Comic-Con denizens are a special breed of moviegoers.
The mammoth annual Comic-Con International gathering of sci-fi aficionados in San Diego is treated as a sure-fire barometer for later reception in cinemas. But a “New York Times “article takes a fun–and realistic–view of movie marketing opportunities.
“The four-day convention, which begins on July 22, will be host to what has become an obligatory parade of filmmakers and stars hawking their next big thing with extended film clips and question-and-answer sessions in the cavernous Hall H of the San Diego Convention Center,” says a “New York Times” article by Michael Cieply. “Warner Bros. will be there with ‘Green Lantern’, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ and a film called ‘Sucker Punch,’ billed as ‘Alice in Wonderland’ with machine guns.”
Other films being presented to tens of thousands of attendees include:
* Lions Gate action-thriller “The Expendables” with Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Jet Li and Arnold Schwarzenegger,
* DreamWorks Animation (whose films are distributed by Paramount Pictures) plans to show scenes from superhero satire “Megamind” voiced by Will Ferrell and Brad Pitt.
What makes the “New York Times” article better than most is that it doesn’t leap to the conclusion that big fanfare at Comic-Con automatically means a film will open well in theaters. That’s proven to be not true.
The article notes that a few years ago at Comic Con “a crowd of perhaps 6,000 roared welcome, then listened with rapt attention, as Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese animation king, bantered onstage with John Lasseter, the Walt Disney animation chief. Weeks later, Disney released Mr. Miyazaki’s film ‘Ponyo’ in the United States, only to see it founder with just $15.1 million in domestic ticket sales.”
A year ago, ultraviolent comic book Western “Jonah Hex” received a very positive response, but the Warner Bros. film just bombed at the box office.
That’s right. Some movies receive rapturous approval at Comic-Con and then fall flat.
The article adds, “On the flip side, ‘Avatar’ got off to an uncertain start at Comic-Con. Despite a seemingly good response in the room, snarky texts and Twitter messages from Hall H seemed to bode ill for the 3-D epic. In January, (the 20th Century Fox release) became the biggest box-office hit in history.”
“Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition” explains the true objective of marketing sci-fi and fantasy to hard-core fans is twofold. First, it’s hoped courting them will stop them from starting a bad buzz because aficionados are the first wave of movie goers to size up films. Second, the hope is they will start a good buzz that will seep into and influence the broad consumer market, whose intent to go to films is crucial.
“Perhaps no film has been so whipsawed by the convention as ‘Watchmen,’” says the Cieply article. “Based on a revered graphic novel, the movie is about a sordid group of outlawed heroes. It was the talk of Comic-Con in 2008, when its director, Zack Snyder, wooed the convention by pledging fidelity to the violent, moody source material. But neither the fans nor the public showed up in big numbers to see it.”
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