Bad publicity over a suddenly disgraced actor has Hollywood’s publicity machine in high gear scrambling to minimize Armie Hammer in the latest marketing messaging for his two upcoming film releases.
Hammer was exposed for communicating cannibalistic and sex-abuse desires toward women a month ago, creating a controversy imperiling audience reception for movies “Crisis” and “Death on the Nile.” Overnight, he became a “oh, yucky” leading man.
“Crisis” (originally titled “Dreamland”) is a moderately budgeted drama about the opioid drug crisis starring Gary Oldman and opening Friday, March 5 (recently pushed back from the prior Friday); Quiver Distribution handles the R-rated film.
Separately, “Death on the Nile” is penciled in as a Sept 17 theatrical release with co-stars Kenneth Branagh and Gal Gadot; the still-to-be rated mystery drama “Death on the Nile” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios (originally a 20th Century Fox film before Disney acquired the Fox studio).
“Because COVID lockdowns have rendered splashy film premieres and promotional interviews out of the question, the movie’s producers seem to be hoping that maybe no one will notice — or care — that Hammer is still in the picture,” writes Merle Ginsberg in a New York Post column.
Early “Crisis” marketing materials put Hammer’s face on equal footing with co-stars Oldman and Evangeline Lilly, and their three floating-heads side-by-side imaging is still in circulation. But later creative messaging downplays Hammer.
Notes the New York Post article: “When [co-star] Lilly posted a photo of the poster to Instagram, she wrote: ‘I am proud to be part of a hard-hitting thriller that tackles the issues that surround an industry that profits from addiction (and proud to be in this poster with #garyoldman).’ The omission of Hammer was palpable.”
Erasing unexpectedly controversial elements in movie marketing due to scandal happens from time to time.
“When Kevin Spacey was hit with sexual assault allegations not long before his film ‘All the Money in the World’ was released in 2017, director Ridley Scott briskly erased him from the film and added re-shot scenes with Christopher Plummer in the role,” Ginsberg writes in the New York Post. “But Scott had a budget of $10 million to do so. Nicholas Jarecki — the writer, director and producer of ‘Crisis’ — reportedly does not have that kind of financial freedom.” Plus, time is too short for the movie “Crisis.”
The third edition of business/academic book “Marketing to Moviegoers” recounts the many aspects of dealing with a scandal eruption. “Publicists constantly struggle with handling bad press that results from the questionable behavior of talent,” says the book. “The unexpected drunk-driving arrest or drug overdose creates a spate of media reports that force publicists to put a good face on a bad situation.”
“Marketing to Moviegoers” says that the most common response is to get all the bad news out fairly quickly, to avoid a drip-drip-drip trickle of negative press than won’t end. Bottling up bad news seldom works.
“Mel Gibson’s 2006 arrest for drunk driving and subsequent rant cast a dark shadow on his yet-to-be-released early Americas drama ‘Apocalypto,’ ” recounts “Marketing to Moviegoers.” “The film’s domestic distributor Disney decided to arrange Gibson interviews, which trade newspaper Advertising Age called ‘embracing the maverick filmmaker as a cut-through-the-clutter way to hype.’ “
“Marketing to Moviegoer” adds: “Given Gibson financed and had publicly championed the film, detaching him would have been difficult because journalists would surely circle back to him in any coverage. In the end, ‘Apocalypto’ grossed $50.9 million domestically, a decent showing given its stark violence, R rating, absence of on-screen stars, and foreign language.”
Will controversy help Armie Hammer’s film “Crisis”? Nobody thinks so because Hammer’s communications are so distasteful, the anti-harassment mood of these times, and his off-screen conduct punctures his on-screen role. As a serious social drama, Crisis aims for an upmarket audience that isn’t attracted by raunch and sensation.
Fortunately, Hammer is not accused of actually acting on his cannibalistic and violent impulses, but female audiences will clearly be turned off by the handsome 35-year-old actor’s off-screen behavior. He is being dropped all over Hollywood including by his talent agency.
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