Cowboys and Aliens may not be the big winner tonight among movie critics, but it still could be money in the box office this weekend. And if the Western sci-fi romp does top The Smurfs and Crazy, Stupid, Love in ticket sales, surely a part of the reason is due to director Jon Favreau’s hand-selected big winners on YouTube.
The American actor, screenwriter, director, and comedian sourced at least two pieces of promotional material for the film from born and bred YouTube talent. The first comes from YouTube director par excellence, Freddie Wong.
Favreau explains how he and his son have been longtime fans of Wong’s work, using adjectives like “inspired” and “charming” to describe the young content creator’s online catalog. He reached out to Wong with the idea for a good old fashioned collaboration to market Cowboys and Aliens. Before long, the two directors found themselves on the Universal backlot in Wyatt Earp-era garb for their own special effects laden OK Corral shootout.
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Wong’s signature fight scenes aren’t the only type of content Favreau tapped to tease Cowobys and Aliens. Video DJ Mike Relm caught the director’s eye after he uploaded his edit of the Iron Man 2 trailer, so Favreau commissioned Relm to create a similar spot for Cowboys and Aliens. The bass heavy, technotastic remix ran briefly as a commercial for the upcoming flick.
If you like Favreau’s taste in videos you can check out the other eight he chose to round out his YouTube Celebrity Playlist (which is mostly comprised of Behind the Scenes footage to the videos above and some other online ephemera). And if you really like Favreau’s taste in videos, go check out Cowboys and Aliens this weekend. Tell the ticket office Freddie Wong and Mike Relm sent you.
