Reading the start of the press release for the Xbox LIVE Film Club ("Love your movies? Want to see exclusive screenings of the hottest new releases before anyone else? Xbox LIVE Film Club has just the ticket.") I thought Microsoft had gone and rolled out some kind of movie premiere service that would let you watch new releases over LIVE rather than putting up with popcorn-hurling kids at the local multiplex.

But no - it's just a competition that will let a selection of LIVE users attend some swish movie premieres. This is all in aid of promoting some new releases via the LIVE Video Store (Forrest Gump, Pretty in Pink, Planes Trains and Automobiles and Ghost, among others). In the 'coming soon' dispatches, we have Iron Man, The Love Guru (oh dear) and — assuming it isn't sued into the ground and gets a release at all — Watchmen.

If you fancy a shot at watching Iron Man don some blackface in Tropic Thunder, just email Microsoft with a short review of your favourite film and cross your fingers.

Xbox LIVE Film Club premiers [Xbox.com]

First and foremost are the two scenes with Ben Stiller talking to his agent. In both scenes, the agent, played by Matthew McConaughey, is wailing away at different mini-games in Wii Sports while talking on the phone with Stiller. He's playing on a pretty large screen in his office so there's no way you can miss it, so let's chalk that up as product placement.

Next comes this odd dialog that occurs about a third of the way through the movie with one of the characters trying to explain why Blu-ray won in the format war. His answer? Porn and video games. Porn backed it and Sony backed it with their... but he never quite says PlayStation 3.

Finally, and this one is just odd, during the credits they show a bit player, a non-speaking part mind you, and when his name pops up it does so on a background riddled with old-school Space Invaders. Invader invades Tropic Thunder? Hells yeah!

Update: Nintendo tells me that the Wii Sports in the movie was indeed the product of some sort of deal between Nintendo and the movie studio.

“This is a new and highly innovative use of dynamic in-game advertising and really demonstrates the creativity and marketing power of this medium,” said Cory Van Arsdale, CEO of Massive.

He took the words right out of my mouth. Hit the jump for details on the hunt, which runs through August 25th.

Paramount Pictures and Massive Launch First Branded Scavenger Hunt in Ubisoft’s “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2”

In-game scavenger hunt promotes upcoming movie “Tropic Thunder” with interactive experience that engages and rewards gamers.

NEW YORK — Aug. 5, 2008 — Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. and a leading network for video game advertising, Paramount Pictures and Ubisoft Entertainment have teamed up to create a first-of-its-kind dynamic in-game advertising promotion. To promote the upcoming film “Tropic Thunder,” the companies have placed an interactive scavenger hunt in “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2,” published by Ubisoft, which encourages gamers to actively interact with the dynamic in-game campaign, take action from the clues, and get rewarded at the final stage of the hunt.

“This innovative scavenger hunt enables us to reward our target audience and give them a direct call to action to go see ‘Tropic Thunder,’” said Amy Powell, senior vice president of Interactive Marketing for Paramount Pictures. “We’ve had a track record of success working with Massive since the business started. This is taking our in-game advertising campaigns to the next level by making them interactive and actionable. Gamers are motivated to seek out the next ad, which is an amazing way for us to build awareness and excitement for our new release.”

Gamers see a series of nine branded “clues” within “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2,” each leading them to the next clue, until they successfully reach the end of the scavenger hunt. Everyone who completes the scavenger hunt will receive an invitation to join Ubisoft’s VIP club and the chance to download a free digital VIP map for “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2,” and will be entered into two prize drawings. In the first drawing held July 31, 25 winners received a “Tropic Thunder” Gift Pack: two tickets to “Tropic Thunder” and a “Tropic Thunder” T-shirt and hat.* The second drawing, on Aug. 22, will award one grand prize winner an Xbox 360 Elite system as well as a one-year Xbox LIVE subscription and a collection of Ubisoft’s upcoming video game releases.**

“This is a new and highly innovative use of dynamic in-game advertising and really demonstrates the creativity and marketing power of this medium,” said Cory Van Arsdale, CEO of Massive.

The scavenger hunt began on July 18 and will run through Aug. 25 to drive awareness leading up to the movie opening on Aug. 13.