Paramount Pictures International (PPI) and Sony Computing Entertainment Europe (SCEE) have teamed up to take film marketing within virtual communities to the next level on director Zack Snyder's forthcoming Watchmen.

Watchmen, set for March 6 release in the UK next year, will be the first movie to be marketed within PlayStation Home, the new 3D social gaming community.

The newly launched PlayStation Home allows users to meet and play computer games together. It will feature a video greeting from Zack Snyder as well as the latest Watchmen trailer.

'We are very excited to be bringing PlayStation Home to Europe and the PAL territories, offering users an interactive, social, gaming experience, ' said Daniel Hill, home service manager, SCEE. ' Being able to enjoy the latest entertainment and content within Home has been a vision since day one.'

Other marketing tools will include free virtual Watchmen merchandise for avatars, and a virtual Q & A event to take place within the online gaming community, where cast and filmmakers, through their avatars, will meet with press and competition winners.

Heath Tyldesley, PPI's director of interactive marketing, said: 'Watchmen promises to be a blockbuster in 2009 and PlayStation Home provides the ideal cutting-edge environment to bring fans and filmmakers together to introduce Zack Snyder's spectacular vision.'

Both companies are working with marketing agency, The Picture Production Company (PPC) on strategic direction, original content production and promotion.