To promote Frank Miller's highly anticipated film "The Spirit," Lionsgate has launched an iPhone app letting consumers project themselves photo-realistically into the digital realm.

The film studio tapped media technology company Big Stage Entertainment Inc. to developed the new "The Spirit" iPhone application. Fans can also visit http://www.MyCityScreams.com to participate in the promotion.

"From our standpoint, the strategy was to support Lionsgate in their promotion of the film, The Spirit," said Jon Kraft, cofounder and executive vice president of business development for Big Stage Entertainment, South Pasadena, CA.

"One of the reasons for focusing the promotion around the iPhone is that everything required to experience our technology is built right in -- camera, application, media player and connectivity to the Web," he said.

"It's an incredibly sophisticated, fun experience, and it all happens in a device the size of your hand."

Now available for free in the App Store and on http://www.MyCityScreams.com, "The Spirit" iPhone app lets fans replace the film's stars in scenes featuring Miller's iconic style with their own faces in three steps.

First, consumers take a photo of their face with the iPhone.

Next, they upload the photo to "The Spirit" iPhone app to quickly create their 3D clone, called an @ctor.

Finally, consumers click or shake the iPhone to get into scenes and still images from the film.

"The Spirit" app is compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch.

Fans can also visit MyCityScreams.com to participate in the promotion and access different video sequences than those available on the iPhone.

To get started on MyCityScreams.com, consumers must install the free Big Stage Media Player.

System requirements of the Big Stage Media Player are a PC running the Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Vista operating systems, as well as the Firefox 2+ or Internet Explorer 6+ Web browsers.

Intel-based Mac users can also run the Big Stage Media Player on Windows/Bootcamp.

Older Macintosh-based Windows emulation applications may have higher instances of problems with the Big Stage Media Player.

A Mac OS version of the Big Stage Media Player is planned but not yet scheduled.

Six animated video clips and 20 still images are available for "The Spirit" iPhone application powered by Big Stage Entertainment.

Additional longer sequences are available on MyCityScreams.com.

Opening on Christmas Day, "The Spirit" stars Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, Jamie King and Gabriel Macht.

"The Spirit" is an action-adventure-romance told by genre-twister Frank Miller, creator of "300" and "Sin City."

It is the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead as the Spirit -- played by Gabriel Macht -- to fight crime from the shadows of Central City.

Big Stage Entertainment's proprietary 3D facial modeling system has been specially adapted for "The Spirit" iPhone campaign, which is the first time the Company's @ctor creation capabilities are available for a native smart phone application.

Big Stage Entertainment's 3D technology maps the contours of the face to produce a high-fidelity 3-D model in minutes.

Invisible to users, the complex 3D data is then processed to develop an accurate and animated personal digital clone, called an @ctor.

Lionsgate is a filmed entertainment studio with a presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand and digitally delivered content.

Lionsgate's feature films have generated more than $450 million at the North American theatrical box office in the past year.

The studio has also produced various television series including "Weeds" and "Mad Men" and distributes "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," "Family Feud," "South Park," "Trivial Pursuit," "The Wendy Williams Show" and Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns."

Big Stage Entertainment Inc. is a media technology company that enables the projection of a consumer's self into the digital realm.

With Big Stage Entertainment products and services, accessible at BigStage.com, consumers can create a fully photorealistic, 3D, animated @ctor to represent themselves in online communities and insert themselves in digital media, including video clips, flip movies and still images.

Big Stage @ctors can also participate in games and entertainment on the Web and mobile handsets.

At BigStage.com, anyone can generate a free, animated 3D @ctor by uploading digital photos of their face for instant placement throughout the digital landscape.

The company calls each @ctor "The Digital You."

Using Big Stage Entertainment's BackStage product, business clients and partners can create interactive experiences under their own brands that allow consumers to create @ctors and engage with those brands through personalization of creative content and messaging via video games, mobile devices and on-location kiosks.

Big Stage Entertainment investors include Mission Ventures, Selby Ventures and Tech Coast Angels.

This is Lionsgate's first iPhone application, although it has done other mobile promotions.

"We're targeting the fanbase for the original Frank Miller comic, 'The Spirit,' as well the expanded audience for the film, the core target of which is 18-34, but expanding significantly both younger and older," Mr. Kraft said.

"There is an über-page on the iPhone for the film, and we're promoting it from our Web sites and through online and iPhone promotional campaigns," he said.