After the viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight Rises kicked into gear on Wednesday and Thursday, fans found a mysterious viral site for “Operation Early Bird.”  The countdown displayed on the front page of OperationEarlyBird.com counted down to 1pm EST/10am PST — or basically, right now. There was much speculation as to what would be revealed at the end of the countdown. Would it be a poster? A trailer? Another viral video?

Well if you guessed either of those, you guessed wrong. Located on OperationEarlyBird.com is map with a form for coordinate entry. Located on TheDarkKnightRises.com is an audio player announcing coordinates. The coordinates, when entered, point to various IMAX theater locations. These locations are mostly the same 70mm IMAX theaters we listed the other week, with a handful of new additions, but now they’re playing screenings of the prologue 3 days early, and for FREE! On December 13th at 10pm locally, advanced screenings of the prologue for The Dark Knight Rises will be happening across the country. To get your tickets, go to OperationEarlyBird.com and click on the location nearest you.

This is a disappointment for those who don’t live anywhere near a 70mm IMAX location. At the very least, all of us gathered for a giant collective experience. We smashed our online user record on the forums. And is it me, or did one of the voices handing out coordinates sound suspiciously like Emma Thomas?