tonight on "nightline" -- the project x effect. it's a home-wrecking, house-burning hollywood movie. and it's now inspiring copycat teen parties across the country, after one wild rave turns deadly, can this viral trend be stopped. plus, white-hot glare. george clooney in handcuffs today. after the filmmaker of "kony 2012." why it may have worked for one. and the other, tragically back 2350ired. plus, snow surfer. she's a world champion, tearing up the gnarliest slopes.

only because she defied the odds. how one athlete turned a loss, into an inspiring story. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, bill weir, and tonight, juju chang. this is march 16th, 2012. i'm juju chang. tonight, we begin with a story how life imitates hollywood, with disastrous results. it's a wildly popular movie about an out-of-control teen party full of boozing, drugs and big-ticket destruction. the movie characters get away with just a hangover. but for real-life teens copying these parties this spring break, the consequences are far more serious. abc's ryan owens shows us when kids try to bring it home. >> reporter: if you're a teenager, "project x," is a comedy. if you're a parent, it is the scariest of horror movies. >> give us 40 bucks. >> my car is off-limits.

>> reporter: the film, which opened two weeks ago, tells the story of three teenage dorks who throw an epic house party while mom and dad are out of town. >> is this big enough to be cool? >> reporter: it's supposed to make them popular. instead, it makes a massive mess. and it turns out, the house in the movie isn't the only one getting trashed. last week, this florida teen posted a youtube invitation to his own "project x" party. a tour of a foreclosed home outside miami, that police say he vandalized. police arrested the would-be host monday morning, before his party happened. but no one told the nearly 2,000 people who showed up later that night. in houston, the trend took a fatal turn. after a "project x" party invitation went viral on facebook and twitter, almost 1,000 people showed up at this empty mansion.

when police tried to break it up, one partygoer started shooting. 18-year-old ryan spikes was killed. he was a senior in high school, on the football team, just months from graduation. >> it was a tragedy that somebody lost their child, which could have been avoided. >> reporter: also in the houston area, look at what happened to this home two weeks ago. >> there was some wild party that got out of control. the interior of the home was just destroyed. >> reporter: mark stevens is a retired detective-turned-private investigator, who was hired to find out who did it. >> we came back the very next night, hoping and figuring they would come back. and they did. you know, i asked them, why? you know, what was this all about? and they said "project x." >> reporter: while repairs are nearly complete, look no further than that pile of debris in the garage as a reminder of the damage done. >> that's an interior door that they ripped off the wall and just broke in half. >> reporter: 11 people have been charged with criminal trespassing and may face more

serious charges. in michigan, this dad got involved before the police had to. >> no parties tonight. >> reporter: his son, mikey, tweeted invitations to what he cleverly called a project "m," party. follow his twitter account, and it's clear the film inspired his rager. >> bout to take a nap. march 2nd, most inspiring movie ever. best one in a while. you can almost hear the gears turning. on march 7th, mikey tweets, does anyone have aux cord? if you do, hit me up. anyone have a strobe light? and then, the kicker. i don't think people really know how [ bleep ] it takes to do to do what i'm doing tomorrow. and mikey became a top trend on twitter. the high schooler got rsvps from around the world. >> kind of did it like a joke.

i guess people took it as, i'm trying to throw the next "project x." >> reporter: dad made him cancel and had the police camp outside his house to deter potential partygoers. >> sorry about what happened. we didn't mean it to get that big. >> reporter: it may have cramped mikey's style. but it upped his street cred. a local division of gawker media offered him a job, impressed by his marketing skills. all this publicity clearly isn't hurting the movie, either. "project x," has grossed more than $40 million at the box office. not bad for a film produced on a shoe string budget by todd phillips, the man who directed the godfather of modern day boys and booze movie, "the hangover" franchise. and the classic love better to wild fraternity parties, "old school." >> we're going streaking. yeah. >> reporter: for its part, warner brothers, the studio distributing "project x," had this to say about the copycat

