Sony Pictures has bought a sponsored Snapchat augmented-reality lens for “Venom” — giving fans the ability to inhabit the title character, complete with Venom’s unsettling, deep-timbred voice.
The “Venom” lens, which also features a clip of Eminem’s track for the movie of the same name, began rolling out Thursday on Snapchat in countries outside the U.S. In the States, Snapchat users will have access to the “Venom” AR lens starting at midnight local time on Friday.
The Snapchat lens is part of Sony’s marketing push to drive fans of the Marvel character into theaters to see “Venom,” which hits wide release Oct. 5.
“Venom” could pull in $65 million-$70 million over its three-day opening weekend, per industry estimates, which would mark the biggest-ever October film release. “Venom” stars Tom Hardy in the dual-headed role as Eddie Brock/Venom.
With the Sony-sponsored “Venom” lens, users can tap the Venom icon to toggle between changing their voice to sound like the symbiote or playing the Eminem track. The video clips can then be shared with friends or posted as part of a Snapchat Story.
According to Snap, about 70 million Snapchat users play with AR lenses on the app daily, for an average of 3 minutes per user. The company began selling sponsored lenses in late 2015.
Fans also can access the “Venom” AR lens on Snapchat using the Snapcode below:
