Warner Bros. is running the opening nine minutes of a new movie on the Web as an attention-getting preview.

Taking a new approach to the online movie preview, Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures began screening the first nine minutes and eight seconds of the upcoming thriller 'Taking Lives' last Friday.

The selected sequence, playing exclusively online at Yahoo! Movies, sets the story in motion by recounting details of a serial killer’s first crime. It's an impulsive act that becomes the origin of a bizarre 20-year spree of murder and stolen identities that ultimately will require the skill and unique perspective of one of the country’s best FBI profilers (played by Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie) to unravel.

“This opening sequence is strong and lays the groundwork for the thrills that are to come,” says Mark Canton, 'Taking Lives' producer. “By sharing it with fans directly via the Internet, we’re able to show the scene it its entirety, unedited and uninterrupted, which offers a real sense of the mood and complexity of the film.”

Warner Bros. uses Jolie to introduce the footage. Production stills, a synopsis, clips and a traditional trailer also are available on the Yahoo! Movies page.

"More and more studios are working closely with Yahoo! Movies to open their films because they know our audience is essentially the same audience that waits in line at the theater opening weekend,” says Doug Hirsch, GM for Yahoo! Movies.

Offering up the first nine minutes of the film to this audience makes good sense, says Hirsch, because most are wired for broadband. And the company’s research shows that viewers will watch an extended sequence, especially if it’s from a movie that’s getting buzz on the Internet.

"We are seeing an exciting trend taking place where studios are looking for new ways to get audiences familiar with their movies, especially original films that are not part of a franchise,” says Hirsch. “The Internet is the perfect place to build your brand... and we see this ‘first nine minutes’ format sparking interest in all genres, for thrillers like ‘Darkness Falls’ and ‘28 Days Later,’ or for comedies like ‘Brown Sugar’ and ‘Barbershop’or independent dramas like ‘The Cooler’ or ‘Confidence’ -- all of which debuted exclusively on Yahoo! Movies."

The movie excerpt will be available online through Thursday, March 18th, disappearing from the Internet one day before 'Taking Lives' is released in theaters.