Klaatu barada nikto, indeed.

Seeking the ultimate red carpet, or perhaps a chance to get a good word in for humanity to whoever might be Out There watching, the makers of the new movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still” have arranged for it to be beamed into space on Friday, on the same day the movie opens here on planet Earth.

The movie, starring Keanu Reeves as the alien Klaatu, who comes to warn mankind to change its warlike ways or be destroyed, is of course a remake of the 1951 classic starring Michael Rennie. No official translation of them exists, but the words “Klaatu barada nikto” were sufficient in the original movie to save the Earth, or at least postpone its day of judgment from Klaatu’s robot enforcer Gort. And they have been a touchstone of science fiction and alien sociology ever since.

So what better words to broadcast to the stars?

The movie will be broadcast in real time, starting at noon on Friday, by Deep Space Communications Network, a Florida company that has beamed whale songs and the Craigslist Web site, among other things, into space in the three years of its existence. According to its Web site, the company will transmit a five-minute signal into space for anyone for $299.

In this case, Jim Lewis, Deep Space’s director, said the company had to satisfy 20th Century Fox, the film’s producers, that the transmission could not be intercepted and pirated on Earth or in the air. The movie will be beamed in the direction of Alpha Centauri, a triple star system about four light-years from here. That means it will take four years for it to get to Alpha Centauri. (There is plenty of time to get popcorn, whoever you are.)