Movie marketers no longer look at placing TV commercials on Thursday as the best night of the week for film marketing. Now highly viewed Sunday night gobbles up more Hollywood advertising spending, says an Advertising Age story by Anthony Crupi. The old emphasis on Thursdays assumed that night was best for movie opening weekends Friday-through-Sunday. But with DVR delayed … [Read more...] about Movie Ads Shift to Sunday From Thursday
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‘Avatar’ Ecosystem To Help Drive Sequels
Filmmaker Jim Cameron is laying the groundwork for sequels to 2009 blockbuster “Avatar.” New York City-based SapientNitro will create an Avatar “ecosystem” in pre-release marketing to warm up audiences for theatrical sequels distributed by 20th Century Fox. “Publicis Groupe agency SapientNitro has entered into a multiyear deal with James Cameron’s Lightstorm … [Read more...] about ‘Avatar’ Ecosystem To Help Drive Sequels
Uni Pix Helps Sibling With Bowl Buy Binge
Eight pricey movie commercials were telecast in NBC Television’s Super Bowl with NBC’s corporate sibling Universal Pictures behind six of the films. The rate-card for in-game commercials is $4.5 million. Movies are typically a big category taking 4-10 of the 60+ Super Bowl slots. It looks like NBC Universal—which is owned by diversified cable TV conglomerate Comcast—piled in … [Read more...] about Uni Pix Helps Sibling With Bowl Buy Binge
Sony Hack Reveals Confidential Marketing
Major studios are tight-lipped about their marketing, but leaks from the hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment corporate computers provide some insights. For the Tom Hanks drama “Captain Philips,” a PowerPoint slide from Sony Pictures tells staff to stress action to male audiences, emphasize emotional depth to females and steer away from American nationalistic themes, says an … [Read more...] about Sony Hack Reveals Confidential Marketing
Dissecting ‘Birdman’ Publicity Campaign
Fox Searchlight pushed a particularly ambitious and early starting publicity campaign for ”Birdman” knowing the cast of the off-beat drama would not be available later. Cast members would be tied down filming other movies. Michael Keaton stars as a washed-up former movie super-hero trying to revive his career with a stage play. The $18 million film, which is getting good … [Read more...] about Dissecting ‘Birdman’ Publicity Campaign
Tracking Data Crisis Intensifies
Audience tracking surveys are increasingly failing to predict box office, notes Deadline.com’s Anita Busch, who catalogs a succession of recent wrong calls. For example, tracking surveys predicted roughly $20 million in domestic box office for the three-day premiere weekend for The Weinstein Co.’s young-adult “The Giver,” which ended up with just $12.3 million. That’s a … [Read more...] about Tracking Data Crisis Intensifies
Critic: Political Correctness Topples Movies
While Hollywood frets that an unprecedented number of big budget films have flopped this year, an opinion article in the New York Post by Kyle Smith purports to answer why: two of the big disappointments so far injected Hollywood’s “political correctness.” The big-budget flops are Walt Disney Studios’ “The Lone Ranger” ($250 million production cost) and Sony Pictures’ “White … [Read more...] about Critic: Political Correctness Topples Movies
Panic Attack for ‘Pacific Rim’ Softness
Audience tracking surveys suggest big-budget sci-fi film “Pacific Rim” will be a box office disappointment, so distributor Warner Bros. and producing partner Legendary Pictures scramble in marketing triage. “Pacific Rim” will premiere July 12. Warner and Legendary collaborated on Superman reboot “Man of Steel,” which is a box office hit with $271 million in domestic (US … [Read more...] about Panic Attack for ‘Pacific Rim’ Softness
Carrey Won’t Publicize ‘Kick Ass 2’
In an unusual move, actor Jim Carrey is refusing to promote his role in the violent black comedy “Kick-ass 2” because of sudden moral qualms—in this case about the impact of screen violence in the real world. “I did Kickass a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence,” Carrey wrote on Twitter, referring to a school shooting … [Read more...] about Carrey Won’t Publicize ‘Kick Ass 2’
Brad Pitt’s ‘War Z’ Undergoes Reshoots
Hollywood has a pretty good track record of avoiding box office catastrophes with big-budget movies—meaning production budgets of $120 mil. or more--and Paramount is determined that its “World War Z” doesn’t get added to that short list. A "Hollywood Reporter" article recounts how Paramount Pictures engaged in a late revamp of its Brad Pitt apocalyptic yarn “World War Z” … [Read more...] about Brad Pitt’s ‘War Z’ Undergoes Reshoots