You really gotta feel for Tom Tykwer, whose upcoming film The International is already suffering for its perceived similarity to the Shia LaBeouf film Eagle Eye, even though they are probably almost nothing alike. I guess that trumps the fact that it comes from the director of Run Lola Run and stars Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. On top of that it’s opening against Confessions of a Shopaholic and the remake of Friday the 13th, both of which have significant built-in audiences. It’s seems like a given that this movie is going to get lost in the shuffle.

In order to try and spark some interest, they’ve decided to release the first 5 minutes of the movie online. Normally I don’t find that this works very well, unless the movie has a particular stellar opening scene, but in this case I found myself hooked and wanting to see more. Maybe I’m the only one who thinks this looks cool, but Tykwer’s direction alone should make it worth checking out. And hey, even if the movie turns out to be crap, I think we can all agree that the poster is pretty awesome… right? Check out The International’s first five, embedded below.