In a First, Twitter Is Live-Streaming ‘Suicide Squad’ Premiere

Twitter is live-streaming Suicide Squad, the highly anticipated DC Comics movie featuring a star-studded ensemble cast including Will Smith, Jared Leto, and Margot Robbie. The anti-superhero movie is having its NYC premiere at 6PM ET on Monday.

The red carpet event will be hosted by Buzzfeed’s “Try Guys,” Keith Habersberger and Zach Kornfeld, and will take place at NYC’s historic Beacon Theatre. According to Variety, this event marks Twitter’s first foray into live-video entertainment coverage and is being supported by a partnership with Warner Bros. and Buzzfeed.

Buzzfeed Motion Pictures is producing the stream, which will also feature a scrolling feed of real-time tweets and reactions to the event under the hashtag, #SuicideSquadPremiere.

Seeking to replicate Facebook’s success in the field and become a major destination for online video, Twitter has been pushing into live video in a big way, Engadget reports. The company has live-streamed major events such as the Democratic National Convention, Wimbledon, and MLB and NHL games. Given the swarm of fans clamoring to see Suicide Squad, which hits big screens worldwide on August 5, live-streaming the premiere makes a lot of sense from a marketing and buzz-generating standpoint.

Ross Hoffman, VP of global media at Twitter tells Variety that the micro-blogging network is already a popular platform for film fanatics, noting that their users “talk about movies every day: before, during and after the movies are released.”