Sean Bean’s “Legends” debuts Wednesday, Aug. 13​ on TNT, and in the days leading up to its on-air debut, the cable net has taken a few more measures to get the show in people’s minds and Sean Bean in people’s hearts. #DontKillSeanBean!

Over the weekend of Aug. 8-10, TNT took over the Regal Union Square movie theater in New York to initiate a green-screen, “virtual extras” campaign. Select theater-goers were chosen to participate in a custom promo created on the spot, using a green screen as background, an existing trailer as the blueprint and the movie-goers as the extras. They were inserted throughout the trailer, which then showed as a preview in NCM’s FirstLook pre-movie program.

“TNT’s ‘Legends’ promotion with NCM uses the power of technology to bring consumers into the world of the series and give them a taste of what the lead character experiences when he begins to question his own identity,” said Tricia Melton, SVP of entertainment marketing and branding for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies. “It’s great to watch the reactions of people when they see themselves inserted into the Legends trailer. At first there’s a sense of surprise and disorientation, followed by disbelief and eventually that ‘boom’ moment when they realize what’s happening.”

The promotional stunt ran in select movie showings over the weekend - TNT estimates that more than 20,000 people saw the finished virtual trailer during showings of films such as “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.” The trailer’s off-the-street participants were emailed copies of the finished video, and encouraged to share the spot on their social-media feeds.

TNT pulled together how the “Virtual Extras” video was created, complete with the extras’ reactions:

TNT also partnered with Funny or Die to create a video in which Bean, who can’t seem to get past his established habit in dying in all of his roles, tries to contribute his own ideas to a scene.

The sponsored video, entitled “Sean Bean Death Scene,” is marked with the hashtag #DontKillSeanBean as the actor begins a scene with the director. The director has to explain many times that this scene does not involve him having a heart attack, being poisoned or being attacked in any way. Bean has a hard time accepting change, however.

[Image courtesy of TNT]

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