parties. these incidents are deplorable. warner brothers does not condone and strongly discourages anyone from attempting to imitate conduct portrayed by actors during the filming of a motion picture. but that clearly hasn't stopped the parties. and parents, look out. word is, a sequel is already in the works. i'm ryan owens, for "nightline," in dallas. >> be afraid. be very afraid. our thanks to ryan. and just ahead, from george clooney to the guy behind "kony 2012," why today was a bizarre day to remember. what happened? [ male announcer ] what if you had thermal night-vision goggles, like in a special ops mission? you'd spot movement, gather intelligence with minimal collateral damage. but rather than neutralizing enemies in their sleep, you'd be targeting stocks to trade. well, that's what trade architect's heat maps do. they make you a trading assassin.

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city, with juju chang. what do george clooney and jason russell, star of the "kony 2012" video that had a million hits have in common? for one, they're known for their activisms in africa. for another, they got arrested today. while they use the media to advance their causes, today demonstrates there's a fine line between being famous and becoming infamous. here's abc's david wright. >> reporter: today, two very

different men were arrested for two very different reasons. >> the third and final warning. you will be arrested. >> reporter: the image of george clooney in cuffs is something you normally only see in a movie. arrested today for civil disobedience, outside the sudanese embassy in washington. >> george has had an amazing week p.r.-wise. >> if we work together, all of us, we can't fail. that last part is just opinion. >> reporter: his arrest capped off a carefully-scripted washington whirlwind, complete with wardrobe changes. >> the next day, he has a meeting with the president in his business suit. >> all i can do is amplify the situation and hope to bring a spotlight to it. >> and today, he ends the week by getting arrested. it was well-orchestrated. it was kind of brilliant. >> reporter: does this hurt him in any way? >> there is no way that this was anything but continue the coronation of king george in hollywood. >> reporter: the arrest of

33-year-old jason russell was not so carefully-scripted. quite the contrary. tmz caught him on camera, shortly before he was detained in san diego last night, for allegedly being drunk, naked and masturbating in public. a case that may well have been relegated to an embarrassing little corner of the local police blotter. except for the fact that russell co-founded invisible children. a group that produced the video, "kony 2012" that went viral last week. ironically, he enlisted stars, including justin bieber, ryan seacrest and oprah, who tweeted their endorsements to their millions of fans. now, because he was so successful generating buzz, his arrest is that much more embarrassing. it's international news. today, invisible children seemed to blame russell's breakdown on the intense exposure he generated. noting, the past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, jason especially.

>> we live in a world where any controversy gets magnified. any negative gets magnified. people i call the feedback society. >> 15 bombs hit this tiny village. >> reporter: both men have been trying to focus the world's attention on africa. clooney's cause is the humanitarian crisis in darfur. russell's a rogue resistance group in uganda. both in the news today because of these separate arrests. >> stars have to be extra careful about the causes they take on. >> that's a good question. >> each celebrity has their own dna. and the public feels a certain way about them. you're probably going to find a certain amount who think he's great. a certain amount who can't stand him. >> reporter: some stars have too many mug shots to be effective advocates for a cause. martin sheen has been arrested more than 60 times, earning him the dubious distinction of being the celebrity with the most mug

shots. can you name any of those causes? which begs the question. what extent will the notoriety of these arrests help or hurt the causes? in jason russell's case, the answer is kind of obvious. in clooney's, the answer is not so clear. >> women are charmed by him and want to be with him. men want to be him. everyone in the public eye can stand to learn from george clooney. i rarely see anyone do it better. he's not afraid to take a political stand. and people are more endeared to him for it. >> reporter: yes, it helps clooney. but will it help darfur? that's the open question. today, twitter users riffed on the hash tag, clooney's crimes. among them, driving while intoxicating. and statutory dreaminess. they were talking about him. not him. i'm david wright, in los angeles. >> nice. our thanks to david wright. up next, the snowboarder who

