Whether anyone actually pays $34.99 to see Interstellar as many times as they want to, in any format, is immaterial. The brilliant stroke of movie publicity behind that offer has already done its job.

AMC Theatres and Paramount Pictures in the US announced the unlimited ticket on Monday — and even if nobody buys one, the nation’s second-largest theatre chain and the Interstellar distributor will still be patting each other on the back.

That’s because a promotion like this isn’t a ploy to sell unlimited tickets to see Interstellar. It’s a ploy to sell more regular, one-off tickets to see Interstellar. For that reason alone, it’s really smart.

Paramount is committed to a marketing follow-through for Interstellar the likes of which we haven’t seen for some time. Normally, the studios generally push a huge wave of publicity up to and including opening weekend. Then somebody throws a switch and it’s like the film never happened. Talent stops giving interviews, publicists stop pitching reporters and everyone moves on to the next weekend’s releases.

Not so with Interstellar, for which the marketing team is showing no signs of letting up.

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