Robert Rodriguez Bringing Smell-O-Vision to Theaters for 'Spy Kids 4'

Robert Rodriguez Bringing Smell-O-Vision to Theaters for ‘Spy Kids 4’

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse when 75% of the films hitting theaters this year are in 3D or RealD, Robert Rodriguez introduces 4D with his new feature, the Aroma-Scope.

Sure, it’s not the newest idea. From the major plot points in Joe Dante’s Matinee from 1993 to John Waters’ “Odorama” in the film Polyester, the idea has been played with in the past, but never to the level of a summer blockbuster. Deadline explains.

[Rodriguez] used the marketing strategy of billing his fourth installment in the Spy Kids franchise as a “4D” flick by adding scratch-and-sniff scent cards for audiences. It’ll be interesting to see if this add-on “Aroma-Scope” value increases moviegoing beyond just the 3D higher ticket prices when the pic opens Friday. “When it came time to do Spy Kids 4, I couldn’t just go back and do 3D like everybody else is now. I had to bring something extra,” Rodriguez told the the AP.

“Just watching my own kids with interactive gaming, you ask them to watch a movie, it just feels so passive to them. I thought, this helps bridge the gap. It’s an interactive thing, almost like playing a game while you’re watching the movie.”

So if you’ve got a few kids, or you are just a fan of wacky new things in the world of film, you’ll want to hit your local theater this Friday and grab a Aroma-Scope scratch and sniff card before you see Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World.