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she's a three-time world cup gold medalist. and she also happens to be a double-amputee. she's amy purdy. a pioneer in adaptive snowboarding, a sport she first introduced at the winter x games. my colleague cynthia mcfadden hits the slopes and gets major insights, from an athlete who has overcome seemingly

insurmountable odds. >> reporter: i love to ski. i've been doing it since i was a kid growing up in maine. but snowboarding? not so much. okay. i admit it. i was nervous. but the chance to learn from a world champion -- well, that was just too much to pass up. >> i tried snowboarding at 14. and i absolutely fell in love with it. >> reporter: amy purdy and i met up recently in aspen, colorado. we decided to take a run first. >> woo hoo. >> reporter: she on the board. me, on skis. on the lift, she told me a little bit about her life. a kid, growing up in the las vegas desert, dreaming about snow. >> i snowboarded every day off i had. every weekend i had off of school. every holiday we had off of school. and it became a huge part of my life. >> reporter: until one morning 13 years ago, when she started

to feel a bit weak. >> i thought, okay. maybe i'm coming down with something, a little bit. i just felt worn out. >> reporter: and she was 19 years old. >> and within 24 hours, i was in the hospital, on life support, less than a 2% chance of living. >> reporter: her bloodstream had been invaded by a deadly bacteria. her body literally taken over by meningitis. >> i had kidney failure. i ended up with a kidney transplant on my 21st birthday. i lost my spleen. i lost the hearing in my left ear. my legs, at the beginning, were the easiest part, believe it or not. >> reporter: her legs were everyone ta amputated just below her knee. >> when i woke up from my coma, i knew i was going to find a way to snowboard again. >> reporter: unbelievably, just seven months later, amy purdy was on a board again. how do you literally get back on the board after that experience?

where did that come from? >> gosh, i think just passion. i want to go that way. i'm going to go that way. >> reporter: when she started out in 2000, there was no prosthetic that worked for snowboarding. so, she and her doctors set about fashioning a foot from scratch that would work on a snowboard. >> it's a random, kind of frankenstein foot. it was a foot that's all right built, that's made of wood, actually. and it was an already existing ankle joint and some of these existing pieces that we put together differently so i could ride. >> reporter: today, at 32, she is a world champion, having won three world cup gold medals in adaptive snowboarding. she's also founded a nonprofit company. adaptive action sports, to offer other physically challenged people a chance to experience for themselves what snowboarding has meant for her. >> so, you really don't want to

change it too much. >> reporter: people like 24-year-old collin raaz. the marine sergeant lost both of his legs to a roadside bomb in afghanistan last may. >> i don't have any knees. can't bend my knees. to, like, get into position. so, it's all hips and shoulders. >> that's what's great about our program is it really is by example. it's not an able-bodied -- everything's going to be okay. they just see that it is okay. >> reporter: and i suppose for all of us, the biggest thing isn't our legs or our arms. but our head. >> absolutely. 100%. our biggest disability is up here. this is where we have to come over ourselves. >> reporter: i was ready to conquer my own fear. my first-ever snowboarding lesson. >> you're going to hold my hands. you're going to stay on your heels a little bit. but your legs will go down

slightly. heels. >> reporter: amy purdy has a gift. >> don't let your toes go all the way down. >> reporter: it's not just her courage and self-discipline. it's the belief in herself that makes you believe in yourself. i love it. a teacher, not just of the board, but of life. reminding me that this journey is really what you make of it. >> perfect. >> reporter: amy, come here. >> if somebody would have told me that i was going to lose my legs at the age of 19, i would have thought there was absolutely no way i'd be able to handle that. but then, it happened. and i realized that there's so much more to live for. and my life isn't about my legs. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm cynthia mcfadden, in aspen, colorado. >> bravo to amy and to cynthia. as for amy's next mission, it's to see adaptive snowboarding