movie post-credits scene is bringing a bit of ingenuity to what has become a tradition in movies. Many filmmakers are using these late additions as a way to introduce new characters or plot lines for sequels, and the post-credits scene has become something of an expectation in the superhero genre.
This is especially true of the Marvel series, which has even established its own formula of two separate end-credits scenes, one after the stylized end-credits and another after all of the credits are done rolling.
The most recent installation in the series, this month’s Captain America: Civil War, included a glimpse of the upcoming Spider-Man reboot, Birth.Death.Movies noted.
“It’s a quick scene that has Peter Parker (Tom Holland) messing with the new suit that was designed by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). It’s the same suit that you’ve seen in the trailer already, and it’s much more high-tech than the suit he was swinging around in previously (you get a glimpse of that in the movie too). The scene offers a little more close-up look at the suit this time, specifically a digital readout on his web shooters, hinting at a much more high-tech webslinger coming in his first solo movie in the Marvel cinematic universe. And in case there’s any doubt of that, we get the text that says ‘Spider-Man will return’ to confirm what we already know.”
While these post-credits scenes serve to build some excitement for upcoming movies in the Marvel series, the one at the end of The Angry Birds Movie has another motive, UberGizmo wrote. The outlet noted that Rovio is using the scene to get more people to download the Angry Birds game, a requirement in order to view the scene.
Marketing is big with The Angry Birds Movie, and Apple has already been pushing some of the movie’s tie-ins, including music from Blake Shelton and Demi Lovato. So it was not a surprise to many that the end-credits scene would require users to take to their phones and download content.
Viewers hoping to see the after-credits scene in The Angry Birds Movie but don’t have the game yet will be able to download it from the iTunes App Store or Google Play.
[Image via Instagram/The Angry Birds Movie]