Romantic comedy “It Ends With Us” is headed for a relatively big cinema premiere Friday, helped by buzz from its star-laden premiere.
“It Ends,” whose star Blake Lively was catalyst for extensive media coverage of its premiere, is a PG-13 rom-com from Sony Pictures Releasing. The film is based on the best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover.
The gala Aug. 6 premiere at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York City pushed glitz, which fits the romance of the movie.
“Blake Lively wore a one-strap Versace dress previously worn by singer Britney Spears, whose memoir was recently picked up for a biopic treatment,” wrote journalist Dessi Gomez for Deadline.com. “Author and executive Colleen Hoover attended, as did Christy Hall, who helped pen the script. Of course, Lively’s ever-supportive husband Ryan Reynolds attended with Hugh Jackman in tow, just as Lively supported their ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ bromance a few weeks ago.”
Lively is married to Reynolds, whose latest “Deadpool and Wolverine” sci-fi farce is a blockbuster that is still raking in big boxoffice for Walt Disney Studios. Both their films will be in cinemas at the same time starting Friday, though aimed at different audiences.
As for “It Ends” publicity, “People” magazine trumpeted Lively squeezing her hubby’s fanny at a photo-shoot station during the “It Ends” premiere. The popular-culture magazine made into an “exclusive” headlining it as a “flirty squeeze.”
Video and photos of Lively littered cyberspace from the gala premiere on professional news platforms like People. In addition, influencers who attended also posted content, such as MickMickNYC with a video of Lively entering the screening under umbrellas in a New York rain.
Prerelease audience tracking surveys indicate “It Ends” will roll up $25 million-35 million in domestic (U.S. and Canada) boxoffice for its three-day premiere starting Friday. That’s a good start for the rom-com that cost just $25 million to make (the average for major-studio rom-com releases is around $80 million). The healthy cinema opening is particularly impressive because the overall marketing seemed modest, until the premiere kicked in.
Splashy movie premieres oozing with famous talent are a magnet for publicity that can sell cinema tickets. “Talent engaging in overt publicity for their movies is obviously self-serving, but the public doesn’t seem to mind and is drawn to celebrities for their Hollywood glamor,” notes business/academic book “Marketing to Moviegoers” third edition.
Years ago, researcher Nielsen “found that consumers who follow celebrities online are opinion leaders to peers about movies, music, and TV programs — so fan bases are influential molders of broader public opinion,” notes “Marketing to Moviegoers.”
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