Since early 2002, a dialogue executed by Mel Gibson has been wandering with moviegoers across America in anticipation to the truth behind the vague and teasing as hell statement. What exactly is happening? Is this alien invasion? Are we in for another Independence Day? Does Signs have a shock ending? On August 2, millions of moviegoers will be heading to the ticket window to find out the precise answers to these killer questions.

Especially with its second teaser trailer having played over the past several months at numerous theaters when it really should have been the final and official full length preview instead, there is a significant group of filmgoers who really don't have a solid idea surrounding Signs' primary objective (but that's not always a bad thing). And when you consider that an average studio will release trailers letting you know just about anything you'll want to know about their film, I think I can safely say that Disney has cooked up one of the best advertising campaigns I've ever seen. The thing with Signs is that even with its full length preview, despite all the hinting, nothing is directly pointed out regarding the subject line of the film outside of the mysterious crop fields and some sort of movement in the bushes.

For the M. Night Shyamalan film, the mystery surrounding the plot is about as heavy as the characters within the movie trying to contemplate the reality of their situation. I've stressed it several times so far throughout the months, but I just find it so awesome how a movie like this could be left so interpretative and unknown, where nowadays a film like this could even ruin/spoil some of its key moments in trailer spots.

This has to be one of the coolest yet more torturous pictures from a film that I've seen in quite some time. Back when the still was released, I had an assumption that the above was the finale, as the basement atmosphere along with the lighting screamed off very creepy as hell touches, and Gibson and Pheonix's facial expressions are in that climax-tone. After seeing the movie...nope, sorry, enough said.

I have to say that I already own the poster for this movie (the one at the top) and if Disney ever produced a one-sheet for the picture above, I'd buy it in a second.

What's so damn intriguing about Signs is not only does the film itself serve as a buzz factor, but its publicity stills are one of the few types where simply seeing one of their glimpses of the feature produces more anticipation for the truth behind it all. Just look at the above snapshot. After originally running into this online, I happened to re-experience the extreme chills I went through of witnessing this moment on-screen months back. And if I had not seen Signs prior to seeing this photo, my eagerness to want to know what the heck is happening would skyrocket.

Sometimes with the box office, one can have logical explanations behind a theory, while others purely come from a gut instinct. And when I look at the above picture from Signs (especially its moment in the first teaser), it absolutely sells me as a blockbuster. But also, it is a very neat cinematography shot.

In a major act of randomness on my part, am I the only one who instantly thinks of Psycho with this behind-the-scenes shot? Moving on...

In the early days of this year when I saw the original teaser in my We Were Soldiers show, it didn't exactly get an evident response from the crowd present (part of it could have been largely due to the ages) but it was still one of the hottest teasers around. Then came the second teaser trailer, and to my frustration, this one has been playing in too many theaters too long.

If I were Disney, I would have booked the full trailer in every location possible (after The Sixth Sense television premiere) and threw out the second teaser. As the official trailer actually says "something" about the movie itself and builds more tension surrounding what really is happening. The second preview doesn't give off a whole lot of info regarding Signs other than there's something damn eerie on the other side of that door and a mention of crop circles and the extra-terrestrial. And with the mandatory knife shot, the suspense is maddening. And even with the many frame-by-frame shots that I know many have discovered online already, there's still nothing to be directly said about what it is. But despite that element, I think the teaser should've solely played in front of Panic Room as it did and then disappear as The Sixth Sense rolled on television.

Sitting in the Chinese theater in Hollywood for opening night of MIB2 was the first in-theaters glance of the full trailer for Signs with an actual audience. The crowd's reaction to the trailer, despite no claps or cheers afterwards, was excellent. I figured with the type of crowd present, M. Night Shyamalan's mention would get some sort of out-loud response, but none was given. No problem with that, as anyone could tell that that was probably the only trailer shown where the room was literally silent...the type of silence where anyone could tell everyone was "into" this movie, followed by wild gossip after the preview concluded. While big theaters as such may not be the best test to the buzz factor, knowing audience responses in smaller or more typical locations is probably a very useful device. Big theater crowds tend to be more enthusiastic about regular ads whereas the average multiplex (300 person crowd) tends to be fairly humble in the vocal sense. If Signs is getting whopping responses from multiplexes, you know it's a sign (enough sarcasm, it was too tempting).

