Warner Bros. Pictures is sending movie fans to prison this week as part of a Toronto-exclusive marketing activation for the upcoming “super villain” movie Suicide Squad.
The movie tells the story of a group of super-powered bad guys and girls (from DC Comics), released from Belle Reve Prison to take on a dangerous mission for the government.
The interactive experience turns part of Toronto’s Distillery District into the infamous fictional prison, and was unveiled Tuesday afternoon with two of the films biggest stars, Will Smith and Margot Robbie, as well as director David Ayer on hand to cut the ribbon.
Visitors can see a recreation of the jail cell that houses Smith’s character Deadshot, as well as props from the movie like the Joker’s cane and the bat used as an effective weapon by Robbie’s character Harley Quinn.
Attendees also get the chance to “feel good being bad” by smashing vases and bottles in the Harley Quinn Smash Cell. The destructive activation was produced with Battle Sports, a new recreational facility in Toronto touted as a destination for people who “want to experience a new age of competitive battle sports.” Battle Sports offers archery dodgeball, nerf gun battles and the “Rage Room” where visitors can don protective gear and smash glasses, windows, plates and even office printers.
While Suicide Squad will likely draw huge audiences around the world, it has a special connection to Toronto. The city was interrupted, and transfixed by, the shooting of some of the film’s dramatic scenes last year including a helicopter crash and a Batmobile chase down Yonge Street. Warner Bros. called the exhibit a “gesture to Torontonians for their excitement shown during filming.”
The experience, which is only open to the public for two days (July 27 and 28) is being sponsored by Audi Canada, IMAX, Cineplex, and Corus-owned Toronto radio station Edge 102fm.
