The AP’s Christy Lemire has a nice piece in which she assays the lack of review screenings for Killers, and in which I partially rhapsodize on Lionsgate’s general strategy of muffled opinion for its forthcoming action-comedy, starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl.

The hilarious money quote of explanation from Lionsgate’s Wednesday statement: “We want to capitalize on the revolution in social media by letting audiences and critics define this film concurrently. In today’s socially connected marketplace, we all have the ability to share feedback instantly around the world. In keeping with this spirit, Lionsgate and the filmmakers want to give the opportunity to moviegoing audiences and critics alike to see Killers simultaneously, and share their thoughts in the medium of their choosing.”

This ignores some facts, of course. Sandwiched in between the releases of Gerard Butler’s The Ugly Truth and Law Abiding Citizen, each of which screened for critics and posted an opening weekend of over $20 million, Lionsgate released Gamer in September of last year. It didn’t screen in advance for critics, and it opened to around $9 million. But hey, a bonus to whomever at Lionsgate drafted the above response; it’s good, hard spin. Ridiculous, but in a finger-to-the-wind, let’s-toss-this-into-the-zeitgeist-peppermill-and-see-if-it-takes kind of way.