7 Ways Matt Reeves could have shown his “affection” for LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Låt den Rätte Komma In) besides LET ME IN

Everybody knows that Matt Reeves is directing an adaptation of Let the Right One In (Låt den Rätte Komma In) by John Ajvide Lindqvist, entitled Let Me In. One question that occurred to me after reading a MTV interview with him on the subject when he declared his adoration for the original film adaption and the book was: If Matt Reeves loved Let the Right One In so much, why didn’t he help promote the film like Quentin Tarantino did for foreign films Hero (2002), Iron Monkey (1993), and The Protector (Tom Yum Goong) (2006) when the film Let the Right One In was gearing up for its limited theatrical run?Where was his support when the film was about to drop in-theater and could have benefited from the backing of a major Hollywood entity?

When Tarantino helped promote those foreign films above, during the television commercials for them,”Presented by Quentin Tarantino” or “Quentin Tarantino Presents” adorned them and was splashed across the screen. With that in mind:

1. Matt Reeves could have helped secure television commercials for Let the Right One In (which it didn’t have) and had his name at the top of those television commercials like Tarantino: “Presented by Matt Reeves” or Matt Reeves Presents” or “Matt Reeves, director of Cloverfield, Presents”.
2. Matt Reeves could have gone on television talk shows (Attack of the Show, Entertainment Tonight, etc. ) and spoken about the film.
3. He could have given numerous internet interviews, ad nauseam about the film. He will do (and is doing) that for his remake because he has a stake in that film and something to gain but not for the original…which he loves.
4. He could have gone on Howard Stern Sirus Radio Show lauding the film, giving Stern a screener of the film (so he could give his impressions of the film) to Reeves and the world on air.
5. He could have started a Twitter and Facebook campaign for Let the Right One In.
6. He could petitioned to get it a wide release, more advertising funds, and employed the aid of his friend and TV/Film mogul, J.J. Abrams, to do so.
7. He could run contests on his blog to help advertise the film. I did. Twice.

To my knowledge, he did not do any of this things. In retrospect, the above probably would have been silly, highly ineffective ways for Matt Reeves to show his affection for Let the Right One In and to help promote the film. They would not have created a blip on anyone’s radar.

The truth is that Reeves appreciated Let the Right One In from a distance, as many did (more’s the pity), and quickly acquired the remake rights. One thing that needs to be mentioned is that Reeves loves the book,  Let the Right One In, so much because the original film based on it was so good. That film casts a large shadow over the book and makes it better. Usually this isn’t the case. Usually its the other way around with hobbledehoy saying: “Yeah the movie was good but the book was better.” I haven’t heard that yet with Let the Right One In. I read the book and can give you one salient comparison of the two: Let the Right One In is a streamlined verison of the book with 90% of the fluff cut out. You want the main story in the book and the main story is what you get in the film. Let’s hope Reeves is paying attention (and differentates his film by plaicng in the full stroylines for Eli and Hakan Bengtsson).