Filmmaker extraordinaire Frances Ford Coppola is struggling with placating puzzled film critics, marketing an esoteric film to wide audiences and struggling for industry sales for his “Megalopolis.” The $120 million self-financed social commentary epic is in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in France, where Coppola hopes those problems will be solved by critical acclaim … [Read more...] about Coppola Wants to Prove Hollywood Wrong on ‘Megalopolis’
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Marketing Often Exceeds Film Costs
Deadline.com’s annual rankings of film profitability highlights one of oddities of the movie biz. How much one spends on making “the product” — meaning film production cost — frequently has little bearing on profitability and is sometime dwarfed by basic marketing expenses. Universal Pictures spent just $20 million to make cheapie horror film “Five Nights at Freddy’s” but … [Read more...] about Marketing Often Exceeds Film Costs
Film Blurbs Engulf Pricey Super Bowl
Movies from three of Hollywood’s five major studios played during Sunday’s Super Bowl, with advertisers reportedly paying $7 million for each 30-second spot. Nine movie, film branding and streaming platform spots were televised in-game, at the high end of the four-to-eight range typical for Hollywood fare in the NFL finale. Another handful of film-related commercials ran in the … [Read more...] about Film Blurbs Engulf Pricey Super Bowl
Radio Plugs its ‘Reach’ for Film Ads
Radio is making its case that audio media merits a bigger slice of movie advertising budgets because it provides breadth — a wider swath of audiences than alternatives — and a higher percentage of heavy moviegoers. At the moment, radio gets just 1-2% of movie advertising (linear TV and digital media gobble up around 95% of movie ad spending). In custom research commissioned … [Read more...] about Radio Plugs its ‘Reach’ for Film Ads
Crowd-Funding P&A for ‘Freedom’
Indie blockbuster “Sound of Freedom” raised $5 million from 7,134 small investors for its marketing expenses, which is an out-of-Hollywood story involving grassroots America. The $5 million covered “prints & advertising” (P&A) theatrical releasing expenses. This crowd-funding effort is the realization of much talked about, but seldom achieved, leveraging of a … [Read more...] about Crowd-Funding P&A for ‘Freedom’
Cinemas Splurge on Upgrades
Despite the lingering ravages of the pandemic, movie theater operators are making sizeable investments to upgrade and reconfigure their physical plants. It’s something of a surprise because of post-Covid economic uncertainty and most cinema companies are already weighed down with heavy debt. But the capital-expenditure (CapEx) investment cycle is happening in … [Read more...] about Cinemas Splurge on Upgrades
Studios Squeeze Cinemas on Blockbusters
A little-understood aspect of cinema booking contracts is that a larger percentage of boxoffice revenue is allocated to the Hollywood major studios as a blockbuster film climbs into the stratosphere. The result is that the financial benefits of outsized hits disproportionately go into the pockets of major-studio distributors, and less so to theaters. Hey all you “meme” small … [Read more...] about Studios Squeeze Cinemas on Blockbusters
Indies Battle Cinema Marketing Costs
There’s an unfolding tug-of-war over independent films, defined as titles not distributed by Hollywood’s five major studios. Cinemas want to keep them on their silver screens while video streamers, which enjoy more-favorable economics, are siphoning them away. Distributors of indie movies generally want theatrical release, but cinema marketing costs are a perennial obstacle. … [Read more...] about Indies Battle Cinema Marketing Costs
Streamers Supplant Films in Super Bowl
Movie distributors placed just one cinema commercial in TV’s Super Bowl telecast, although Hollywood was all over the Feb. 7 sports events with video streamers, celebrities, and loads of imagery from famous movie/TV content. The telecast carried six movie-related commercials in streaming and streaming platforms, especially Paramount+, which is a corporate sibling of Super … [Read more...] about Streamers Supplant Films in Super Bowl
Five Movie Ads Pop in Super Bowl Broadcast
Domestic theatrical movie releases accounted for five of the 62 expensive TV commercials in the Fox Broadcasting telecast of the Super Bowl football game yesterday. That's in line with the four-to-eight slots in the past. Movies were joined by some relatively-new media cousins: TV services such as the Disney+ streaming service, which accounted or another four paid … [Read more...] about Five Movie Ads Pop in Super Bowl Broadcast