The majority of the early reviews that came in for the M. Night Shyamalan release were positive, with many if not most claiming it to be the best scare feast of the year, if not several years. Not only that, but its methodical pacing (letting the suspense soak in and linger) giving moviegoers exactly what is needed has been receiving praise. Someone who is very important to please with a film as such, Roger Ebert (and Roeper) himself has given Signs Two Thumbs Up. The critic has mentioned his huge liking in the film, explaining how the story is extremely absorbing and instead of using visual effects eye candy, Signs blows away our minds. That's one milestone (of critics) of several key ones to accomplish.

Signs will act as the first major scare picture of 2002. And sort of like Goldmember in its own genre, with a summer filled with mindless visual effects rides, M. Night Shyamalan will supply the first heavy load of fright to the screen in quite some time and millions will be on their knees pleading for it. While the film is part mystery/suspense, part horror, the combination is more of a thrilling horror feature of the unknown. And being that the unknown is probably the most frightening fear of today, filmgoers and fans of Shyamalan will show up in droves even if it does end up freaking the crap out of them...but that's exactly what they want.

Scares have always been an audience favorite, and it's the reason why such retired franchises as Halloween and Friday the 13th are still baking up one after the other of additional installments because their core audience, young moviegoers (the most frequent attendance age on the board), want a little fun to result even if the fun is a nervous type of excitement. Everyone likes to be scared once and a while, and while some films do better than others, we're always looking for the right creepy movie to get us looking over our shoulders late at night.

In fact, the last pure major creep feast was Nicole Kidman's ghost story, The Others, which debuted in August of 2001 to the tune of $14.1 million. The opening for the movie was quite robust in terms of a per-screen average ($8,397 per-location) but in the world of millions of numbers, was not huge. But the Alejandro Amenabar thriller was one that required word of mouth to build and spread from moviegoer to moviegoer. Dimension's goal of attracting the heavy gossip surrounding the picture had it last for weeks to come, eventually climbing to a domestic total of $96.5 million at the box office.

Though both The Others and Signs are mysterious creepy flicks through their marketing, the difference appears with the fact that The Others carried a plot that is not as eye-catching and more of something that required word of mouth to convince others the trip was worth it. Whereas in Signs, its subject matter dives into a genre that is not very frequent, as it is mostly new to filmgoers. Shyamalan's release looks more so like the one late-summer scare picture that everyone's going to want to see. The summer has collected its share of films that don't require brains, and Signs will act as one of the few occurrences where moviegoers will be forced to turn their brains on...but unlike Memento where it may not sell well to everyone, the M. Night Shyamalan version of a "thinker" should win over millions of votes.

One of the biggest pluses for Signs is that its ad-campaign has focused on crop circles as well as extra terrestrials. Crop signs have always been a neat wonder and aliens have been a common connection between the two. While Shyamalan may not give the definite reason behind the truth that hides beneath the formations around the world, his creative approach will find the interest of fans of his filmmaking along with moviegoers who simply have a deep fantasy surrounding the reality of the unique scenario. Crop circles are one of the many mysteries of life and that segment of the story should target a substantial quantity of folks alone.

And adding to the exposure, Night hosted a special on ABC a few weeks back entitled, "M. Night Shyamalan's Signs of Fear" (or something in that nature), where the filmmaker introduced numerous incidents where regular day people survived horrifying experiences confronting some of our biggest fears in life. Along the episode were various clips from suspenseful movies, including three from Shyamalan's Signs that should very well have clung to millions of viewers tuned in. Not to mention the fact that during the episode's logo moments, its graphics behind the title were reminding me of The Mummy Returns.

Then you have the mere idea that extra terrestrials may be involved. Life on other planets has been one of the biggest questions asked from generation to generation, and while action filmmakers Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin (Independence Day) gave audiences an action packed visual effects version of the answer, M. Night Shyamalan will provide the much quieter, thriller/horror take on one of the biggest twilight zones of all time. This distinctive technique of telling the story about "the others" that may be out there somewhere could be described as one of the more intelligent and most effective forms available. ID4 was a blockbuster with a goal to blow sh** up, and when you're hyping Signs hinting that aliens may be included in its nature, you're attracting a young audience that wants to see the details of such. And throwing ingredients of horror and thriller into the bunch that ID4 just didn't offer, you're attracting an older audience who may very well believe that this is an intelligent version of Independence Day worth a glance.

Signs could be the one blockbuster that makes its audience think, but a type that moviegoers want to think about because it's one of the most haunting and imaginative topics to discuss. We talk about the life that may be living out there because the answer is unknown, and Signs will live and breath based on that.

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